Saltmarsh Restoration, Rehabilitation, and Creation Techniques for Caltrans Construction Projects

摘要

Highway construction projects along the California coast can potentially damage adjacent saltwater marshes causing a loss of saltmarsh values. Normally, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) tries to avoid these losses by moving highway alignments or other techniques. Occasionally, saltmarsh losses are unavoidable necessitating marsh restoration projects to replace lost saltmarsh values. Considerable information is available from research completed on saltmarsh mitigation, but much of the research has been conducted in States along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. Much less specific information is available for California. In the study, the authors investigated saltmarsh hydrodynamic processes, soil development, vegetation establishment, monitoring requirements, spatial requirements, construction techniques and storm water treatment. The purpose of the investigation was to determine information needs and methods available to conduct effective saltmarsh mitigation projects. A series of interim reports were prepared including an annotated bibliography of saltmarsh literature, a research needs manual and four guidance manuals for coastal saltmarsh mitigation in California.