Major project to upgrade storm protections for Howard Beach, Queens
NEW YORK - Federal funding has been approved for an innovative resiliency project on a 150 acre span along Spring Creek and Jamaica Bay in Queens to better protect homes and businesses from destructive storm surges. The project will use an initial $3 million for engineering and design work, and once approved, an estimated $47 million toward resiliency efforts. Approximately 3,000 homes in the Howard Beach neighborhood suffered serious damage as a result of Superstorm Sandy.
"Like several other communities located by water, Howard Beach suffered incredible damage from storm surges during Superstorm Sandy," Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "To strengthen Howard Beach against future flooding and storms, we are moving forward on a major project that improves the natural infrastructure along Spring Creek and the Jamaica Bay coast in Queens, with the approval of federal funding. As the State continues to work with local communities to identify and implement strategies to make at-risk areas more resilient to extreme weather, this project is another example of how we're building back better to better protect New Yorkers' homes and businesses."
At the request of Governor Cuomo, the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) developed a plan to implement a natural infrastructure resilience project along Spring Creek and Jamaica Bay to limit storm surge inundation in Howard Beach. The project will involve excavation, re-contouring, and re-vegetation to establish a self-sustaining system of wave-dampening barriers to reduce storm damage.
Key features of the innovative project include low- and high-level vegetated salt marshes, dune complexes, grasslands and maritime forests at increasing elevations, which will protect against storm surges like those experienced during Hurricane Sandy and provide an additional level of resiliency against sea level rise. The project also holds open the prospect for surge dampening shell fish reefs and will interact with on-going efforts to rebuild marsh islands to ultimately establish multiple barriers of protection for Howard Beach and other Jamaica Bay communities.
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