Baldwin County Wetland Conservation Plan - Alabama Department ...

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Baldwin County Wetland Conservation Plan Final Summary Document 3.4 Research, design and implement wetland restoration/construction projects at selected sites throughout the County The Baldwin County Wetland Conservation Plan was involved with several wetland restoration projects. Each of these projects explored innovative means of restoring wetlands and provided BCWCP staff with insight for future projects. The successes and lessons learned during the wetland restoration projects undertaken during the BCWCP project period are explained below. 3.4.1 Perdido Beach Shoreline Restoration Project A shoreline wetland restoration project was initiated in the southeastern portion of Baldwin County. This project involved the construction of offshore brush fence breakwater structures designed to reduce the impact of high energy waves reaching the shoreline. Once built, the offshore structures are filled with recycled Christmas trees. Waves are allowed to pass through the structures, but their energy is greatly diminished. This mitigates the erosive forces attributed to high energy wave action. Additionally, these structures promote accretion by allowing sediment to drop out of the water column and be deposited on the shoreline. Once sediment accretion has occurred, native shoreline wetland vegetation (i.e Juncus roemerianus and Spartina alterniflora) can be established through plantings. Such establishment of vegetation should help prevent future erosion. This restoration project is modeled after a Mobile Bay National Estuary Program Action Plan Demonstration Project where a similar offshore brush fence breakwater structure was built on an eroding Weeks Bay shoreline. That project resulted in the establishment of a beach/marsh area on the subject shoreline. Construction of the offshore breakwater structures commenced on June 7, 2000 and was completed by the end of the month. On July 17 and 18, 2000, recycled Christmas trees were placed into the structures by County staff, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employees, and Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) members. The first post construction quarterly survey was completed on November 2, 2000. Generally, results showed significant accretion along the majority of the affected shoreline. Small portions of the southwest shoreline, however, exhibited erosion once the structures were put into place. This was probably due to the placement of the structures, the length of the structures, and the presence of bulkheads adjacent to the affected shorelines. 31
Baldwin County Wetland Conservation Plan Final Summary Document Construction of the offshore Perdido Beach brush fences While results of the quarterly beach profile monitoring indicate significant sand accretion along the beach directly in front of the offshore breakwater structures, there is some visible evidence that the areas of the beach corresponding to the ends of the offshore breakwater structures may be experiencing erosion. When the restoration effort was initiated, staff did not overlap the structures with the corresponding bulkheads located on the shore. As a result, the “gap” between the 32
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