Past Restoration Projects (2012 - Present)
| Project Name | Primary Partner | Year | Status | CCMP Actions | APNEP Funding | Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Impact Development Stormwater Strategies | River City Community Development Center | 2017-2018 | Complete | C1.5, D1.1, D1.2, D2.2, D3.1 | $15,000 | The River City Community Development Corporation partnered with APNEP, NCCF, WithersRavenel, and the Aquarium at Roanoke Island for this project to inform youth and adults about stormwater. Stormwater is the number one polluter of surface waters in the APNEP region. Though the main goal of this project was to incorporate LID stormwater techniques into a design for Phase II of a public space in Elizabeth City, it also offered a chance for community involvement. Students within the community had the opportunity to participate through River City YouthBuild. These students helped retrofit the first phase of the project with LID stormwater techniques. |
| Edenton Constructed Wetland Renovation and Environmental Education | Town of Edenton | 2016-2017 | Complete | B1.1, C2.3, C3.2, D1.1, D2.1, D2.3 | $2,000 | A wetland was constructed on Filbert’s Creek. Constructed wetlands, or man-made marshes or swamps, control water flows and improve water quality. Once the wetlands were constructed, pollutants entering through runoff were converted into less harmful forms. In addition to this, the new wetlands provided a habitat for plants and animals. New signs created by the Albemarle Resource Conservation and Development Council explained how the wetlands function. |
| Cape Carteret Church Ponds Stormwater Retrofit | NC Coastal Federation | 2016 | Complete | B1.1, C2.3, C3.2, D1.1 | $4,000 | Funding was provided to assist the North Carolina Coastal Federation in converting two failing stormwater ponds to wetland habitat. NCCF partnered with the town of Cape Carteret and two churches, Cape Carteret Baptist Church and Cape Carteret Presbyterian Church. The ponds lost functionality in 2012 and became eyesores with invasive species continuing to proliferate in the lower pond. In an effort to restore water quality in Deer Creek, the ponds were converted to a system of wetlands during January through June 2016. The infiltrating wetland filters water from a neighboring shopping center and Highway 24 before it drains to the salt marsh, and eventually to Bogue Sound. |
| Rainwater Harvesting System Improvements to Support Sustainable Landscaping Demonstrations | NC Aquarium-Roanoke Island | 2015 | Complete | B1.1, C1.5, D1.1, D2.3 | $4,000 | Funding was provided to extend the reach of existing rainwater-harvesting cisterns to irrigate the Aquarium's NC Wildflower Meadow. The Wildflower Meadow is a 2,100 square foot demonstration garden, created to encourage the use of native plants and sustainable landscaping methods. |
| NC Oyster Summit: Promoting a Healthy Coastal Environment and Economy | North Carolina Coastal Federation | 2015 | Complete | C5.1, C5.2, C5.3 | $4,000 | The Albemarle Pamlico National Estuary Partnership sponsorship allowed for the planning and implementation of the 2015 Oyster Summit. This summit brought together Legislators, other elected officials, economic developers, fishers, educators, interested people, scientists, resource managers, and shellfish growers involved in establishing public policy, research, monitoring, managing, growing and harvesting oysters in N.C. The day and a half summit was held in Raleigh at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences on March 10 and 11, 2015. The summit explored innovative strategies to restore oysters and oyster habitat in North Carolina, boost oyster production and ensure a healthy and growing coastal economy. Visit http://www.nccoast.org/2015/03/oyster-summit-report/ for final agenda and presentations. |
| Use of a Novel Restoration Method to Enhance Oyster Populations and Improve Water Quality in Tidal Creeks | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 2013-2014 | Complete | C5.1, C5.3 | $32,167 | In an effort to improve water quality in North Carolina’s tidal creeks, researchers looked to a new methodology. Researchers partially buried oysters in high salinity areas for the purpose of oyster restoration and enhancement. These high salinity areas are located in the mouths of creeks, where there is increased predeation, competition, disease and bioerosion. For these reasons, oysters generally make their homes away from high salinity environments. However, burial in these areas can help oysters avoid these outside stressors. Not only this, but with the additional ecosystem services of these animals, water quality is enhanced. This study involves two main objectives: determining if the deliberate burial of oysters increases water quality and applying this idea to an impaired body of water. The study was carried at five points along the eastern shore of the Newport River, between the town of Beaufort and into Core Creek. |
| Using positive interactions between bivalves and seagrass to improve water quality and restore essential fish habitat in coastal North Carolina: Phase II | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 2013-2014 | Complete | C3.3 | $74,987 | This project is an expansion of a project carried out by the UNC in 2010 at the Rachel Carson National Estuary Reserve. In the initial project scientists deployed 40,000 seed and cherry stone clams in bare or patchy areas. Through this, researchers found that distribution of the clams increased the amount of SAV, and more specifically, eelgrass. As a follow up to the initial project, two 1.25-acre sites in the waters of Back Sound and Pamlico Sound. Approximately 200,000 hard clams were distributed in the two sea grass meadows. The study helped researchers better understand the interactions between bivalves and sea grasses could aid in the recovery of sea grass meadows. |
| Water Quality Restoration of Alligator River, Long Shoal River, and Pamlico Sound | North Carolina Coastal Federation | 2013-2014 | Complete | Water Quality, Objective B; Vital Habitats, Objectives B and C; Stewardship, Objective B. (previous CCMP) C2.3, B1.5 (current CCMP) | $74,989 | This project involved the placement of a water structure, ten swales and dikes into farm lands around the Lake Mattamuskeet area. The structures reduce the amount of water on the farmlands, thus reducing pollution into the rivers of the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary. Instead of going straight to the rivers, water is filtered through wetland soil and used by vegetation. |
