1 00:00:01,766 --> 00:00:04,700 Hi everybody, my name is Paula Whitfield, 2 00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:09,200 and I work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, 3 00:00:09,566 --> 00:00:14,166 within the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, or NCCOS for short. 4 00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:16,166 Today I am going to be talking about 5 00:00:16,466 --> 00:00:20,566 Island Restoration to Meet “Triple-Win” Engineering with Nature® Outcomes. 6 00:00:21,133 --> 00:00:26,200 And I wanted to begin by acknowledging all my co-authors that are listed on this slide. 7 00:00:26,666 --> 00:00:30,666 This is truly a collaborative project between five different agencies, 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:36,666 who have come together to investigate this island restoration, which you see on this slide. 9 00:00:37,466 --> 00:00:41,700 This project is also supported by the Engineering with Nature® Initiative, 10 00:00:42,133 --> 00:00:46,066 and I will be talking about the roles of each of the partners throughout this talk. 11 00:00:48,033 --> 00:00:49,700 So, Engineering with Nature®, 12 00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:52,433 it is a Corps-led initiative, 13 00:00:52,533 --> 00:00:54,366 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiative, 14 00:00:54,433 --> 00:00:57,733 that is housed within the Engineer Research and Development Center, 15 00:00:58,033 --> 00:01:05,366 And it emphasizes the use of natural processes and systems to achieve these "triple-win" outcomes. 16 00:01:05,633 --> 00:01:08,666 So, this is in addition to engineering function. 17 00:01:09,266 --> 00:01:14,300 It means projects having social, environmental, and economic benefits. 18 00:01:15,466 --> 00:01:19,666 This involves the use of Natural and Nature Based Features or infrastructure, 19 00:01:19,900 --> 00:01:25,600 like dunes, reefs, marshes, and islands, which is the focus of this talk— 20 00:01:26,166 --> 00:01:30,200 the restoration of Swan Island to achieve triple-win outcomes. 21 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:34,633 We're working in Chesapeake Bay, 22 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:37,233 which is located on the east coast of the U.S. 23 00:01:37,633 --> 00:01:40,033 It is the largest estuary in the U.S.! 24 00:01:40,666 --> 00:01:44,333 Swan Island is a 25-acre/10-hectare island 25 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,700 that is part of the Martin National Wildlife Refuge, 26 00:01:48,866 --> 00:01:52,133 and it’s located in mid-Chesapeake Bay, on the east side. 27 00:01:53,033 --> 00:01:56,400 Now, Tangier Sound separates the string of islands, 28 00:01:56,566 --> 00:02:02,000 from Martin National Wildlife Refuge to Tangier Island, from the mainland. 29 00:02:03,266 --> 00:02:06,600 And Swan Island is also just north of Smith Island, 30 00:02:07,033 --> 00:02:10,733 where communities founded in the late 1700s still reside. 31 00:02:14,066 --> 00:02:15,700 Now, the issue is that 32 00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:19,233 island loss in the Chesapeake Bay is increasing at an alarming rate. 33 00:02:19,766 --> 00:02:21,766 If you look at this figure on the right, 34 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:29,300 David Schulte and his co-authors found a 66% decrease in Tangier Island since 1850, 35 00:02:29,733 --> 00:02:31,233 and another study found that 36 00:02:31,233 --> 00:02:36,633 islands in Tangier Sound lost 21% of their area in 14 years. 37 00:02:36,933 --> 00:02:41,933 This also resulted in large decreases in nesting bird populations. 38 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:48,900 Sea level rise, subsidence, and erosion are all driving the loss of islands throughout the bay. 39 00:02:53,033 --> 00:02:58,266 So, we know that islands are valuable habitat, especially for migratory birds, 40 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,633 but what is the coastal resilience value of islands? 41 00:03:02,633 --> 00:03:06,866 They are considered an important part of the multiple lines of defense strategy, 42 00:03:06,866 --> 00:03:12,033 in part, due to their size and potential to have a greater area of influence 43 00:03:12,033 --> 00:03:14,766 and a diversity of habitats that can be incorporated. 44 00:03:15,933 --> 00:03:18,600 The infographic on this slide 45 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:23,766 is an idealized rendering of the benefits of a restored island vs. a degraded island. 46 00:03:24,300 --> 00:03:29,533 The restored island shown in the bottom panel has a greater range of elevations 47 00:03:29,533 --> 00:03:33,400 that support a greater diversity of vegetative habitats 48 00:03:33,533 --> 00:03:37,733 and likewise has greater coastal resilience potential, 49 00:03:37,866 --> 00:03:41,033 in the form of reduced erosion and wave energy. 50 00:03:42,333 --> 00:03:44,600 But we want to put numbers on this: 51 00:03:45,566 --> 00:03:50,266 What is the quantitative coastal resilience performance of islands? 