Earlier this year, James Island was all but lost to the erosive forces of the Chesapeake Bay. But as part of USACE’s Mid-Bay project, the island’s footprint is starting to reappear on the map off the coast of Maryland’s Dorchester County.
“ This long-term, 30+ year project continues our strategy for providing viable placement alternatives that meet the dredging needs of the Port of Baltimore while maximizing the use of dredged materials as a beneficial resource ,” USACE’s Baltimore District said.
Restoration of island habitat is necessary and valuable to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. In the last 150 years, an estimated 10,500 acres of this type of habitat have been lost in the middle-eastern portion of Chesapeake Bay, a valuable region for resting and nesting sites for migratory and shore birds.
Beneficial use of dredged material from USACE Baltimore’s navigation channels will follow in a later phase, a cost-effective approach that turns dredged sediment into rebuilt island habitat rather than open-water disposal.
Like nearby Poplar Island, which has used the same beneficial use model to restore hundreds of acres of remote island habitat in the Bay, James Island is expected to provide lasting ecological benefits for the Chesapeake for generations, USACE concluded.