Spring Creek South Restoration & Coastal Risk Management

Princeton Hydro was contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the non-federal project sponsor New York State Department of Conservation to complete the investigation, design, NEPA process, permitting, and cost estimating at Spring Creek South along the urbanized northern shoreline of Jamaica Bay, Queens.  Spring Creek South is located within the Gateway National Recreation Area and adjacent to the densely populated New York City Howard Beach neighborhood. In October 2012, this area experienced record flooding due to storm surge and tidal conditions of Hurricane Sandy. Subsequently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $69.1 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to New York State for the Spring Creek South project to reduce the risk of storm damage and flooding to the Howard Beach neighborhood.

Princeton Hydro developed flood management and ecosystem restoration design alternatives for this 240-acre site including restoration of coastal wetlands, living shorelines, and construction of a vegetated berm to protect the Howard Beach community using Natural and Nature Based Feature principles.

The development of the design alternatives and selected design included conceptual planning, analysis of subsurface soils for geotechnical properties and hazardous waste, coastal and freshwater wetland delineations, biological benchmarking analysis, development of sea level rise curves, and two-dimensional hydrologic and hydraulic coastal modeling. Data collection and field efforts also included topographic and bathymetric data collections, tidal data collection, and baseline biological community surveys.

The selected design incorporates natural and nature based features including reuse of sandy dredged material; restoration of coastal and freshwater wetlands, maritime grassland, shrub, and forest plant communities; and construction of a vegetated berm to reduce the risk of flooding to the adjacent neighborhood. The project included the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and was granted a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) determination. As part of this complex project, Princeton Hydro led the coordination with the local Howard Beach Community Board, the FAA (proximity to JFK International Airport), USACE, FEMA, NMFS, USFWS, USEPA, NYSDEC, NYC DEP, and the National Park Service.

The larger goal of this project is to provide flood risk management through 2060 in accordance with the New York State Community Risk and Resiliency Act and the official sea level rise projections from Part 490. The resulting restoration of Spring Creek South will serve as flood storage, provide wave attenuation, and aid in the management of coastal storm risk for Howard Beach.