Repairing the Necklace--Restoration of Urbanized Stream Channels; Integrating Habitat, Aesthetics, Recreation, and Flood Flow Attenuation
Michael J. Toohill, PWS, CE, Program Manager, Natural Resources; ENSR Corp., and New England Chapter President; Society for Ecological Restoration International

Replacing Variable Water Milfoil with Native Species in Lake Massasecum
Kenneth J. Wagner, ENSR Corporation, Willington , CT

Beavers and Disinfection Byproduct Precursors in the Cobble Mountain Reservoir Watershed: Practical Management Techniques
Boning Liu, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Amherst , MA
Dana Hachigian, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, Springfield , MA  
Douglas Borgatti, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, Springfield , MA

Development of an Adaptive Management Approach and Success Criteria for the Hudson River PCBs Site Habitat Replacement and Replacement Program
Ryan Davis, Quantitative Environmental Analysis, Glens Falls, NY

Developing Post-Remediation Ecological Restoration Goals at the Sullivan's Ledge Superfund Site in New Bedford, MA
Christina Hoffman, Metcalf & Eddy, Wakefield, MA  

Panel Discussion on Ecological Restoration  

Repairing the Necklace--Restoration of Urbanized Stream Channels; Integrating Habitat, Aesthetics, Recreation, and Flood Flow Attenuation
Michael J. Toohill, PWS, CE, Program Manager, Natural Resources; ENSR Corp., and New England Chapter President; Society for Ecological Restoration International

Urban stream channel corridors often represent some of the last remaining contiguous blocks of wildlife habitat in heavily urbanized settings.  These corridors have often suffered insults due to urban encroachment, hydrologic modifications in the watershed, invasive species, and urban runoff.  At the same time they can offer the human population a rare opportunity to see urban open space in a more “natural” context and offer lessons on human perturbations in ecological systems.  Manipulation of these systems with an eye towards storm runoff control has drastically altered the ecological functioning of these systems and has caused them to become inherently unstable.  Engineering approaches to these channels have too often resolved the instability and flood carrying capacity issues by making the systems less ecologically robust, and far less interesting.  The current study reports on the results of using more holistic design criteria when restoring these degraded systems.  Bio-engineering approaches for system stability, inclusion of fisheries and wildlife habitat “structures”, alteration of the hydraulics of the system, alteration of hydrology to increase groundwater infiltration, inclusion of recreational and educational opportunities, and consideration for flood mitigation will be discussed and highlighted by case studies.  The development of pre-designed prototypes for use in restoring longer reaches of a system will also be discussed, as will the advantages and disadvantage of this approach.

Replacing Variable Water Milfoil with Native Species in Lake Massasecum
Wendy Gendron, ENSR, 2 Technology Parkway , Westford , MA 01886 , Tel: 978-589-3000, Email: wgendron@ensr.aecom.com
Kenneth J. Wagner, ENSR, 11 Phelps Way, P.O. Box 506 , Willington , CT 06279 , Tel: 860-429-5323, Email: kwagner@ensr.aecom.com

The north end of Lake Massasecum has a substantial infestation of variable water milfoil, Myriophyllum heterophyllum, that has been largely contained by fragment barriers and mechanically harvested over several years without elimination. As part of an experimental program to evaluate the efficacy of milfoil replacement by suction harvesting and replanting of native vegetation, two acres of this six acre cove were suction harvested in August of 2005, leaving about an acre of milfoil unaddressed. Suction harvesting of variable water milfoil, Myriophyllum heterophyllum, and planting of native vegetation from elsewhere in Lake Massasecum in September of 2005 was monitored by video transects through 16 treatment plots and 3 control plots, as well as two plots from which the native plants were collected, in 2005, 2006 and again in 2008. Video frames were analyzed for plant types, cover and four general density categories, facilitating an analysis of the success of suction harvesting and the resulting plant community. A number of quality control checks were performed, indicating good agreement between observers but a potential for somewhat different results from different transects through the same plot, although at the level of change sought through harvesting and planting, these sources of error were minor. Suction harvesting removed approximately 87% of the milfoil, while reducing native species by about 42%. Planting increased native density by 3 to 10%. Native vegetation expanded substantially over the 2006 growing season, while milfoil regrowth was much less but not negligible. Some additional suction harvesting and hand pulling were conducted in 2006 in the target area. Results from 2008 are not yet available but will also be discussed.

Beavers and Disinfection Byproduct Precursors in the Cobble Mountain Reservoir Watershed: Practical Management Techniques
Boning Liu, Doctoral Student, University of Massachusetts Amherst , Civil & Environmental Engineering, Amherst , MA 01003
Dana Hachigian, Forester, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, PO Box 995 , Springfield , MA   01101 , Tel: 413-787-6256
Douglas Borgatti, PhD, PE, DEE, Operations Director, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, PO Box 995 , Springfield , MA   01101 , Tel: 413-787-6256 x150

Disinfection processes are an essential treatment step in the purification of potable water as they are needed to inactivate waterborne pathogens and protect human health.  Currently, chlorine has been intensively used as a disinfectant, with 64% of water supply systems using free chlorine (US EPA, 2005).  The disinfection by-products (DBP) produced by the reaction of chlorine with natural organic mater (NOM) in water were found to be associated with human cancers and reproductive problems (Ashbolt 2004, Zavaleta et al. 1999, Hwang and Jaakkola, 2003). 

