File:Muddy Creek celebration event-May 5, 2016 (27064472466).jpg

Photo credit: David Eisenhauer

A celebration event took place to commemorate the completion of all Muddy Creek work by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and project partners including the removal of twin undersized stone culverts from the creek and replacing them with a 94-foot span bridge and open channel. bridge.

The replacement of the bridge over Muddy Creek took five months and cost $6.5 million, of which $3.3 million came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Hurricane Sandy funding through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. On Thursday, May 5, local officials and project partners celebrated the completion of this project with an event at Jackknife Beach.

Before work began on Muddy Creek, the project site was a tidally-restricted estuary with degraded tidal marshes. By restoring 55 acres of mixed estuarine and subtidal wetlands, the project will enhance coastal natural defenses against storm surge. And the restored tidal flow will help improve water quality, flushing out contaminants like nitrogen and improving habitat for shellfish and fish. It will also reduce the need for wastewater treatment, potentially saving the towns millions of dollars.

Perhaps the largest undertaking within the project efforts was the removal of twin undersized stone culverts from the creek and replacing them with a 94-foot span bridge and open channel.

Removing the culverts and re-opening the tidal channel means that spawning American eel and alewife can now return -- species that are a food source for many other of the Cape’s commercial fish species. In addition, recreational access between the creek and bay will now be possible for non-motorized vessels.

To learn more about the Muddy Creek project, please visit: <a href="http://www.fws.gov/hurricane/sandy/projects/MuddyCreekWetlands.html" rel="nofollow">www.fws.gov/hurricane/sandy/projects/MuddyCreekWetlands.html</a>

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/usfwsnortheast