Watergate Wetlands Restoration Project

The project maximizes ecological uplift, avoids adverse impacts on rare and threatened species, and anticipates climate change factors.

Location

New Jersey, USA

Client

National Park Service

To offset impacts associated with construction of a transmission line, the National Park Service (NPS) proposed to restore wetlands and the natural function of Van Campens Brook at the 114-acre Watergate Recreation Site to generate the required 33-credit acres. WSP was contracted by the NPS to advance a conceptual design developed by others to restore this area through full engineering design and permit approval.

The project will restore approximately 20 acres of wetland habitat, including palustrine emergent, scrub-shrub and forested wetlands, and restore 7.6 acres of upland habitat and enhance 55.5 acres of upland habitat.

The restoration includes removing artificial dams and human-made ponds, re-establishing palustrine wetland habitat, reconstructing and enhancing sections of the Van Campens Brook, relocating 1.6 miles of distribution line, and restoring the connection between Van Campens Brook and its floodplain.

Our team performed multiple pre-design studies to understand the ecological, biological and physical processes of the project area and regional landscape. WSP and NPS engaged in a collaborative design process that integrated the results of the pre-design studies along with the project goals and feedback received from NPS expert advisors.

The resulting design maximizes the ecological and functional uplift of the project area and avoids adverse impacts on rare and threatened species. Additionally, our team’s climate change evaluations informed the target depths to groundwater/design elevations through the project area to account for the anticipated higher level of saturation and flooding.