Natural Resources & Environmental Planning

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The lower Maumee River hosts the largest fish spawning migrations of any Great Lakes tributary. Floodplain wetland habitat is essential for healthy fish communities and for wildlife that depend on wetlands at some point during their life cycle. Floodplain wetland habitat on the lower Maumee River is almost non-existent due to filling, channelization, and shoreline hardening activities completed over the last century, including at the Penn 7 former confined disposal facility (CDF) where dredged materials from the Maumee River shipping channel were placed in the late 1960s – early 1970s.

To explore the opportunity to create wetland and improved fish and wildlife habitat at the Penn 7 CDF located along the Maumee River near its mouth into Lake Erie, the City of Toledo received a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This grant funded site characterization activities and a feasibility study to determine the restoration potential of Penn 7. Working closely with the City and involved agencies, Verdantas helped prepare the successful NOAA grant application and was later contracted with the City to complete the feasibility study. The study resulted in the determination that the historically placed sediment in the CDF were no more impacted than the surrounding Maumee River sediments and that the property was suitable for restoration.

The City subsequently received GLRI funding through the NOAA-Great Lakes Commission Regional Habitat Partnership for final engineering, design, permitting, construction, and public involvement activities. The GLRI program funds were dedicated to this project as part of the Maumee AOC Management Action Project to address the Wildlife Beneficial Use Impairment. The City contracted with Verdantas and Geo. Gradel Co. to complete these activities. The engaged project management team also included Ohio EPA and the ODNR Division of Wildlife. Plans were finalized in summer 2020 and primary construction activities were finished in summer 2021.

Work Completed

To connect the upstream portion of the site with the Maumee River, a water control and fish passage structure was installed within the existing CDF dike. To allow river water to flow to and through the new wetland habitat, sediment was excavated and recontoured in the upstream portion of the site. A channel was excavated to connect the new upstream wetland to the downstream end of the property where an existing embayment is located. To protect/enhance the embayment, a dike with a water control and fish passage structure was installed between it and the Maumee River.

This project created approximately 9.5 acres of submerged and emergent wetlands on the former CDF, 8.5 acres of protected coastal wetlands/open water habitat in the embayment, and 20+ acres of improved upland habitat. This property is expected to be a productive spawning and nursery site for Lake Erie and Maumee River fish and provide quality benthic and wildlife habitat while reducing suspended sediments/nutrient concentrations of river water flowing into the restored habitat. Our work also included significant community and stakeholder outreach activities.

For more information on this project, please view this video: Maumee River Habitat Restoration Project at Penn 7 - YouTube

 

Or Visit: Maumee River - Great Lakes Commission (glc.org) and Home - Maumee AOC Area of Concern.

}', 13='{type=image, value=Image{width=1600,height=819,url='https://www.verdantas.com/hubfs/Projects/Penn7/Photo%206%20-%20Restoration%20Post-Construction-1.jpeg',altText=''}}', 14='{type=string, value=The project improved habitat for fish and wildlife by creating coastal wetlands and forested area along the Maumee River. This urban nature space will improve water quality and ecosystem health while promoting eco-tourism, birding, and fishing.}', 15='{type=image, value=Image{width=922,height=691,url='https://www.verdantas.com/hubfs/Projects/Penn7/Photo%201%20Pre-Construction.jpg',altText=''}}', 16='{type=string, value=The 59-acre Penn 7 property along the Maumee River is a former confined disposal facility that accepted dredged material from the Maumee River shipping channel until the 1970s. This section of the river has miles of hardened shorelines and Penn 7 had low quality wetlands that were isolated from the river.}', 17='{type=image, value=Image{width=4032,height=3024,url='https://www.verdantas.com/hubfs/Projects/Penn7/Photo%204%20-%20Embayment%20Construction.jpg',altText=''}}', 18='{type=string, value=A Great Lakes Restoration Initiative award through NOAA and the Great Lakes Commission Regional Partnership restored seven acres of coastal wetland habitat, created eight acres of embayment area, added 1,000 feet of fish passage channel, and incorporated 15 acres of native plantings.}', 19='{type=image, value=Image{width=836,height=627,url='https://www.verdantas.com/hubfs/Projects/Penn7/Photo%203%20-%20Channel%20Construction.jpg',altText=''}}', 20='{type=string, value=A modified channel connects the new wetland to created habitat features within the enhanced embayment area. A new water control structure within the existing dike connects the site to the Maumee River and provides fish passage. Excavation and recontouring of dredged sediments allow river water to flow through the new wetland habitat.}', 21='{type=image, value=Image{width=836,height=627,url='https://www.verdantas.com/hubfs/Projects/Penn7/Wetland%202.jpg',altText=''}}', 22='{type=string, value=Restoration provides quality spawning and nursery space for over 40 species of Lake Erie fish as well as quality habitat for native birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and river bottom communities.}', 23='{type=image, value=Image{width=1600,height=1200,url='https://www.verdantas.com/hubfs/Projects/Penn7/Photo%205%20-%20Dike%20Construction-1.jpg',altText=''}}', 24='{type=string, value=Managing client and agency input and expectations including NOAA, U.S. EPA Region 5, USGS, Ohio EPA, ODNR Division of Wildlife, and others added to project complexity. A robust community outreach program kept stakeholders engaged.}', 25='{type=number, value=0}', 27='{type=number, value=0}', 29='{type=number, value=1}', 30='{type=string, value=

