EPA, NOAA and Others Receive Prestigious Award for Restoring the Passage of Fish to the Peconic River in Riverhead, NY (NY)
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and 12 national, state and local organizations today
received a prestigious award from Coastal America, a unique
partnership of government agencies, businesses and environmental
organizations that work together to protect our nation's coasts.
EPA and its partners were recognized for their efforts and
leadership in restoring a passage for fish on the Peconic River in
Riverhead, N.Y. By replacing a dam in Grangebel Park in Riverhead
with a rock ramp, the project will help return alewife, a type of
herring, and American eels to their historic habitat and spawning
areas on the Peconic River. The New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation also played a major role in the project,
from securing designs and permits to coordinating funding from
government, nonprofit and corporate sources.
The Peconic River is an estuary where water from
the sea mixes with fresh water from the river and streams.
Estuaries are renowned for their habitat value, supporting 80
percent of recreational fish species during some or all of their
life stages, and are sometimes called the “nurseries of the
sea” because their sheltered, fertile bays and tributaries
provide ideal locations for spawning and juvenile growth. Scores of
marine fish live in the Peconic River.
“Protecting the health of the Peconic
River – and the fish that live there – is a priority
for EPA,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.
“This fish passage project has turned a stretch of the
Peconic River back into the important fish habitat it once was. The
rock ramp for fish in Grangebel Park will be vital to
reestablishing populations of American eel and alewife, both of
which have dramatically declined in recent
years.”
“Obsolete dams block thousands of miles of
stream habitat across the United States. NOAA Fisheries is
committed to supporting cost-effective projects like Grangebel Park
fishway to unblock this natural habitat and restore our vital
fisheries,” said Eric Schwaab, Assistant Administrator for
NOAA Fisheries. “Already we’re seeing success. This
year, we’ve tracked thousands of fish swimming up the
ramp.”
“The Peconic River Fishway
Partnership’s proactive restoration and waterway protection
is a striking example of an environmental success resulting from
the identification of a critical ecosystem need and the development
of key partnerships,” said Virginia Tippie, Director of
Coastal America.
The Peconic River flows approximately 17 miles
west to east from its headwaters on the Brookhaven National
Laboratory property to its mouth in Flanders Bay. Five dams exist
along the river at Grangebel Park, Upper Mills, Forge Road, Edwards
Avenue and the Peconic River Sportsman Club. The construction of
the rock ramp reopened 24 acres of prime spawning habitat for
alewife and American eels. Prior to the rock ramp being installed,
a ladder that assisted the fish passage was installed at the north
spillway in Grangebel Park each spring since 2000. The permanent
rock ramp, suitable for allowing the passage of both alewife and
American eels, was constructed in the south spillway of Grangebel
Park.
Both alewife and eels are critical parts of the
estuarine food chain as important prey for predatory fish and
birds. Both species are also important as food and as bait fish for
commercial and recreational fisheries.
Project partners include the Peconic Estuary
Program, which EPA and Suffolk County manage, the Peconic River
Fish Restoration Commission, the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation, the town of Riverhead, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Suffolk County, American Rivers, the
FishAmerica Foundation, the Corporate Wetlands Restoration
Partnership, the New York Corporate Wetlands Restoration
Partnership, National Grid and Spectra Energy.
Coastal America addresses the challenges of our
coasts by leveraging the capabilities and expertise of all the
partners to solve local and regional coastal problems, and
encourage public education on oceans and stewardship. This is
accomplished by sharing information, pooling resources, and
combining management skills and technical expertise.
For more information about requirements of the
Clean Water Act and how EPA protects the nation’s water,
visit http://water.epa.gov/.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/eparegion2
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