Minutes

Minutes

Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC)

Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters

Wellfleet, MA

March 21, 2018

Members Present: Tim Smith, Hunt Durey, Steve Spear, Gary Joseph, Eric Derleth, Hillary Greenberg, Peter Herridge

Others Present:  Margo Fenn, Martha Craig, Carole Ridley, Christine Odiaga, Helen Miranda Wilson

Margo Fenn opened the meeting at 9:30 am.  Gary Joseph noted that he had met with the Friends of Herring River (FHR) team to discuss how to make the HRRC meetings more efficient. The Committee members agreed that using the subcommittees to vet issues and make recommendations to the full HRRC could improve operations.

Administration/Coordination:

Approval of Minutes:  The Committee voted to approve the minutes of February 8, 2018 meeting.

Schedule of Meetings:  The Committee approved the following schedule for upcoming meetings:

            Tuesday, April 10, 2018:                     HRRC regular meeting

            Thursday, May 10, 2018:                    HRRC regular meeting

            Wednesday, May 16, 2018:                 Herring River Executive Council meeting

The group noted that the Herring River Executive Council will meet jointly with the newly appointed Stakeholder Group.

Communications/Coordination with Friends of Herring River (FHR): Martha Craig reported on a recent monitoring workshop that was held in cooperation with the Wellfleet Shellfish Constable and Shellfish Advisory Board. This March 5th forum featured speakers from the National Park Service, US Geological Survey, Geological Society of America and Center for Coastal Studies. The speakers provided an overview of monitoring and adaptive management measures planned or underway by the Herring River Restoration Project to track restoration benefits to coastal resources, including shellfish. 

By restoring twice-daily flushing with high-salinity Cape Cod Bay water, the Herring River Restoration will improve water quality, which could lead to re-opening and expansion of harvestable shellfish beds.  More than 50 shellfishers and interested citizens attended the forum and ask questions of the speakers.

Town elections will be held later this spring.  FHR staff will reach out to the candidates for Selectmen in Truro and Wellfleet and offer to provide them with a briefing on the Restoration Project.  FHR will co-sponsor two other events in the coming months: On March 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm at the Wellfleet Senior Center, Dr. Kevin Kroeger of the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center will give a talk on Blue Carbon, and the role that healthy salt marshes play in combating climate change. On May 3, 2018, at 6:30 pm there will be a presentation at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary on the wildlife of Herring River.

Discussion and Updates:

Hydrologic Modeling:  Kirk Bosma joined the meeting by phone and provided the group with a presentation on the latest simulations that WHG has developed for Mill Creek and Upper Pole Dike Creek. The analysis looks at combined storm surge and precipitation events and evaluates how drainage can be optimized. He noted that the assumptions of this analysis are very conservative and that such extreme combination storms have never occurred to date. The Committee discussed the Phase 1 area of project effect (i.e. storm of record water levels) and the restoration area (defined by the area affected at mean high water spring tides).

Preconstruction Monitoring:  Steve Spear provided the Committee with an update on a draft groundwater study being developed by hydrogeologist Larry Martin.  The Committee also discussed ongoing data gathering and sediment testing for Class 1 activities.  ESS is coordinating this work.

Adaptive Management:  The Committee discussed a contract with Woods Hole Group (WHG) and the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) to develop a methodology for gathering social data for the adaptive management process, both in terms of prediction and monitoring responses, and to educate and engage the public on these issues. The group also discussed a separate contract with WHG to elicit input from scientific experts on a range of ecological effects. Tim Smith updated the Committee on the draft vegetation management analysis for the adaptive management plan.

USGS Groundwater Monitoring:  Jeff Barbaro and John Mullaney of the USGS New England Water Science Center joined the meeting by phone. The Committee discussed with them ongoing groundwater monitoring in the Mill Creek basin. USGS has been monitoring a series of wells and will continue gathering data under the current contract until the fall of 2018. The Committee discussed how to establish a baseline methodology to analyze the effects of tidal changes in the river on groundwater levels.  The group agreed to schedule a meeting between the USGS team and CYCC representatives later in the spring.

Budget Update:  Martha Craig reported that FHR is revising the FY18 grant budgets to reflect current priorities.  FHR has requested the remaining $1.5 million from the three-year NOAA grant.  NOAA’s FY19 grant awards will likely be announced in May.  Another $700,000 has also been requested from the MA Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) for FY19.

Permitting:  The Committee deferred discussion of a draft critical path chart for submission of the Cape Cod Commission Development of Regional Impact (DRI) application.  Carole Ridley requested that the HRRC review again the tasks, proposed deadlines and assignments to make sure they were complete and feasible.

Status of Other Work Program Elements:

High Toss Road Design:  The Committee discussed next steps for raising and removing sections of High Toss Road.

Low-lying Property Survey and Engineering:  The Committee discussed recent negotiations with low-lying property owners. The group also discussed alternative approaches to flood prevention for key properties.

Documents Referred to in the Meeting:

            -Minutes of the February 8, 2018 HRRC meeting