Wetlands Statement of Findings York River Shoreline

This statement of findings has been prepared to comply with Executive Order 11990. The Repair and Stabilize the York River Shoreline to Protect the Colonial Parkway Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Repair and Stabilize the York River to Protect the Colonial Parkway project includes a phased approach to completing the entire project. As described in the EA, future statements of findings will be prepared on a phase-by-phase basis as preliminary design plans are advanced to construction-ready documents. In a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), the NPS selected the alternative for repairing and installing shoreline stabilization along the York River to protect the Colonial Parkway.

This statement of findings evaluates the impacts to wetlands for Phase 1A, Phase 1B, and Phase 2 of the proposed project, which include the following:

Phase 1A and 1B Combined - Based on the wetland delineation, wetlands within the approximately 1.5 mile study area include (besides the York River) approximately 0.75 acres of estuarine emergent marsh (E2EM), 1.14 acres of estuarine intertidal rocky shore (E2RS), 0.10 acres of estuarine scrub- shrub (E2SS), 1.29 acres of estuarine intertidal unconsolidated shore (E2US), 0.18 acres of palustrine emergent marsh (PEM), and 0.26 acres of palustrine scrub-shrub (PSS) wetlands.

Phase 2 - Based on the wetland delineation, wetlands within the approximately 1-mile study area include (besides the York River) approximately 1.43 acres of estuarine emergent marsh (E2EM), 0.27 acres of estuarine intertidal rocky shore (E2RS), 0.04 acres of palustrine emergent marsh (PEM), 0.49 acres of estuarine scrub- shrub (E2SS), 3.02 acres of estuarine intertidal unconsolidated shore (E2US), 0.14 acres of palustrine forested (PFO), and 0.76 acres of palustrine scrub-shrub (PSS) wetlands.

Proposed Wetland Compensation

Total project impact acreage: 3.12 acres. Approximately 0.53 acre of non-vegetated estuarine habitat and approximately 0.58 acre of subaqueous habitat will be impacted by the project due to placement of stone spurs and sills. The total area of impact from sand fill will be approximately 0.24 acre to subaqueous habitat, 0.043 acre to vegetated estuarine habitat, 1.66 acres to non-vegetated estuarine habitat, and 0.065 acre to palustrine habitat.

Compensation - Phase 1A & 1B: The living shoreline in Phase 1A and 1B combined will include sand fill behind the sills that will create 16,644 square feet (0.38 acre) of stable, sandy, intertidal shoreline, 15,461 square feet (0.35 acre) of Spartina patens vegetated backshore, 11,888 sq ft (0.27 acre) of vegetated intertidal zone, 10,589 sq ft (0.24 acre) of non-vegetated sandy backshore, and 52,921 sq ft (1.21 acres) of rocky intertidal zone at the toes of all structures.

Compensation - Phase 2:
Total compensation acreage: 5.41 acres. Restoration of the vegetated marsh and sand backshore habitats include the establishment of 0.74 acre of stable, sandy, intertidal shoreline, 0.99 acre of Spartina patens vegetated backshore, 0.42 acre of vegetated intertidal zone, 0.66 acre of non-vegetated sandy backshore, and 1.6 acres of rocky intertidal zone. Existing populations of invasive Phragmites australis will be removed from within the project area as part of this project. There are three populations of Phragmites in the project area, all located within the Phase 2 area, and each consisting of 0.28 acres, 0.58 acres, and 0.14 acres. All three of these populations will be removed, for a total of 1.0 acre of restored habitat.

Document Content:

COLO York River Ph 1-2 WSOF Final_508_compliant.pdf   (16.7 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.