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.

-------
    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.

-------
                                                                  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.

-------
    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

-------