St. Johns River Water Management District

News Release

nr09-042

District receives $2.7 million for coastal restoration projects

PALATKA, Fla., June 30, 2009 - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced today that the St. Johns River Water Management District will receive $2.7 million for community-based coastal restoration projects in Brevard and Volusia counties.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was provided $167 million for marine and coastal habitat restoration. The District was among 50 recipients awarded a portion of the funds for projects across the nation. The initiative aims to create jobs; restore damaged wetlands, shellfish beds and coral reefs; and re-open fish passages that boost the health and resiliency of the nation's coastal and Great Lakes communities.

Of the $2.7 million the District will receive, $1.6 million will be used to restore 30 acres of dredge spoil-filled historic saltmarsh at the North Peninsula State Park in Volusia County. This will also increase tidal connection of approximately 30 additional acres of saltmarsh, which were isolated by spoil deposition. Work will include clearing vegetation, excavation and disposal of spoil material, grading the site to match existing elevations in adjacent marshes, and revegetation of restored marshes with species similar to those occurring in surrounding systems.

The remaining $1.1 million will be used to restore impounded coastal wetlands at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge by the scraping down of at least 12 miles of impoundment dike. This initiative will restore more than 105 acres of spoil areas and borrow ditch to critically important coastal wetland and enhance the function of nearly 900 additional acres of wetland by removing hydrologic restrictions (dikes and spoil).

This will provide benefits to a variety of commercially and recreationally import fisheries species, habitat for other wetland wildlife, and eliminate invasive exotic plant species from the restored area.

The District will provide $90,000 in matching funds and has established project partnerships with Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Floridan Resource Conservation and Development Council (FRCDC), and the Florida Park Service.

"These Recovery Act projects will put Americans to work while restoring our coasts and combating climate change," Locke said. "They reflect our investment in sound science and commitment to help strengthen local economies."

The Recovery Act was supported by Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of Florida.

For further information on funded projects nationwide, go to the NOAA Recovery Act Web site at noaa.gov/recovery. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the recovery Web site, which will include an interactive online map that enables the public to track where and how NOAA recovery funds are spent.

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