Two locations in Montauk, one at the southwest corner of Lake Montauk and the other at the northwest corner of Fort Pond, will be improved with so-called “living shorelines” based on largely completed plans presented to the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday.
The project has been underway for two years and the design phase is 60 percent complete. The work is being paid for with a federal grant administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
“This living shorelines project consists of an array of new restoration tactics designed to stabilize coastal erosion and help adapt to sea level rise while enhancing fish and wildlife life habitat and water quality,” said Mellissa McCarron, a principal environmental analyst in the town’s Natural Resources Department.
Both locations will benefit from the removal of phragmites and other invasive species. The areas will then be replanted with ecologically beneficial native plants. Water quality will be improved when stormwater runoff is captured and filtered through bioswales before it enters the two water bodies.
The Lake Montauk location is adjacent to Stepping Stones Pond. Lake Montauk is classified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as impaired due to the presence of pathogens.
Thomas Schaefer, a senior associate at D&B Engineers and Architects, showed photos of a healthy low marsh area threatened by a large stand of slowly invading phragmites. “That existing low marsh we’re going to protect. That is what we want to build off of. It’s well established. We want to keep it there, enhance it, and restore it,” he said.
A bioswale will capture the “first flush” of runoff from Old West Lake Drive, “where most of the pollutants are,” and an oyster bag sill, essentially bags full of oysters creating a sort of berm, will filter the water.
“Not only does this protect that low marsh,” Mr. Schaefer said, “it also incorporates a water quality improvement feature through the filter-feeding of the oysters.”
Councilman David Lys said the area had historically been used by baymen to access the lake and suggested surveying them about their needs.
Councilman Tom Flight asked if the phragmites might be stabilizing the shoreline with their “formidable” root structure.
Mr. Schaefer said the removal of phragmites would be coupled with “a very dense schedule” of native plantings that would stabilize the shoreline, and the low marsh area would remain.
“With the phragmites removed here appropriately, it’s going to open up a vista that’s pretty spectacular, too,” Councilman Lys said.
The Fort Pond location, at the intersection of Industrial Road and Second House Road, requires coordination with a pre-existing drainage improvement project, and thus is somewhat complicated.
Phragmites removal there, however, will not only help improve the ecology, it will also improve a blind spot along the roadway. A metal guardrail will be replaced with a timber guardrail. A wall of stones installed long ago to prevent erosion will be improved and expanded by a layer of rock rubble, or riprap, as a revetment.
“This area sees surprising erosion,” said Councilman Flight, a resident of Montauk. “I remember talking to Jack Perna. When he was a kid, his relatives would have him swim up to that island that used to be out there in front, which is now since completely eroded.”
“I know the island you’re talking about,” Mr. Schaefer said. “I saw it in the historical aerial. It’s gone. That’s one of the reasons that we picked this site. We tried to find an area that looked like there was a significant erosion rate.”
The D.E.C. had already reviewed the projects and especially approved of the removal of phragmites at both locations. By the end of the summer, permits will be applied for, with approvals expected by the end of the year.
In January, the designs of both projects should be finalized ahead of the final grant deadline in February.
