Project Description:
The Aramburu Island Ecological Enhancement Project (Project) is located on and adjacent to Aramburu Island in Richardson Bay, Marin County, California.
The 17-acre island was originally part of Strawberry Spit, which was constructed in the late 1950s and early 1960s by the deposition of navigational dredging spoils and upland fill in the open waters of Richardson Bay.
This island is currently owned by the Marin County Department of Parks and Open Space and is managed as a wildlife preserve. The island currently provides moderate habitat value to native migratory birds and wildlife due to dominance by invasive, non-native vegetation, lack of habitat diversity, and a progressively eroding eastern shoreline.
The Project purposes are to
1. increase the stability of the eroding eastern shoreline
2. enhance and create aquatic, wetland and terrestrial habitats to support a range of target species and natural communities
3. provide a platform for ecosystem adaptation to sea level rise, allowing for gradual dynamic transitions.
The renovated landscape of Aramburu Island will provide a suite of new habitats emulating historic ecosystem structure in Richardson Bay, including sand and gravel beaches, high tidal marsh gradients, native seasonal wetlands , and lowland grasslands.
The shoreline enhancement elements of the project were constructed in the fall of 2011. The wetland and terrestrial enhancement elements on the island terrace will be constructed in the summer of 2012.
Wetlands and Water Resources is involved in all stages of this project including background data collection and site assessment, development of the restoration plan for the island, securing permits and CEQA approval, final engineering design, construction oversight, and post-construction monitoring.
