|
Part 1 of the Littoral Society's three-part overview of the Wreck Pond restoration project. By the time Superstorm Sandy smashed into the New Jersey coastline, Wreck Pond was a bit of a wreck. The 73-acre coastal lake located on the border of Spring Lake and Sea Girt, NJ, was badly polluted and prone to flooding surrounding homes during heavy rains. Partnering with the municipalities around the pond, as well as state and federal agencies, the American Littoral Society stepped in with a plan to address pollution, reduce flooding, and restore the pond as a breeding ground for migratory fish such as river herring. Since 2014 the Littoral Society and our partners have been working on the pond and it's surrounding watershed. On Thursday, August 27 at noon, the Society will host a virtual lunch and learn to discuss ongoing efforts to increase ecological and community resiliency in and around Wreck Pond.  The initial stage of the Wreck Pond project involved $7.4 million effort reconnecting Wreck Pond with the Atlantic Ocean in order to improve water quality in the pond, provide better flood control to the surrounding area, and allow migratory fish to reach traditional spawning areas. The keystone of that work was installation of a 600-foot fish passage between the pond and the Atlantic Ocean. The fish passage work was done in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service through a Coastal Resiliency Grant received from the a US Department of the Interior. Additional Wreck Pond restoration partners include the Army Corps of Engineers, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Monmouth County, the Borough of Spring Lake, Monmouth University, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Leon S. Avakian, Inc., and Najarian Associates. The initial work has since expanded to include removing the buildup of sediment in the pond, creating more natural shorelines, expanding upstream access for spawning fish, and monitoring of the project's results. As a lead-in to the Aug. 27 webinar, the Society is releasing a series of three informative videos that will cover the history of the pond, the project to restore it, and the monitoring that is underway to gauge project success. Below, find parts 2 and 3 of the Wreck Pond video series.
|
Archives
October 2024
Categories
All
|
