Seal Beach Restoration Project

Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge in Orange County, California is primarily comprised of tidal salt marsh that is struggling to keep up with sea-level rise. This project placed 10 inches of cleaned dredged material (from a nearby harbor) over 8 acres of the lowest-elevation salt marsh. A hay bale barrier was created to prevent run-off of the newly placed sediment and avoid negative impacts on nearby seagrass beds and other marine species. Monitoring is crucial to determine the viability of these methods on the west coast, and will continue for 5 years after completion of the project.