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Home My WebLink About01102012 LYNNHAVEN RIVER PRESENTATIONLynnhaven River Basin Ecosystem Restoration And Oyster Restoration Initiatives Presentation of Initiatives January 10th, 2012 US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® Stakeholders City of Virginia Beach • Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District • Lynnhaven River NOW • Chesapeake Bay Foundation • Hampton Roads Planning District Commission • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • Old Dominion University • First Landing State Park • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation • Virginia Department of Environmental Quality • Virginia Dare Soil and Water Conversation District • Virginia Department of Health • Virginia Institute of Marine Science • Virginia Marine Resources Commission • US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 2 ® Lynnhaven River Ecosystem Restoration Purpose Lynnhaven River Basin Ecosystem • Restoration Initiative- Restoration of the ecosystem to include tidal and sub-tidal zones Authorized for study with a resolution by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives, Docket 2558, adopted May 6, 1998 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 3 ® Lynnhaven River Ecosystem Restoration Plan Descriptions Tentatively Selected Plan - • Essential Fish Habitat – • 31.4 Acres Phragmites Sites, Eradication and Diversification- • 38.4 Acres Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV)– • 94 Acres Bay Scallop Restoration – • 22 Acres Benefits – • Increased Biomass • Reduction of Total Suspended Solids • Increase Species Diversity • Improved Benthic Community • US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 4 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 5 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 6 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 7 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 8 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 9 Reef Balls US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 10 ® Bay Scallop US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 11 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 12 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 13 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG ® 14 Timeline for Lynnhaven River Basin Ecosystem Restoration 905(b) Report Certified-January 2004 • Feasibility Study Initiated -September 2004 • Chief’s Report -Early 2013 • Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)- • 2013 Engineering and Design –2013 –2015 • Construction –2014-2016 • US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 15 ® Project Cost and Cost Sharing Cost ItemTotal Costs Construction $22,837,000 Adaptive Management $2,538,000 Lands,Easements, and Rights of Way $468,000 ConstructionManagement $1,107,000 Preconstruction, Engineering, and Design $1,564,000 Total First Costs $28,514,000 Federal Share (65%) $18,534,000 Non-Federal Share (35%) $9,980,000 US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 16 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 17 ® Lynnhaven River Oyster Restoration Purpose and Plan Description Lynnhaven River Oyster Restoration Initiative– • Restoration of oysters within the Lynnhaven River Basin Authorized by Section 704b, as amended, of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 Currently have about 58 acres of restored reefs in the • Lynnhaven at this time, 6% of the original Baylor Ground acreage. Original plan (USACE 2005) called for restoration of about • double the current acreage To meet objectives of Executive Order 13508, Chesapeake • Bay Protection and Restoration all acreage recommended in the plan would need to be constructed and successful US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 18 ® History of the Lynnhaven Oyster There were public oyster grounds in the Lynnhaven • –Baylor surveyed 986 acres of public oyster grounds in 1894 which were converted to private leases around 1930 In 1904, the Lynnhaven supported over 100 • watermen in the local oyster fishery In the late 1800’s-early 1900’s, commercial oyster • harvests were ~ 25,000 bushels of market oysters and ~ 15,000 bushels of seed oysters The seed came from natural oyster rock, mainly in • Linkhorn Bay US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 19 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 20 ® Eastern Branch Oyster Reef US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 21 ® Western Broad Bay oyster Reef US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 22 ® Initial Monitoring Results •According to goal metrics developed by the Executive Order 13508 Goal Implementation Team, a successful reef has 50 oysters per square meter •Most of the restored reef acreage meets this goal and is successful US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 23 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 24 ® US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 25 ® Lynnhaven oysters from restoration reefs – size ranges from 3-8” –disease used to kill almost all oysters before 3” US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 26 ® A First Look at Lynnhaven High- Relief Reefs US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 27 ® Environmental Benefits -TMDL A Section 22 Study funded by the City of • Virginia Beach and the USACE examined the benefits of oyster filtration to water quality Initial results of this Pilot Study: • Nitrogen removal via denitrification from oyster reefs • ranged from 15.1-20.2 lbs/acre/month (1 lb/acre/month at a bare sediment site) Nitrogen sequestration in oyster tissues and other reef • organisms ranged from 495.8-656.5 lbs/acre/yr compared to 32.6 lbs/acre/yr at a bare sediment site These numbers represent one month of data –more is • needed to more accurately estimate annual N removal rates US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 28 ® Environmental Benefits -TMDL Oyster reefs also filter TSS and some of this • is deposited into the reef matrix and sediments for long-term removal from the water column, increasing water clarity Further study is needed to quantify TSS • removal rates from restoration reefs US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 29 ® Timeline for Lynnhaven River Oyster Restoration Section 704b authorized for VA –2000 • Feasibility Report Completed –June 2005 • Phase I Construction (28 acres) Dec 2007 • Planted seed –August 2008 • Phase II Construction (35 acres) Dec 2008 • Planted Seed –August 2009 • The City of Virginia Beach provided $100k in funding support for planting seed on the restored reefs US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 30 ® Questions/Comments? US Army Corps of Engineers –Norfolk District BUILDING STRONG 31 ®