52 00:03:50,866 --> 00:03:55,200 This is an uncertainty that is often considered a barrier to implementation, 53 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,466 and is the focus of our research. 54 00:04:00,666 --> 00:04:06,233 Like Tangier Island, Swan Island and Martin National Wildlife Refuge are eroding. 55 00:04:06,866 --> 00:04:10,333 Before restoration, the low-lying part of Swan Island, 56 00:04:10,333 --> 00:04:16,200 consisted of low intertidal marsh that was at suboptimal elevations. 57 00:04:16,633 --> 00:04:20,733 You can see the marsh fragmentation in this top image of Swan Island. 58 00:04:21,566 --> 00:04:24,800 In the bottom image, after sediment placement, 59 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,866 this shows the proximity of Swan Island to the town of Ewell. 60 00:04:28,866 --> 00:04:32,733 So, Swan Island has a direct coastal resilience function 61 00:04:32,733 --> 00:04:37,333 in that it acts as natural wave break for the Town of Ewell. 62 00:04:42,766 --> 00:04:47,933 The Swan Island restoration involved the beneficial use of dredged sediments. 63 00:04:47,933 --> 00:04:54,400 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District used a hydraulic cutter head dredge 64 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,200 to place approximately 60,000 cubic yards of sediment 65 00:04:58,233 --> 00:05:01,633 on the low-lying footprint of Swan Island. 66 00:05:01,633 --> 00:05:04,533 This was completed in April 2019. 67 00:05:05,300 --> 00:05:08,100 Now, getting back to the triple-win outcomes, 68 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:13,966 there were also economic benefits and efficiencies created for the Baltimore District. 69 00:05:14,233 --> 00:05:16,133 And this was due, in part, 70 00:05:16,133 --> 00:05:21,033 to the close proximity of the federal navigation channels to Swan Island. 71 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,933 These channels are shown in red on the image at the right. 72 00:05:25,966 --> 00:05:31,266 There are also social and economic benefits realized for Smith Island communities, 73 00:05:31,266 --> 00:05:34,633 and this is because these navigation channels are their lifeline 74 00:05:34,633 --> 00:05:38,933 for transportation, commerce, fishing, and tourism. 75 00:05:41,066 --> 00:05:42,766 Following sediment placement, 76 00:05:42,766 --> 00:05:46,933 the island was graded to elevations that would support areas that include 77 00:05:46,933 --> 00:05:48,933 low dunes on the north side, 78 00:05:48,933 --> 00:05:53,666 with one of these dune features also being protected by concrete Ajax, 79 00:05:54,700 --> 00:05:59,566 and also low marsh grading to high marsh from east to west 80 00:05:59,733 --> 00:06:03,900 for a total of 200,000 plants that were installed. 81 00:06:04,966 --> 00:06:09,933 And, finally, we conducted pre-placement monitoring in 2018, 82 00:06:09,933 --> 00:06:16,100 and then post-placement monitoring in 2019 and just recently in 2020. 83 00:06:18,966 --> 00:06:22,266 So, now I want to transition to the conceptual model, 84 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,133 because this model guides the selection of our monitoring parameters 85 00:06:26,133 --> 00:06:29,666 to quantify the coastal resilience performance. 86 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,833 The conceptual model includes three main components 87 00:06:34,733 --> 00:06:39,866 that include hydrodynamic, ecological, and topographic parameters, 88 00:06:39,866 --> 00:06:45,566 along with the sediment and the feedbacks and linkages between them. 89 00:06:46,533 --> 00:06:48,300 This conceptual model 90 00:06:48,300 --> 00:06:53,266 is being used to develop an integrated hydrodynamic and ecological model 91 00:06:53,266 --> 00:06:58,100 to answer questions such as those shown on the slide for 1 and 2. 92 00:06:58,366 --> 00:07:03,866 So, for example, how resilient is the island to sea level rise and storm events? 93 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:10,533 For just looking at wave or examining wave attenuation impacts of Swan Island, 94 00:07:10,766 --> 00:07:15,800 we are using a coupled ADCIRC and STWAVE model called CSTORM. 95 00:07:16,533 --> 00:07:18,000 And I want to point out 96 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,033 this modeling effort is being led by ERDC's Integrated Modeling Team. 97 00:07:25,700 --> 00:07:27,566 The monitoring parameters 98 00:07:27,566 --> 00:07:30,666 and locations of the sample collections are shown on this slide. 99 00:07:31,566 --> 00:07:33,466 The hydrodynamic parameters 100 00:07:33,466 --> 00:07:37,933 of waves, currents, water level, and also total suspended solids 101 00:07:37,933 --> 00:07:42,833 are being collected on four platforms that are situated around the island, 102 00:07:42,833 --> 00:07:43,966 as you see here. 103 00:07:44,266 --> 00:07:47,333 This component is also being led by ERDC. 104 00:07:47,966 --> 00:07:50,566 Now, the ecological parameters ... 