Toward a Salt Marsh Management Plan for New York City: Recommendations for Strategic Restoration and Protection

Abstract

Abstract Salt marshes in New York City (NYC) provide essential habitat and services for fish, wildlife, and adjacent communities. Due to postcolonial urban and industrial development, over 80% of these tidal wetlands have been dredged or filled. The remaining marshes continue to be threatened by poor water quality, rising sea levels, and erosion. In this chapter, we describe recommendations for how to preserve and protect this vital natural resource for future generations. First, we conducted an assessment to determine the condition and vulnerability of over 405\xa0ha of salt marsh in NYC. Second, we identified three main threats impacting marshes: obstacles to marsh migration; reduced capacity for vertical accretion; and erosion and decreased size. Finally, we developed recommended actions to address these threats: protect migration pathways through acquisition, transfer, regulation, and removal of hard surfaces on land adjacent to wetlands; elevate drowning marshes through thin layer sediment application; and reconstruct the shoreline of eroded marshes.