BASELINE DATA COLLECTION FOR A RESTORATION DESIGN AT A COASTAL RIVER PROPERTY

Many restoration and natural resource protection projects proceed without adequate baseline data collection and post-construction monitoring. This poster describes investigative research work performed by students from the University of South Alabama and McGill-Toolen High School at a former mobile home / recreational vehicle park property located along the banks of the Fish River in the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR). Though the property has been acquired by WBNERR and slated for restoration to its natural state, no basic background data set was known to exist for the property. As a result, this project was undertaken. Work at the site resulted in a complete topographical survey of the property; a bathymetry map of adjacent manmade tidal streams; water column mapping of temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity in the streams; retrieval and geological description of shallow soil borings at the site; and water-table flow mapping using piezometers installed in the soil boring boreholes. This information will be used to design a more constructible and cost-effective restoration plan, as the project continues.