Client Type: Government
Description: Brownfield redevelopment and environmental restoration project to turn an abandoned wastewater treatment plant adjoining a polluted bay into an environmental education center and municipal park while restoring the bay.
Services: Stormwater management assessment, planning, modeling, design; wetland and creek restoration assessment, planning, modeling, design; submerged aquatic vegetation establishment planning and design; bivalve / oyster bed establishment planning and design; site planning and design; landscape vegetation planning and design; erosion controlplanning and design; earthwork / grading design; jurisdictional wetlands delineations; environmental permitting and regulatory coordination; boundary, construction, control, hydrographic, and topographic surveying and mapping; biological, chemical, and physical monitoring and sampling; project, construction, and bid coordination and management; schematic rendering preparation; funding acquisition assistance; stakeholder interaction and education; hydrodynamic modeling and animation.
Overview
The City of Jacksonville, North Carolina, is implementing a multi-component, multi-phase brownfield redevelopment and environmental restoration project. The core subproject is known as Sturgeon City . Through the Sturgeon City project, the City is adaptively reusing more than thirty acres previously devoted to city maintenance, wastewater treatment, debris disposal, and various other purposes. Key components of the Sturgeon City project include an environmental education center, municipal park, research facility, and restored marsh. Other subprojects surrounding Sturgeon City include submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and bivalve / oyster bed establishment in Wilson Bay, stormwater management system retrofits and creek, stream, and wetland restoration in the Wilson Bay watershed. Together, these projects are known as the Wilson Bay Initiative , the goal of which is to restore the bay from it's highly degraded state to an enjoyable and productive resource. Sturgeon City and the Wilson Bay Initiative provide habitat improvement, water quality improvement, flood reduction, recreation improvement, economic revitalization, public education, erosion reduction, and aesthetics improvement benefits for the citizens of Jacksonville and the surrounding areas.
Background and Details
Wilson Bay is a brackish (mesohaline) blackwater system with moderate lunar tidal range (approximately one foot in amplitude). The water level in the bay is also affected by surface water runoff events from precipitation, prevailing coastal winds, and river base flow. In addition to flow from the New River, five small tributaries drain into the bay from the Wilson Bay watershed. The median flow rate along the New River at Wilson Bay is estimated to be 75cfs, although flow through Wilson Bay is significantly less than this amount. Current salinities in the Bay range from approximately 7.2ppt to 10.8ppt.
Though changes in the Wilson Bay watershed land use began in the mid-1700s, major, rapid changes in land uses began in the 1940s. During this time, brackish tidal marshes which surrounded the bay began to be covered with various fill materials including dirt, household trash, and construction debris. Bayshore Estates was also constructed in the 1940s. Bayshore Estates is a high density single family residential subdivision which comprises approximately 44% of the urban area in the Wilson Bay watershed. In the late 1940s, a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) began operations at the bay. This treatment plant operated ineffectively for most of the time it was in operation. As a result, large amounts of undigested sludge were discharged as effluent to the bay. From this, a sediment / sludge layer with an average depth of approximately 4.5 feet accumulated over the 126 acre bay. In some areas, this layer is estimated to have accumulated as thick as 10 feet. The wastewater treatment plant also discharged high concentrations of nutrients into the bay. For some time, effluent nitrate concentrations actually exceeded that of influent nitrate concentrations. In addition to the pollutant load increases from wastewater effluent and urban runoff, the widening of a cut-through in the New River also began in the 1940s. This altered the flow pattern and flushing dynamics of the bay. Water flow through the bay is usually minimal, levels of key pollutants are consistently high, and habitat characteristics for important aquatic fauna are very poor.
Wilson Bay is classified by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) as SC waters. This indicates use of the water is approved for "aquatic life propagation and survival, fishing, wildlife, and secondary recreation". This is the lowest use rating of the three grades assigned by NCDENR to tidal salt and brackish waters. Two additional classifications, HQW (High Quality Water) and NSW (Nutrient Sensitive Water), have also been assigned to Wilson Bay by NCDENR. The term "High Quality Water" is somewhat misleading as the HQW classification was assigned not with regards to water quality, but with regards to designation as a Primary Nursery Area (PNA) by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. The NSW classification designates a water which requires limitations on nutrient inputs. These three classifications (SC, HQW, NSW) were assigned by NCDENR on October 1, 1991.
Historically, Wilson Bay and adjacent areas of the New River supported significant commercial crabbing, fishing, and shellfish activities. Recreational crabbing, fishing, and shellfish activities were also common as well as swimming, boating, and skiing. The land use changes that began in the 1940s continued and intensified throughout the next several decades until each of these activities was either unable to be conducted or was restricted by law for public health and safety reasons. In 1997, when the City of Jacksonville held a series of Community Summits, the public spoke out to support actions that would restore the heavily degraded waters of Wilson Bay and the adjacent New River as well as encourage the use of these waters for public recreation and economic development. The City then began a program to restore Wilson Bay. At that time, Wilson Bay was one of the most highly degraded ecosystems in North Carolina. In March 1998, the City of Jacksonville moved wastewater treatment operations from Wilson Bay to a new land application facility. Soon thereafter, an experimental effort was undertaken to naturally treat the polluted water by establishing bivalve colonies in various locations within the Bay. This effort was developed and coordinated by Jay Levine , associate professor of epidemiology and public health at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU-CVM). To support this effort, aerators developed by the Battelle Corporation were located within the Bay to increase dissolved oxygen concentrations. In March 2001, a project (funded by the North Carolina Wetlands Restoration Program ) to restore a brackish marsh at the former City of Jacksonville wastewater treatment plant site was completed.
A combination of many factors led to the long decline of the Wilson Bay ecosystem. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges, urban stormwater runoff, river hydraulics alterations, wetlands filling, and creek realignments all contributed to this decline. To restore Wilson Bay, all of these factors must be addressed. As such, an ecosystem engineering approach was undertaken by BLUE: Land, Water, Infrastructure (BLWI). As opposed to civil engineering or environmental engineering approaches, which focus on extreme conditions and events for analysis and design, an ecosystem engineering approach attempts to address the continuum of conditions and events within a system in an integrated manner. Ecosystem engineering projects are designed to be self-sustaining with a theoretically infinite design life. Six project goal areas were identified, assessed, and addressed: 1) habitat improvement, 2) water quality improvement, 3) flood reduction, 4) recreation improvement, 5) erosion reduction, and 6) aesthetics improvement, with particular emphasis on aquatic habitat and water quality improvement. This multiple goal approach is intrinsic to ecosystem engineering and not only provides for better overall project functions, but also increases public support for projects.
Though Wilson Bay remains one of the most highly degraded aquatic ecosystems in North Carolina, evidence suggests that the Wilson Bay Initiative has begun a reversal of the environmental decline that largely started in the 1940s. Through the support of public officials, the local community, and government agencies, the Sturgeon City and Wilson Bay Initiative is improving the quality of life for the citizens of Jacksonville and the surrounding communities.
Last updated: 10/07/02 (BLUE: Land, Water, Infrastructure)
Example of Trash Laden Material Used to Fill Wetlands at Former Wastewater Treatment Plant Site
Earthwork Operations During Phase One of the Sturgeon City Creek and Marsh Restoration
Phase One Restoration Area After One Season of Growth
Conceptual Plan for One of the Creek Daylighting and Wetland Restoration Subprojects
Three Dimensional Terrain Model of Thompson Creek Restoration Design
Hydrography and Topography of Project Area