Hurricane Sandy revealed communities’ vulnerability to the growing risks from coastal storms, sea level rise, flooding, erosion, and associated threats. In 2014, the Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program funded a total of 54 projects totaling $102.75 million covering a very diverse geographical area stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia. These projects will research, restore and rebuild wetlands, beaches and other natural features that protect densely-populated coastal areas, and will safeguard communities, species and ecosystems from future storm damage.
Some of the innovative projects being completed with this funding include:
- Little Egg Harbor and Tuckerton Borough, NJ: This is a 200-acre Living Shoreline / Thin-Layer Deposition project in coastal marshes that includes a seven-mile swath of six coastal “lagoon” communities. The living shoreline treatment will create vegetated shoreline habitats to enhance the natural processes and connections between uplands and aquatic areas. The thin-layer deposition work involves use of high-pressure spray dredging technology to restore soil elevations in deteriorated marshes and adjacent shallow-water habitat. These ecological restoration techniques will provide storm protection for both people and ecosystems.
- Newark Bay, NJ: This project involves the restoration of a 12-acre wetland located in Newark next to the New Jersey Turnpike Bridge crossing of Newark Bay. The Newark Bay project will provide much needed infrastructure resiliency through enhanced flood protection for densely populated areas of Newark adjoining Newark Bay, as well as provide new habitat for wetland birds and fish.
To learn more about the program and other projects funded, please click here.
