United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4504F)
EPA 842-F-95-001F
September 1995
?,EPA
City Island Habitat
Restoration Project
Demonstrating Practical Tools For Watershed
Management Through The National Estuary Program
Sarasota Bay, Florida
Tampa Bay
Beach
Manatee River
Bradenton
Gulf of Mexico
Sarasota
Bay
Longboat Key
Sarasota
Bay ^
Lido Key
The National Estuary Program
tLstuaries and other coastal and marine waters are national
resources that are increasingly threatened by pollution, habitat
loss, coastal development, and resource conflicts. Congress
established the National Estuary Program (NEP) in 1987 to
provide a greater focus for coastal protection and to demon-
strate practical, innovative approaches for protecting estuaries
and their living resources.
As part of this demonstration role, the NEP offers funding
for member estuaries to design and implement Action Plan
Demonstration Projects that demonstrate innovative approaches
to address priority problem areas, show improvements that can
be achieved on a small scale, and help determine the time and
resources needed to apply similar approaches basinwide.
Characteristics:
The Sarasota Bay watershed comprises about 150 square
miles of land and 52 square miles of water surface.
Nearly 500,000 people live in the Sarasota Bay area.
Land use is 42 percent residential, 10 percent commercial,
8 percent agricultural, and 40 percent open space.
The Problem: Habitat loss and encroachment of non-native
plants are major problems threatening Sarasota Bay.
Only 20 percent of the shoreline remains in its natural
state.
Intertidal habitat has declined about 39 percent Baywide
since 1950.
Non-native plants have invaded 66 percent of mangrove
wetlands in the Bay.
The Project: The City Island Habitat Restoration Project was
designed to reintroduce native habitat on 4.5 acres of public land
in a dense urban area. Project objectives also included improv-
ing water quality, increasing public access to the Bay, and
providing opportunities for public education and participation.
The NEP is managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). It currently includes 28 estuaries: Albemarle-
Pamlico Sounds, NC; Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine Complex,
LA; Barnegat Bay, NJ; Buzzards Bay, MA; Casco Bay, ME;
Charlotte Harbor, FL; Columbia River, OR and WA; Corpus
Christi Bay, TX; Delaware Estuary, DE, NJ, and PA; Delaware
Inland Bays, DE; Galveston Bay, TX; Indian River Lagoon, FL;
Long Island Sound, CTandNY; Maryland Coastal Bays, MD;
Massachusetts Bays, MA; Mobile Bay, AL; Morro Bay, CA;
Narragansett Bay, RI;New Hampshire Estuaries, NH; New York-
New Jersey Harbor, NY and NJ; Peconic Bay, NY; Puget Sound,
WA; San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, CA; San Juan Bay, PR;
Santa Monica Bay, CA; Sarasota Bay, FL; Tampa Bay, FL; and
Tillamook Bay, OR.
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Introduction To Sarasota Bay
Jarasota Bay is located on Florida's fast-growing southwest
coast. It once teemed with diverse and abundant marine species
supported by seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, and native
plants that filtered runoff from the land before it reached the
Bay. Scallops, oysters, and clams were abundant, as were many
species of fish.
Rapid residential development has vastly changed the Bay's
ecosystem by eliminating a large portion of the shallow-water
habitat. Pristine shorelines have been replaced by seawalls,
bulkheads, and riprap. Historically, disposal of dredged materi-
als changed natural shoreline elevations and destroyed much of
the vegetated areas that are vital to the Bay's health. These
areas supply food and shelter for fish and shellfish, provide
nesting places and habitat for birds and wildlife, filter pollutants,
and slow erosion.
Overview Of City Island
C^ity Island, like many areas of the Bay, had lost most of its
intertidal habitat and native vegetation. The property is owned
by the City of Sarasota. For years, the City used it as a disposal
site for dredged materials and construction debris. Disposal
activity disturbed the shoreline and dredged material piles
created unnatural elevations susceptible to encroachment by
non-native plants. Non-native species, particularly Australian
pines and Brazilian pepper trees, invaded the site and smothered
much of the native ground cover.
City Island was selected as a demonstration project because
it was representative of many other developed areas along the
Bay and is one of the few publicly-owned properties along the
coastline. It was also a good candidate for restoration because
the project site is highly visible and easily accessible. EPA
joined resources with the City of Sarasota, the Florida Depart-
ment of Environmental Protection, the Sarasota Bay NEP, the
Florida Department of Natural Resources. Sarasota County
Natural Resources Department, Sarasota County Parks and
Recreation Office, and Mote Marine Laboratory to plan and
implement the restoration project.
Project Objectives
1 he primary objective of the City Island project was to
restore highly productive, diversified, and integrated habitats to
the project site and, in the process, develop a model for restora-
tion of similar sites in the Bay. Equally important objectives
were to increase public access to the Bay and to provide oppor-
tunities for public education and participation.
Implementing The Project
.f roject planning and design for the City Island site began in
January 1990. Five key restoration components were identified:
Removal of debris and non-native plant species.
Restoration of natural land elevations.
Excavation of six intertidal pools.