Related Links

Great Lakes Commission video highlights restoration of Maumee River site | glc.org

 

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Verdantas served as lead designer on the Design-Build team for Cleveland Metroparks for the Bonnie Park Ecological Restoration and Site Improvement Project located at Mill Stream Run Reservation in Strongsville. Our team designed, permitted, and performed construction and planting for the Metroparks project. Work was funded by the Ohio EPA Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program (WRRSP).

Project goals were to complete river restoration and floodplain reconnection through the removal of a historic lowhead mill dam located in-line with the East Branch of the Rocky River (EBRR). The objective of this goal was to restore the Warmwater Habitat (WWH) status of the EBRR by improving sediment transport, fish migration and colonization. The lowhead dam was a migration barrier for fish and promoted sedimentation that negatively affected the macroinvertebrate populations within the stream corridor.

To achieve these goals, the restoration design included removal of the dam and establishment of natural stream profile and pattern by incorporating boulder riffle and pools through the previously impounded river area and through the demolished dam area. The stream banks of the EBRR were restored through the establishment of floodplain bankfull benches by removing existing gabion baskets and the grading of eroded banks. An existing undersized culvert under the main entrance’s road running across the floodplain was replaced with a large 3-sided culvert to provide floodplain connectivity to wetlands within the EBRR floodplain. The restoration also includes the creation of floodplain upstream of the dam in an existing mowed field and the restoration of two to three acres of wetland habitat in a former baseball field within the EBRR floodplain. Invasive species were removed within the limits of the project work including removal of invasive shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants.

Substantial construction was completed in fall 2020 and planting was completed in winter/spring of 2021. 

 

Chronolog Timelapse

The Metroparks set up a ChronoLog for the project—a timelapse of the site, made up of photos from visitors, compiled since 2020.  View the Chronolog

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{id=61570585145, createdAt=1639074811235, updatedAt=1646949456402, path='doe-downstream-fish-passage-american-eel', name='Downstream Passage for Silver American Eel', 1='{type=string, value=Modular and Scalable Downstream Passage for Silver American Eel}', 4='{type=string, value=Read how Alden tested the effects of innovative downstream fish passage technologies with lab, CFD, and field analysis. Funded by the Department of Energy}', 5='{type=list, value=[{id=15, name='Energy', order=0, label='Energy'}, {id=18, name='Water', order=3, label='Water'}]}', 6='{type=list, value=[{id=17, name='Fish Passage', order=16, label='Fish Passage'}, {id=18, name='Fish Protection', order=17, label='Fish Protection'}, {id=30, name='Hydropower', order=29, label='Hydropower'}, {id=31, name='Environmental Engineering', order=30, label='Environmental Engineering'}]}', 7='{type=list, value=[{id=2, name='Numerical Modeling', order=1, label='Numerical Modeling'}, {id=5, name='Desktop Analysis', order=4, label='Desktop Analysis'}, {id=6, name='Field Study', order=5, label='Field Study'}, {id=8, name='Laboratory Testing', order=7, label='Laboratory Testing'}]}', 8='{type=string, value=

Through funding made available by the U.S. Department of Energy, Alden conducted a series of studies to evaluate and optimize the design and operation of two modular and scalable fish bypass systems developed specifically to provide safe downstream passage of silver American Eels at hydropower projects. The goal of the studies was to address the need for biologically effective and less expensive downstream fish passage technologies for silver eels. The studies were developed specifically for this fish species and life stage due to population declines in many areas of its range and the potential for mortality to occur if eels migrating to the marine environment to spawn are entrained through hydro turbines during their journey to the sea. The large size and unique behaviors of silver eels have made it difficult for dam owners to implement downstream passage measures that are both biologically and cost effective, resulting in a need for new innovative technologies.

The studies conducted by Alden included a laboratory evaluation of the biological performance of the two bypass systems, a field evaluation of biological performance conducted with full-scale bypass systems installed at the intake of a small hydro project in New Hampshire, CFD modeling of the laboratory flume and field evaluation site, and a desktop assessment of the potential for application of each technology at hydro projects within the known range of American Eel and the expected benefits (i.e., biological and economic). Few organizations have the capabilities to conduct this array of technical studies, but Alden’s scientists and engineers have been using various combinations of these approaches and methods to develop and evaluate state-of-the-art fish passage and protection systems for nearly 50 years.

Assistance with the performance and completion of these studies was provided by Lakeside Engineering (bypass design and installation) and Blue Leaf Environmental (DIDSON acoustic camera and 3D acoustic telemetry services).

 

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