 Evaluation
of Faunal Response to Wetland Restoration Exponent
recently managed the work of independent scientists and
co-authored an evaluation of the faunal response to a
10,000-acre wetland restoration. This project was the
largest privately funded wetland restoration in the United
States, as part of a 316(b) permit renewal application
for Salem Generating Station, in Delaware Bay, New Jersey,
for Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G).
Exponent synthesized the results of a 3-year study of
fish assemblages and marsh structure and function in the
restored wetland sites. This project also included managing
and interpreting the work of more than 20 scientists and
communicating findings to a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary
team of lawyers, regulators, and technical experts throughout
the eastern United States. Research during this high-profile
project advanced the state of understanding and knowledge
of restored wetland sites, particularly for evaluating
successful wetland restoration activities. The studies
conducted represent one of the largest experimental efforts
to documentations that restored marshes do, in fact, function
as habitat for reproduction, feeding, and growth for numerous
fish species and other components of the fauna for any
estuary. Prior to this project, few studies had adequately
documented that wetlands can be restored and that fish
would feed, grow, reproduce, and survive in such habitats. |
| Technical Review and Strategy Development
Exponent reviewed an Environmental Impact Statement
for a private high school in Westchester County, New York
and provided technical review and strategy development
for its final submission. The primary concerns regarding
development of this 64-acre site, which was previously
used for sand and gravel mining operations, centered on
two issues: the quality of the wetland and riparian buffers
and their function and surface water runoff and the possibility
of subsequent detrimental effects on groundwater and surface
water quality. Drawing on our expertise in wetland ecology
and hydrology, and in cooperation with regional design
and engineering firms, Exponent staff reviewed the analyses
that had been completed by parties on both sides of the
issues, researched the best available techniques and practices
for determining and evaluating wetland and riparian buffer
function and quality, and evaluated the groundwater and
surface water issues. We successfully developed strategies
and design alternatives with the goal of expediting and
winning regulatory and public acceptance. |
|
Habitat Restoration and Planning Process For
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Evaluation of Environmental
Investments Research Program, Exponent staff developed
a habitat restoration planning process that include
methods for identifying key ecological processes within
the ecosystem of concern and understanding those processes
in relation to the objectives of the project. The major
elements of the ecological planning process were: defining
objectives; identifying ecological models, restoration
hypotheses, and key ecological parameters; dealing with
uncertainty and avoiding the pitfalls inherent in many
restoration projects; designing restoration projects
and assessing feasibility (including small-scale demonstration
projects and experimentation); and implementing and
monitoring the design. Exponent also incorporated adaptive
management principles into habitat restoration planning,
implementation, and monitoring. This planning process
was published in Ecological Engineering (1997,
Vol. 9, pp. 89—107) and has been influential in
restoration projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers.
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