Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge – West Pond (2021)

Posted in Environmental Services

This multi-partner resiliency project led to the creation of several acres of new habitat at West Pond and protected the shoreline with nature-based features including an oyster shell-bag breakwater system and native grasses and shrubs. This innovative project will help protect West Pond and the loop trail from the impact of climate change and extreme weather.  Over a period of six months, Galvin Bros restored 2,400 linear feet of badly eroded shoreline with 51,600 cubic yards of sand, creating nine new acres of habitat at the Refuge. The living shoreline is protected from wave energy and erosion using a system of oyster shell breakwaters made up of 5,000 biodegradable bags of shell collected through the Billion Oyster Project’s Shell Recycling Program. To further stabilize the shoreline, biodegradable coir logs and recycled trees were used. Galvin Bros also reconstructed and repaired the historic outfall at the north end of West Pond, allowing water levels in the pond to be lowered by the National Park Service seasonally to attract migrating shorebirds. In total, 14-acres of habitat, including the entire living shoreline and adjacent area, were restored with 200,000 native plants.