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Making Room for Habitat Along the Delaware River
It's hard to imagine a place for wildlife along the urbanized portion of the Delaware River -- Philadelphia, Trenton, Camden, and Wilmington -- with its big industry, oil refineries, power plants, highways, railroads, bridges, culverts, dikes, and parking lots. The closest many people get to the waterfront is crossing over one of its many bridges. The Delaware riverfront is home to millions of people and is a critical component of the economic well being of the region, supporting industry, fishing, transportation, natural resources, and recreation.
Habitat is Critical Even in Urban Environments
Delaware Bay shoreline (before cleanup) with low habitat diversity and susceptible to erosion.
Maintaining a natural environment along the riverfront is equally important to the region. Natural habitat improves water quality, prevents erosion and flooding, supports fish and wildlife that depend on the river, and enhances tourism and recreational activities.
For too long now, habitat restoration along the urban corridor of the river and near the mouths of tributaries has been ignored. For many reasons, restoration projects have been more focused in the less developed lower reaches of the river and the Delaware Bay. What little habitat does exist in the densely populated portion of the river is continually stressed by pollutants from contaminated sites, urban run-off, dredging and fill projects and spills, such as the Athos Oil spill of 2004.
Habitat loss has severely impacted many species. Pollution has resulted in fishing restrictions and advisories, and stigmatized people's opinion of the river. Public access to the waterfront has also been unnecessarily restricted. The combination of development and pollution increases flooding and impacts the human, cultural, economic and natural functions of riverfront communities.
A Missed Opportunity
Scores of brownfield sites line both sides of the riverfront offering prime opportunities for both economic redevelopment and ecological improvement. We can call this the eco2 approach to brownfields revitalization. Traditionally many brownfield efforts, in a desire to get properties to reuse, have not adequately considered ecological risks from contaminants at the site nor evaluated habitat restoration opportunities.
When you consider the full range of historic and current stressors to the Delaware River, the impact from contaminants at an individual brownfield site may seem negligible. However, multiply such efforts together at hundreds of brownfield sites and the improvement could be significant. In addition, habitat restoration efforts can increase the economic return on revitalization efforts at the regional and site-specific level, as well as provide important habitat linkages throughout the estuary.
The Eco2 Approach to Redevelopment of the River
Delaware Bay shoreline (after cleanup) with high habitat diversity and stability.
The cleanup and revitalization of contaminated sites offers a prime opportunity for returning people and wildlife to the river front. Habitat restoration can easily be included in redevelopment projects. To optimize efficiencies, habitat restoration should be incorporated during the clean-up phase of a brownfield site. Often only small efforts to restore aquatic function and improve access along the shoreline are all that are necessary.
The best ways to restore the river are to address barriers to natural functioning, such as dams, dikes, ditches, and other man-made structures (e.g., hardened shorelines) and allow natural hydrology and drainage patterns to re-establish themselves. Restoration in this part of the river is particularly important because it increases recreational opportunities, provides important habitat linkages and improves water quality and flood control.
A good example is waterfront revitalization is the Peterson Wildlife Refuge 
in Wilmington DE. Over 230 acres have been restored in a previously diked and ditched marsh by reestablishing natural tidal inundations, restoring stream channels and lowering the marsh elevation in certain areas. This urban wildlife refuge along Wilmington's waterfront provides access to wildlife education and recreation for the city's residents and schoolchildren.
Riverfront habitat restoration also provides significant economic benefits. A cost benefit analysis of alternative greenway scenarios along the North Delaware Riverfront in Philadelphia determined that annual public benefits associated with an alternative that provides ecological restoration generated the highest net benefit to the City and greatest annual percent return on public investment with an estimated $2.5 billion impact on the regional economy!
New Tools to Help Plan Ecological Restoration on the Delaware
A new website designed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in cooperation with the EPA's Land Revitalization program is now available to help in the redevelopment and revitalization of communities along the Delaware River. The website is designed to help property owners and developers, community groups and federal, state, and local governments identify contaminated sites and underutilized properties and view existing restoration projects and potential sites for restoration along the riverfront. It also provides an overview of coastal habitats, natural resources critical to maintaining a healthy river and sources of contamination. Contact information for technical assistance with site specific restoration projects is also available.
Developers and existing businesses can use the website to identify ways to incorporate restoration opportunities for improving both wildlife and public access on their own properties or for finding suitable sites for mitigation and offset requirements required for most coastal zone development projects. Port operators and developers working on port expansion and dredging projects will also benefit from this information as they seek to reduce the impacts of these activities on the river. Construction and revitalization projects along the Delaware River, including Brownfields, should thoroughly explore the potential for habitat restoration, especially in the aquatic zone - areas in the river and particularly along the shoreline.
Community groups can find out about grants and technical services available to improve access to the riverfront. For example, the NOAA Community based Restoration Program provides grants and technical services to communities for habitat restoration and improving public access. In one example, federal, state, county, and private organizations worked together to provide passage for migratory fish on New Jersey's Cooper River. Two fish ladders were installed to allow migratory fish, specifically blueback herring, to access historic feeding and spawning areas further upriver. The project received the prestigious Coastal America 2001 Partnership Award from Coastal America and President George W. Bush.
NOAA debuted the new website at the Delaware Estuary Science Conference 2007 in January during a restoration session. The information compiled on the website will be instrumental in the development of a regional restoration plan being explored by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and several federal, state, and local stakeholders.
To access the website: http://mapping.orr.noaa.gov/website/portal/Delaware. For more information about NOAA's efforts to improve habitat restoration along the Delaware River, contact Simeon Hahn at 215-814-5419 or Simeon.Hahn@noaa.gov.