| Enhancement and Restoration of North Carolina's Oyster Resource through Oyster Sanctuaries | NC Division of Marine Fisheries | 2013 | Complete | C5.1 | $34,464 | Funds were provided to DMF to continue construction of the West Bluff Oyster Sanctuary in Hyde County. Funds were used to purchase reef structures for deployment on the santuary, enhancing approximately 1.25 acres of area. The goal of the sanctuary program is to create native broodstock areas that are protected from harvest and bottom-tending gears, as well as to aid in restoring the oyster resource through disperal of larvae to adjacent areas. |
| Jockey's Ridge State Park Community-based Shoreline Restoration | North Carolina Coastal Federation | 2012-2013 | Complete | Restore Water Quality, Objective B; Conserve and Protect Vital Fish Habitats, Objective C; Promote Responsible Stewardship, Objective B (previous CCMP) C1.3, C5.1, D1.1, D2.1 (current CCMP) | $16,280 | As part of a multi-year effort for the North Carolina Coastal Federation and Jockey’s Ridge State Park, this project brought youth to the Outer Banks to participate in community service projects. These projects benefitted the shoreline of Jockey’s Ridge, where there is significant erosion. At the time, it was estimated that 40% of the parks’ one-mile estuarine shoreline was healthy. In all the volunteers impacted 725 feet of shoreline. One group in particular, River City YouthBuild, had students participate in two shoreline projects. One involved them planting marsh grass at Durant’s Pointed. The other involved rebuilding oyster beds. |
| Enhancing Oyster Reef Ecosystems in Coastal Tidal Creeks to Improve Water Quality | UNC Institute for Marine Sciences | 2012-2013 | Complete | C5.3 | $45,361 | UNC Institute for Marine Sciences tested the feasibility of migrating reefs up estuarine salinity gradients, with the hope of establishing oyster colonies in lower-salinity areas in upper creeks. These areas have high sedimentation rates, as well as other anthropogenic and storm-induced changes, which impede oyster growth and persistence in upper creek areas. Oyster communities provide filtration and can improve water quality by reducing levels of particulates and nutrients. This project aimed to provide a hard substrate not usually available in lower-salinity areas. Researchers deployed refurbished concrete-coated crab pots to be used as a substrate in six tidal creeks. The results of the project supported the idea that subtidal oyster reef habitats in physically and biologically favorable estuarine environments can be enhanced through the deployment of substrates. |
| Albemarle-Pamlico Peatland Enhancement Project | The Nature Conservancy | 2012-2013 | Complete | C2.1, C2.3, C3.2 | $74,500 | The Albemarle-Pamlico region in northern North Carolina and southern Virginia consists of fragile coastal ecosystems, vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This involved Alligator River National Wildlife Reserve, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Reserve, and Dismal Swamp State Park. These lands went through a strategic restoration and enhancement of forested wetlands to increase the resiliency of these systems to future change. Funded advanced hydrologic management on project lands through installation of ditch plugs, water control structures, and groundwater monitoring devices. |
| 2018 Graduate Fellowship in Estuarine Research | NC Sea Grant | 2018-2019 | In Progress | TBD | $5,750 | Working with North Carolina Sea Grant, APNEP funds a fellowship to provide a graduate student in North Carolina or Virginia with the opportunity to conduct applied research in the North Carolina portion of the APNEP management boundary. |
| 2017 Joint Graduate Fellowship in Estuarine Research | North Carolina Sea Grant | 2017-2018 | Complete | C3.1 | $5,750 | Working with North Carolina Sea Grant, APNEP funds a fellowship to provide a graduate student in North Carolina or Virginia with the opportunity to conduct applied research in the North Carolina portion of the APNEP management boundary. The 2017 Fellowship was awarded to Mollie Yacano, an M.S. student at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, to study how the presence of the invasive aquatic plant Phragmites australis impacts nitrogen processing in marsh sediments. |
| 2016 Joint Graduate Fellowship in Estuarine Research | North Carolina Sea Grant | 2016-2017 | Complete | C3.3 | $5,750 | Working with North Carolina Sea Grant, APNEP funds a fellowship to provide a graduate student in North Carolina or Virginia with the opportunity to conduct applied research in the North Carolina portion of the APNEP management boundary. The 2016 Fellowship was awarded to Stacy Zhang, a doctoral student in Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, to examine novel restoration strategies for seagrass beds. |
| North Carolina Low Impact Development Summit: Advancing the Next Generation of Stormwater Management | North Carolina Coastal Federation | 2014-2015 | Complete | C1.5 | $2,500 | This conference acted as a platform for sharing ideas, tools and standards for low impact development ideas. Those in attendance included development, design, planning and permitting professionals from across the state. They attended presentations by national speakers, government leaders, research experts and developers. The funding provided by APNEP went to local governments in the APNEP region, so individuals in these areas could attend at a reduced cost. Through low impact development, water quality can be improved, because targeted sources of pollution are removed. |
| North Carolina Oysters: A Workshop to Chart Future Restoration, Learning from the Past | NC Coastal Federation | 2014 | Complete | A1.1, A1.2, B2.6, C5.1, C5.2, C5.3, E1.1 | $2,402 | APNEP supported a January 2014 workshop to assess the current state of oyster populations in North Carolina. The workshop focused on how oyster restoration and management has progressed in the last 20 years and served as a platform for charting future restoration and management activities. At the workshop, participants heard and discussed lessons learned from the last 20 years of oyster research, restoration, harvest, and management; and aided in the identification and development of needed actions, strategies, and resources to ensure a healthy and stable oyster population that supports both a sustainable harvest and robust, diverse, and resilient oyster habitats. This workshop layed the groundwork for the development of oyster restoration goals to be presented at a future oyster restoration summit. |
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