VAI is providing permitting services to the Town of Barnstable for the Stewart’s Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project off Ocean Avenue in Hyannis, MA. Stewart’s Creek is connected to Hyannis Harbor by an undersized culvert which restricts tidal flow and is the main cause of the degradation of the Stewart’s Creek salt marsh. The salt marsh has become severely degraded, as indicated by the loss of Spartina-dominated marsh and increase in common reed (Phragmites australis). Poor tidal flushing has also degraded intertidal and subtidal bottom habitats, which frequently experience lower salinity, extensive algal blooms and hypoxia.
The goal of the Stewart’s Creek Restoration Project is to return approximately 14 acres of the lower Stewart’s Creek ecosystem to its historic condition and functioning to the greatest extent possible. This includes the restoration of both areal and functional loss of salt marsh, as well as the restoration of functions performed by existing resource areas. This restoration project will increase the rate of flushing to the estuarine/marsh ecosystem by replacing an existing undersize culvert with a larger culvert and restore historic depths and elevations to the ecosystem through the innovative use of dredging and dredge material placement for salt marsh restoration. Open-water areas will be restored to depths better suited for fish and wildlife and suitable substrates for optimum benthic communities will also be restored.
