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Prime Hook refuge work nears completion

Piping plovers establish first nest on replenished beach
July 29, 2016

Most of the work on the $38 million beach and marsh restoration project at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge will be complete by the end of August. Then it will be time for Mother Nature to work her magic.

• Four substantial breaches have been filled in, and nearly 8,000 feet of shoreline has been replenished with more than 1 million cubic yards of Delaware Bay sand.

• The dune has been restored to a height of 9 feet with a 100- to 600-foot-wide back barrier platform between the dune line and marsh.

• Beach grass and 10,000 feet of fencing have been added to stabilize the dune and back barrier.

• More than 25 miles of channels have been dredged out in the marsh to restore the refuge to a tidal system; man-made water-control structures will be removed.

• The channels will allow free flow of water from the Broadkill River in the south and Slaughter Canal and Prime Hook Creek in the north. It's that water moving through the channels that will provide the foundation for marsh restoration. Mud flats have been exposed, allowing grasses to grow.

• The majority of the refuge will revert back to a saltwater marsh with some areas of freshwater wetlands.

• Aerial seeding of wild millet seed over 1,000 acres in the Unit 3 impoundment was done last week.

While damage to the refuge took several years and a series of storms, restoration work has taken a year, with work concentrated in the Unit 2 and Unit 3 impoundments. The refuge is organized into four units, which are bounded to the north by Fowler Beach Road and to the south by Route 16. The two units include more than 5,000 acres of the 10,144-acre refuge.

The project is one of the largest marsh restoration projects ever attempted on the East Coast.

"The good news is the biological response has been phenomenal," said Al Rizzo, project leader for the Coastal Delaware National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which also includes Bombay Hook.

Rizzo and other Prime Hook staff had a meeting July 13 at refuge headquarters to update the public on the project.

And it didn't take long for piping plovers to establish a nest in the coarse sand on the new beachfront.

"It's the first documented nest on Prime Hook," Rizzo said. "This highlights our primary focus to restore habitat in the refuge." Rizzo said to protect the nest, the beach has been closed and will remain closed until the plover chicks fledge, probably by early September.

Other shorebirds – including oyster catchers and least terns – have returned to the refuge, Rizzo said. "And this year's horseshoe crab count exceeded all expectations," he said.

Marsh destroyed by saltwater intrusion

Nearly all of the marsh in Unit 2 was destroyed by saltwater intrusion from the Delaware Bay. A series of storms over the past eight years opened breaches along the coastline; Superstorm Sandy in November 2012 only exacerbated the damage.

Thousands of acres of what used to be freshwater marsh were changed to open water, drowning out marsh plants. Restoration of the marsh will also protect the small community of Primehook Beach, which borders the refuge.

Rizzo said the new beach profile allows tidal surges to roll over the beach and dune. The replenished back barrier along the dune line is protection for the beach and dune. It survived its first test when Jonas hit the coastline in January.

Rizzo said where the replenished beach and the existing private Primehook Beach meet is the weakest link in the system. "But we think the beach will get the benefit of sand drifting south during the summer," he said.

New bridge on Prime Hook Road

In conjunction with the restoration project, DelDOT is building a new $1.64 million bridge on Prime Hook Beach Road. Water will be able to flow under the bridge in the largest channel dug out as part of the project.

DelDOT is also replacing culverts under the road to allow for water flow during high and low tide periods. Rizzo said the two projects should alleviate most of the flooding problems that have plagued the road for years.

In addition, asphalt pieces of what is left of an 1,800-foot section of Fowler Beach Road will be removed to make way for a walkway to the beach.

Dealing with refuge predators

With the return of shorebirds to the refuge, the issue of predators – including raccoons, foxes and even some species of gulls – has risen.

Rizzo said a trapper has removed a significant number of raccoons and foxes from the refuge. "It's always a delicate balance," Rizzo said.

While it's not always preferred, Rizzo said, under U.S. Fish & Wildlife guidelines, the refuge can use lethal means to deal with predators, especially to protect endangered species such as piping plovers.

"We know that every decision we make is heavily scrutinized," he said. "We are cognizant of public perception."

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