Approved Herring River Restoration Committee Mtg Mins

Meeting date: 
Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Minutes

Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC)

Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters

Wellfleet, MA

December 20, 2016

10:00 am-5:00 pm

Members Present: Tim Smith, Steve Spear, Eric Derleth, Peter Herridge, Steve Block (by phone), Hunt Durey (by phone)

Others Present:  Margo Fenn, Martha Craig, Kirk Bosma and Elise LeDuc of the Woods Hole Group (WHG), Dave Smith of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (by phone), Nils Wiberg and John Sobanik of Fuss & O’Neill

Modeling and Adaptive Management:

Kirk Bosma gave the Committee a presentation on three topics: 

1.      Development of the SLAMM (Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model)

2.      Integration of SLAMM work with development of the Herring River Adaptive Management (HRAM) Plan

3.      A review of other on-going hydrodynamic modeling work

The objective of the SLAMM model is to forecast changes in wetland types due to projected sea level rise.  WHG is using the model to evaluate the effects of incremental tide gate openings in Herring River.  Kirk Bosma described other models that could also be of use including the Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM) which forecasts changes in marsh elevations over time, and the Salt Marsh Assessment and Research (SMART) model which looks at changes in plant species.

WHG is just beginning its work on the SLAMM model for Herring River and will need input from the HRRC about data inputs and assumptions.  Key inputs include sea level rise, marsh elevations, tide range, accretion rates and erosion rates.  WHG will need to coordinate with the National Park Service to cross-walk vegetation data into the SLAMM model codes.

Dave Smith reviewed the tide gate management policies that USGS is helping HRRC to develop as part of the Adaptive Management Plan.  The Committee discussed how to integrate the work the WHG is doing with the Adaptive Management Plan.  Output from the SLAMM model is needed to make predictions about vegetation change, using the Adaptive Management decision-making tool.

Next steps in the adaptive management process include advancing the trade-off analysis for the lower Herring River basin and filling out a consequence table for the other sub-basins of the river.  Elise LeDuc may be able to help out with these tasks, but a new contract with Woods Hole Group will be needed to cover this work. Tim Smith agreed to provide Kirk Bosma with the latest vegetation data.

Workshop Session on Mill Creek Dike Design:  Nils Wiberg and John Sobanik of Fuss & O’Neill joined the meeting to review ongoing analysis for Mill Creek dike design. The Committee discussed different options for improving drainage in this basin under different storm scenarios. WHG will provide Fuss & O’Neill with additional data for this analysis.

Documents Referred to in the Meeting:  None