Habitat Restoration in Priority Coastal Areas

About Habitat Restoration in Priority Coastal Areas

The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are leading efforts to restore priority coastal areas around the Great Lakes basin. The GLC implements restoration work through a NOAA cooperative agreement which allows key projects in priority coastal areas to receive critical funding for habitat restoration.

In 2018, GLC was awarded year 1 funding for engineering and design of a shoreline restoration project at Brandenburg Park and Engineering and Design as well as implementation for a wetland and shoreline restoration project at Lake Erie Metropark; both located within the St. Clair-Detroit River System. While located outside the targeted Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs), both project sites have been prioritized for restoration to improve native fish habitat, hydrologic connectivity, and restore hardened shorelines. Brandenburg Park has recently been renewed for year 2 funding which will begin the implementation phase of the project.

An additional non-AOC project, the Powderhorn Lake Connectivity project, was recently funded as part of the 2019 NOAA-GLC partnership.

The NOAA-GLC 2016 non-AOC cooperative agreement includes two projects within the St. Clair-Detroit River System with two local partners. When complete. These projects will have restored approximately 1,923 linear feet of hardened shoreline, 1.5 acres of nearshore habitat, and 1.7 acres of coastal marsh habitat.