The Cobble Mountain Reservoir watershed is a drinking water source for the city of Springfield , Massachusetts and surrounding communities and is owned and operated by the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission (SWSC).  The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission receives its raw drinking water from the Cobble Mountain Reservoir, which has a capacity of 22.8 billion gallons, located primarily in the hill towns of Blandford and Granville.  Historically beaver dams have contributed to the organic loading of the reservoir.  Results of the research and the implementation of practical mitigation measures will be discussed.

Development of an Adaptive Management Approach and Success Criteria for the Hudson River PCBs Site Habitat Replacement and Replacement Program
Adam Ayers, GE Corporate Environmental Programs 319 Great Oaks Office Park Albany, NY  12203, Tel: 518-862-2722, Fax: 518-862-2700, Email: adam.ayers@corporate.ge.com
Ryan Davis, Quantitative Environmental Analysis, 80 Glen Street, Suite 2, Glens Falls NY 12801, Tel: 518-792-3709, Fax: 518-792-3719, Email: rdavis@qeallc.com  

A habitat replacement and reconstruction program has been developed for the Upper Hudson River that will be implemented following the completion of the first phase of dredging and backfilling activities.  Once the Phase 1 habitat replacement/reconstruction has been completed, an Adaptive Management Program will be implemented with the objective of creating the desired range of habitat characteristics by applying site-specific habitat information in an iterative framework of measurement and response.  There are two levels of measurement and response under this program: 1) small scale with immediate responses; and 2) larger scale with adaptive responses.  The former are short-term adaptive management benchmarks, which were developed for each habitat type to address obvious deficiencies and to assist in achieving the success criteria.   The latter are the success criteria themselves and are applied at a larger scale and used to ultimately determine the success of the Phase 1 habitat replacement/reconstruction program. 

The benchmarks consist of a series of specific objectives for certain habitat parameters, e.g., percent cover, at specified time periods after completion of the habitat replacement / reconstruction.  These benchmarks are based on non-destructive measurements to be collected each year for several years after habitat replacement/reconstruction from each reconstructed area.  They are linked with specific response actions if the benchmarks are not met.  Benchmarks are not alternative success criteria, but rather are tools for managing the replaced/reconstructed areas, and taking corrective action where appropriate, to assist in achieving success.  Monitoring for success criteria will begin in the year after dredging and will be conducted on an annual basis.  If the success criteria are not achieved in a given year, the available adaptive management options include the continuation of monitoring (without other action) to assess trends over time, the performance of immediate response actions, consideration of additional responses, or a re-evaluation of the habitat type for a given area.  Specific examples of additional response actions will be discussed.

Developing Post-Remediation Ecological Restoration Goals at the Sullivan's Ledge Superfund Site in New Bedford , Massachusetts
Christina C. Hoffman, Metcalf & Eddy, 701 Edgewater Drive, Wakefield , MA 01880 , USA , Tel: 781-224-6069, Fax: 781-224-6676, Email: christina.hoffman@m-e.aecom.com
Dave Lederer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, Suite 1100 (HBO), Boston, MA 02114-2023, Tel: 617-918-1325, Fax: 617-918-0325, Email: lederer.dave@epamail.epa.gov
Matt Schweisberg, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, Suite 1100 (CWP), Boston, MA  02114-2023, Tel: 617-918-1628, Fax: 617-918-0628, Email: schweisberg.matt@epa.gov

Remediating the large forested wetland to remove the contaminants of concern was only the beginning.  In addition to the excavation of contaminated soils, creation of a soil disposal area, and construction of a groundwater treatment plant, the Sullivan’s Ledge Superfund Site project activities also included the restoration of a large wetland system that covered approximately 8 acres of the site.  Using federal guidance regarding the restoration of ecological characteristics, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with their consultant, Metcalf & Eddy|AECOM, generated a series of wetland attributes with the intention of restoring forested and scrub-shrub wetlands, emergent wetlands, and a shaded perennial stream to create a functional wetland system in southeastern Massachusetts .  Identifying important functions and values of the existing wetland ecosystem prior to the start of remediation assisted in the development of eight (8) wetland biological and physical attributes to be monitored during the restoration of the site. The attributes were intended to capture key pre-construction structural and hydrological features of the complex wetland system that was ultimately excavated up to three feet and restored with a hummock/hollow topography using clean sediments and organic soils.  Development of monitoring procedures and a maintenance schedule was also an important element of the restoration plan due to the site's location within an active golf course, and the resulting unique requirements to prevent the accidental destruction of the restored wetland. Since construction, the Settling Defendants and their consultants have been conducting monitoring at the restored wetland areas. This monitoring has provided an opportunity to evaluate progress with respect to the attributes, and to examine which attributes were most useful in measuring restoration progress. 

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