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Hatfield Marine Science Center Dynamic Revetment Project DSL permit #45455-FP, Monitoring Report February 2012
Citation:
NELSON, W. G. Hatfield Marine Science Center Dynamic Revetment Project DSL permit #45455-FP, Monitoring Report February 2012. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-12/011, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
A Dynamic Revetment (gravel beach) was installed in November, 2011 on the shoreline along the northeastern edge of the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) to mitigate erosion that threatened HMSC critical infrastructure. The document provides details of a multiagency effort to conduct shoreline topographic and biological monitoring for the narrow purpose of compliance to requirements of a dredge and fill permit needed to protect EPA infrastructure at HMSC. The study is not a part of and has no impact on ORD research under current RAPs.
Description:
A Dynamic Revetment (gravel beach) was installed in November, 2011 on the shoreline along the northeastern edge of the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) to mitigate erosion that threatened HMSC critical infrastructure. Shoreline topographic and biological monitoring was initiated before and continued after the project completion. Monitoring of beach profiles along the project area showed that a Dynamic Revetment installed in 2007 has been successful in stabilizing further retreat of the beach. As of January 2012, the 2011 project also appears to have stabilized the shoreline, while rapid erosion has continued in the adjacent Reference beach area. For both invertebrates and fish, only pre-installation comparisons of the project (DRP) and Reference beach have been conducted. For both invertebrates (infauna, beach wrack associates) and fish, there were statistically significant differences over the combined DRP and Reference beaches reflecting small scale ecological variability. Shoreline vegetation also displayed some differences in species composition in pre-installation sampling, but total shore vegetation cover did not differ significantly between the two beach areas. Visual counts of marine mammals and birds were conducted both pre- and post-installation. There were no marine mammals observed, and no birds were observed prior to the project. Variability among observation periods was extremely high, with many zero observations. There were no statistically significant differences in the number of birds observed based either on tide (high vs. low) or sample area (DRP vs. (Reference). Post-installation sampling for all the above parameters will continue.