The City of Norfolk will receive a $1,252,500 million grant from the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) to construct the Lindenwood-Barraud Park Living Shoreline. Matching funds will be provided through the City’s stormwater capital budget.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, launched the NCRF in 2018 to support on-the-ground projects that engage communities and reduce their vulnerability to growing risks from coastal storms, sea-level rise, flooding, erosion, wildfires, drought, and extreme weather through strengthening natural ecosystems that also benefit fish and wildlife.
The grant will be used to improve the shoreline to support storm resilience, reduce erosion, enhance water quality, and restore marsh and forest habitat. Improvements will be made to the Lafayette River waterfront of the Lindenwood community and a portion of the Barraud Park open space. The project will include a hybrid living shoreline and an expansion of the riparian buffer.
Norfolk Public Works planned ahead and designed this project so it was ready to go, giving Norfolk a competitive edge for grant funding.
The existing shoreline is heavily eroding in places, particularly along a steep section behind Lindenwood Elementary School. This erosion currently threatens City infrastructure, destroys wildlife habitat, and releases pollutants into the Lafayette River.
The project will restore 1.68 acres of tidal wetland and three acres of upland forest. Nearly a half mile of rock sill will protect these features and improve resilience during future storm events.
Construction of the Lindenwood-Barraud Park Living Shoreline meets goals of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Resilience Strategy, and recently adopted Green Infrastructure Plan.
source: City of Norfolk