Replanting of native vegetation.
Construction of a public boardwalk (the Bay Walk).
The project was implemented in several stages. Construction
began in November 1990, and the restored City Island site
opened to the public in August 1991.
In November 1990, bulldozers and other heavy equipment
rolled in to begin excavation and removal of the pines and
pepper trees and other non-native vegetation. Two tons of
debris were removed during this extensive site cleanup.
Excavated material was stored on site and used for on-site
fill to create wetland and upland habitat for native birds
and animals.
Once cleanup was completed, six intertidal pools were ex-
cavated. The pools were designed with variations in depth
and size to attract a diversity of estuarine species such as
scallops, mullet, redfish, and black drum that were once
abundant in Sarasota Bay's tidal pools. Completion of the
pools added one mile of shoreline to the Bay.
Shell
\ Path
Boardwalk
Pool
Pool
Hill
Entrance
Shell
Parking
Area
Mangrove
Shell Path
Sarasota Bay
Mangrove
Boardwalk
The City Island project includes six intertidal pools for wildlife habitat and a boardwalk for public access.
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The City Island Success Story
In December 1990, more than 100 volunteers planted
over 20,000 native plants (mainly marsh grasses). These
plants helped create a transition from the shoreline to
existing bay seagrasses about 15 feet offshore. Man-
groves, gumbo limbo trees, and sea grapes were also
planted around the island to create upland habitat and to
help stabilize the shoreline.
During the final phase of the restoration, the BayWalk
was constructed, greatly expanding public access to the
restored site. Throughout 1991, interpretative signs
were developed and placed along the BayWalk to
enhance public awareness of the need to balance
development with protection of natural resources.
The Sarasota BayWalk was formally dedicated on April 2,
1992. The entire process of selecting the site, planning the
approach, and implementing the restoration project took about
three years to complete.
MJy any account, the City Island project is a success story.
It is an outstanding model for restoration projects in Sarasota
Bay and for other estuaries where private land ownership makes
acquisition and restoration of large areas of intertidal and
subtidal habitat difficult, if not impossible. The City Island
project successfully demonstrated that by using small, publicly-
owned parcels of land, multi-use habitat modules can be
developed quickly and cost-effectively.
Many species native to the Bay (scallops, conch, striped
mullet, and sea trout) have been sighted in the tidal pools since
1991. The City of Sarasota and Mote Marine Laboratory are
providing ongoing monitoring to gather data on species diversity
and survival. Over 90 percent of the new vegetation, including
over 200 red mangroves, is thriving. Volunteers and city
employees work together to maintain the area and remove non-
native vegetation regularly. All the information gathered to date
indicates that the project has met the Sarasota Bay NEP's
primary objective of habitat restoration.
Of equal importance, the BayWalk is used extensively by
the public. County schools, Bay area residents, and tourists
regularly make use of the area. The nearby Mote Marine
Laboratory has developed environmental education outreach
activities for teachers, school children, and the general public.
Lessons Learned
T1
± he City Island project demonstrated that successful habitat
restoration is not dependent on availability of large areas of land,
nor does it need to be prohibitively expensive. In Sarasota Bay,
as in other areas where conventional restoration techniques are
limited by dense urban development, there are still opportunities
for highly productive habitat units.
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Among the other lessons learned:
I A survey conducted in April 1990 by the Florida Interna-
tional University indicated that people are willing to
support and participate in habitat restoration projects. The
survey, conducted separately from the City Island project,
determined that the public's favorite activity in wildlife
areas is the viewing of the area itself. The City Island
project has proven successful in that 10,000 to 20,000
people a year visit its Bay Walk.
I Restoring intertidal habitat can cost as much as $20,000 per
acre. The majority of the costs in City Island were for
excavation and construction.
I Excavated materials can be used to restore natural eleva-
tions and create upland and wetland areas (a cost-saving
bonus).
I Continued maintenance and regular removal of non-native
species are critical to survival of restored areas. Employ-
ees from the Sarasota County Parks and Recreation
Department remove unwanted vegetation and some cleanup
about every other month. In addition, trash accumulates
along the shoreline from the tides. Consequently, schools
Printed on recycled paper
and organizations conduct beach cleanup programs about
twice a year.
Creative approaches to funding, such as grants, in-kind
services, and donations, can result in more cost effective
projects. EPA contributed $50,000 to the City Island
project and the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection contributed $150,000 through the Pollution
Recovery Trust Fund. The City and the County of Sarasota
also contributed in-kind services.
Project officials learned that the shorelines were too linear
and the bottoms too smooth to support enough micro
habitats for fisheries. A subsequent restoration project
successfully used more variations in hydrology and
symmetry to correct the problem and create artificial reefs.
For more information contact:
Hudson Slay
EPA Region 4
345 Courtland St., NK
Atlanta, CIA 30365
(404)347-1740
(404)347-1797 FAX
Mark Alderson
Sarasota Bay NKP
1550 Ken Thompson Pkwy.
Sarasota, I L 34236
(813)361-6133
(813)361-6135 FAX
v-xEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
(4504F)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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