CAPE MAY POINT – The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is embarking on a project to restore portions of the Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area.
Funded by DEP’s Office of Natural Resource Restoration, the project is aimed at reversing the damage done when the Pond Creek Marsh was cut off from tidal flow early in the 20th century.
According to DEP, “Pond Creek Marsh was cut off from free-flowing tidal influences in the early 1900s.”
Sand mining operations and the construction of the magnesite plant continued to modify the site including the loss of wetlands.
A multi-phase approach to restoring the area is underway. The early phases will seek restoration of the marsh and upland habitat. Later plans call for an interpretive educational center on the former magnesite plant, which was located on Sunset Boulevard.
Early Goals
The early goal is to reestablish tidal inundation to a large part of Pond Creek Marsh. The trick is to do that while not increasing the flood risk to upper watershed areas or inundating the eastern marsh area.
Achieving any goals while also protecting a vulnerable ecosystem requires study.
DEP engaged in a series of technical studies involving hydrology, sediment characterization, and habitat assessment.
The design wrestled with the creation of new channels to achieve restored tidal flow and with efforts to manage flood risk through the creation of a berm aligned to balance saltwater and freshwater habitats and protect the eastern marsh area.
Water control structures would be embedded in the berm.
The studies went on. Examples include evaluating the former plant site for buried utilities, assessing impacts on threatened and endangered species, and assessments of pre- and post-construction ecosystem function.
Everything also involved collaboration and coordination with federal, state, and local groups as varied as the Army Corps of Engineers, DEP’s Office of Dredging and Sediment Technology, and Cape May County’s Department of Mosquito Control to name only a few.
J. Mark Walters, project manager with DEP, said that the state hopes to begin construction later in 2018.
“Beginning construction does not mean someone shows up with a shovel,” Walters said. He explained the steps involved in going to bid, selecting a contractor and acclimating the contractor to the many tasks.
The project is moving forward toward the restoration of a local ecosystem.
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