In 2012, NOAA Fisheries announced $435,000 in funding to support oyster and wetlands restoration projects in the Lafayette River.
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and NOAA Restoration Center provided approximately $300,000 to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Elizabeth River Project to support the construction and placement of oyster reef balls and other oyster restoration projects in the Lafayette River.
The NOAA Restoration Center also awarded $135,000 to the City of Norfolk to support the construction of a living shoreline along the banks of the Colley Bay portion of the river.
Both of these activities support the goals of the Lafayette River Restoration Plan, which calls for a ten-acre increase of both wetlands and oyster reefs in the river by 2014.
NOAA also shared data from a sonar survey the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office’ Field Science Team conducted in the Lafayette River to assess the amount of river bottom that could support future oyster restoration projects.
The survey determined that there are more than 200 acres of river bottom where conditions could support oyster restoration projects.
source: NOAA
Published: June 14, 2012 | Updated: February 1, 2018