DOI Project #CB085; Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief; Restore tidal marsh at Nanticoke River and Pocomoke Sound, MD

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This is an announcement for issuing a single source financial assistance award to the Delmarva Resource Conservation and Development Council (DRCD) in Cambridge, Maryland. This announcement is for notification purposes only. The intent of the award is two-tiered. The first dimension of the project involves the eradication of phragmites from Sandy-degraded tidal marsh on the Nanticoke River. The herbicide will be sprayed aerially from helicopter over the course of two years. Additionally monitoring and spot treatment of flare-ups on the ground will prove necessary. The intent of the award is to allow native species to stabilize the river bank and marshlands harmed by the invasive species phragmites. The second dimension of the project involves installation of eight ditch plugs on the Pocomoke Sound. This will restore 600 acres of hydrologically modified tidal emergent salt marsh on the Chesapeake Bay. This area was historically ditched and drained for mosquito management, but wetlands that are hydrologically modified are especially prone to erosion and other negative attributes. Other negative effects of the draining are poor water filtering capacity and lower fish and wildlife habitat quality. Restoring the wetlands should reverse the historic course of action in the Pocomoke Sound. This award is issued to provide financial assistance to collaboratively-developed priority projects in Hurricane Sandy disaster areas that will restore environmental resources and reduce flood hazards through collaborative efforts with local communities. The project will improve flood resiliency, restore ecosystem function, provide fish and wildlife habitat, reduce potential flood damage, and increase public safety. This project was previously vetted and approved for funding by the Department of the Interior. The appropriation for this project is the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2. Criteria for funding was based on the project¿s ability to yield the greatest return on investment by taking advantage of existing science and regional planning tools for resiliency and by working with states, cities, communities, and partners who contribute to the goals restoring and rebuilding national wildlife refuges and other federal public assets: and to increase resiliency and the capacity of coastal habitat and infrastructure and to withstand future storms and to minimize the damage incurred. This project is authorized by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2.

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