105 00:07:50,566 --> 00:07:54,500 these involve the collection of vegetation and sediment characteristics 106 00:07:54,700 --> 00:07:56,300 with the sampling 107 00:07:56,300 --> 00:08:01,566 designed to capture the gradient of elevations and habitat types on the island. 108 00:08:01,933 --> 00:08:04,566 So, these sample collection locations 109 00:08:04,566 --> 00:08:07,233 are shown by the round dots that are on the image. 110 00:08:07,433 --> 00:08:11,333 So, NCCOS and Maryland Department of Natural Resources 111 00:08:11,333 --> 00:08:12,700 are leading this component. 112 00:08:13,066 --> 00:08:16,633 And, finally, the topographic component of elevation 113 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,500 is being collected at each of the vegetation plots on the island 114 00:08:20,500 --> 00:08:24,133 In addition to that, we are collecting shoreline position, 115 00:08:24,533 --> 00:08:29,800 and the entire island elevations are being mapped using drones. 116 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,000 And NCCOS is the lead on this component. 117 00:08:34,833 --> 00:08:37,600 Now, speaking of drone-based products, 118 00:08:37,966 --> 00:08:43,066 here are two examples of drone-based imagery products from 2019, 119 00:08:43,066 --> 00:08:46,566 So, this is a few months after sediment placement and planting. 120 00:08:47,166 --> 00:08:48,433 The image on the left 121 00:08:48,433 --> 00:08:52,533 is a georectified composite image, or photograph, 122 00:08:52,533 --> 00:08:56,233 that will allow us to conduct habitat classifications 123 00:08:56,233 --> 00:08:59,233 and quantify the change in habitat over time. 124 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:06,366 The image on the right is a digital elevation model, or DEM, also from 2019. 125 00:09:07,866 --> 00:09:11,866 This will allow us to do cut and fill analysis with future data sets, 126 00:09:11,866 --> 00:09:16,600 like those we just collected in 2020 that are not yet processed. 127 00:09:17,033 --> 00:09:19,166 But these DEMs will allow us 128 00:09:19,166 --> 00:09:24,066 to quantify the change in elevation over time on the island. 129 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,933 So, obviously, analyzing our data from 2020, 130 00:09:30,933 --> 00:09:34,700 and doing these comparisons over time are a primary next step. 131 00:09:34,766 --> 00:09:39,133 But we also have some adaptive management actions planned for the island. 132 00:09:39,866 --> 00:09:42,433 So, you can see from the 2020 image 133 00:09:42,433 --> 00:09:46,233 that the high marsh near the forest is doing very well, 134 00:09:47,066 --> 00:09:50,566 but that the low marsh plantings did not have great survival. 135 00:09:51,433 --> 00:09:53,766 The greens patches that you see on the left 136 00:09:53,766 --> 00:09:58,166 are primarily low marsh vegetation that survived the placement 137 00:09:58,166 --> 00:09:59,900 and is growing vegetatively. 138 00:10:00,333 --> 00:10:01,366 But, it needs some help. 139 00:10:01,733 --> 00:10:03,600 So, one of the planned actions 140 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:09,533 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to plant more low marsh in spring 2021. 141 00:10:10,100 --> 00:10:14,300 So, in addition, we are continuing model development 142 00:10:14,300 --> 00:10:18,966 using field data to evaluate and apply the model to our research question. 143 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,933 And, finally, we are updating our monitoring and adaptive management plan, 144 00:10:24,066 --> 00:10:29,966 which not only serves as a blueprint for the project team, but also ensures that 145 00:10:29,966 --> 00:10:34,300 the process is transferable to other islands and nature-based systems. 146 00:10:37,333 --> 00:10:39,333 And so, on my final slide, 147 00:10:39,333 --> 00:10:43,266 just circling back briefly to projects with triple-win outcomes, 148 00:10:43,266 --> 00:10:45,866 I really think this headline says it all: 149 00:10:46,500 --> 00:10:52,033 "Miami-Dade wants mangroves and islands for coastal protection instead of 10-foot walls" 150 00:10:52,900 --> 00:10:55,700 You know, when I saw this, you know I started thinking, 151 00:10:55,700 --> 00:10:59,000 you can build walls for coastal protection, 152 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,966 but no one is going to want look at 10-foot walls, 153 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:07,633 and there are not a lot of co-benefits associated with a wall. 154 00:11:08,933 --> 00:11:15,133 So, if we can quantify the storm protection benefits of natural systems, like islands, 155 00:11:15,133 --> 00:11:20,533 this may help to re-engineer nature back into our cities and communities. 156 00:11:21,433 --> 00:11:23,900 With that, I want to thank everybody, 157 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:28,466 and ask you to please feel free to contact me if you would like more information. 158 00:11:28,666 --> 00:11:30,800 Thanks again, bye.