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In: Barker's Island green infrastructure improvements, Barker's Island Marina, Eric Thomas, Jim Paine, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Matt Steiger, Sustain Our Great Lakes Program, Todd Breiby, Wisconsin Coastal Mangement Program

Participants on the tour listen to Matt Steiger, Wisconsin DNR, describe improvements to the Barker’s Island inland beach. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

Last week, I joined a walking tour to check on the progress of projects designed to improve the environment on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. After a welcome at the Lake Superior Estuarium by Jim Paine, the mayor of Superior, we hoofed it over to Barker’s Island beach. Although most of the work on the beach was done back in 2019, progress is still being made.

Native plants that replaced invasive buckthorn bushes were thriving and in fine color. Yellow sunflowers and purple bottle gentians lined the raised boardwalk along with many other grasses, flowers and shrubs. Our tour guides from the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) pointed out porous concrete underneath the picnic tables and pervious pavers in the parking areas along the street. These are designed to allow water to soak into the ground instead of running directly into the lake, which diminishes pollution.

The Barker’s Island beach and boardwalk. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Matt Steiger with the Wisconsin DNR said the changes are working. Before the improvements, the E. coli bacteria amount exceeded standards 42% of the time for the summer season in 2015 and 2016. After the project was completed in 2020, E. coli exceedances dropped to only 8%.

The second area we visited encompassed the charter fishing dock parking lot and the Barker’s Island Inn lot and tennis courts. Funded by a grant to the city of Superior from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes Program, progress on these projects has been slower than anticipated because of the many challenges brought about by the COVID pandemic.

However, city staff expect ground to be broken in the spring of 2022 on medians in the parking lot, which will be planted with native trees and shrubs to slow water runoff. The tennis courts behind the inn will be turned into a green space, and the paved walking path across from the inn will be extended.

Our next stop was Barker’s Island Marina. Manager Eric Thomas showed us the many improvements completed this spring thanks to several grants and cooperation among Sea Grant programs in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, as well as the City of Superior, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, The Ohio State University, and the Wisconsin Marine Association. These include a rubber mat that catches toxic paint chemicals and biofouling organisms when boats are removed from the water and washed at the end of the season.

Eric Thomas, manager of Barker’s Island Marina, describes new environmental improvements. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Pavement at the marina has been replaced and regraded so that it drains toward a new engineered wetland along its edge. Todd Breiby with the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program explained that the wetland includes a forebay, which catches the pavement runoff and allows contaminants to settle. Then the water moves into a basin filled with plants, which filter the water, and then into another plant-filled basin, before emptying into the bay.

Breiby and Thomas then walked us closer to the road to the marina parking lot stormwater pond, which was retrofitted to make it function better. The pond used to flood the lot because it had no outlet, so a culvert was added that allows water to drain into the bay once it reaches a certain level. A forebay was also installed, which captures sediment coming off the marina parking lot and improves water quality.

To ensure these new marina improvements are doing their job cleaning water, researchers from Ohio State and the Reserve are monitoring water quality and noting “before” and “after” changes.

Todd Breiby with the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program describes changes to the Barker’s Island Marina parking lot stormwater pond. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Walking back to my office (which is on Barker’s Island) at the end of the tour, I was struck by how things that look so natural, like the wetland and the pond, can do such a good job of cleaning water if we give them a chance.  Although some had only been put in this season, they already looked like they’d been around for years. It’s good to know that these features are in place and working, and that they’ll serve as examples for other communities and marinas to try.

The post Environmental improvements to Barker’s Island progressing first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/environmental-improvements-to-barkers-island-progressing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=environmental-improvements-to-barkers-island-progressing

Marie Zhuikov

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In: Adrea Crouse, Barker's Island Inn, Barker's Island Marina, green infrastructure, Julia Noordyk, Todd Breiby

Barker’s Island in Superior looks different than it did a year ago. Construction on the island’s public beach rearranged and added structures to help improve water quality and provide a better experience for swimmers.

More changes are in store for the next two summers, all designed to reduce stormwater runoff and protect water quality in the Superior Bay and ultimately, Lake Superior.

Conceptual designs were recently completed for work at the Barker’s Island Marina and will be completed in 2020 for areas around Barker’s Island Inn, thanks to several grants and cooperation among the two businesses and Sea Grant programs in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, as well as the City of Superior, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, The Ohio State University, and the Wisconsin Marine Association.

Three projects at the marina will begin work this summer. Four others at the inn will begin in 2021. Here’s the rundown.

Barker’s Island Marina will be updated in 2020 with a stormwater wetland. The project will treat runoff from the service area and parking lot. Image by Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Barker’s Island Marina

A stormwater wetland will be created at Barker’s Island Marina in 2020 in an unused area along the coast to treat runoff from the service area and parking lot. Currently, runoff from these areas flows into a ditch and the harbor. As part of this, the marina will be graded and repaved to direct water toward the stormwater wetland. They will also install a boat wash station.

Julia Noordyk, water quality and coastal communities outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant, explains the importance of boat wash stations. “Copper anti-fouling paints are used on the bottoms of boats. At the end of the season when they’re power-washed, it just all sloughs off. You have some heavy metals potentially going into the water body. Boat wash stations are a really great thing. They capture the water rather than having it just drain directly into the lake.”

The second area is the parking lot at the marina where boats are stored for winter. The lot currently features a stormwater pond that doesn’t function properly. It sometimes floods, putting people and boats at risk. The design team plans to install an underground pipe so the pond can drain properly, plus a forebay to capture sediment coming off the parking lot, which will improve water quality.

If enough funds are left after the first two fixes, the third will be to install a large cistern to catch water off the roof of the marina maintenance building, delaying its flow into the bay. The water could be used for rinsing tanks and other water supply needs by the marina.

These activities are supported by a grant designed to advance stormwater management at Great Lakes marinas through the Great Lakes Protection Fund. As part of this project, a tool is being developed that will help marina owners and operators choose the best green infrastructure projects for their operations. Barker’s Island Marina is one of three marinas in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio chosen to test the tool and install the green infrastructure practices. Researchers from The Ohio State University and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve will monitor the site before and after installation to record changes in water quality.

After completing the projects and adopting other best-management practices, Barker’s Island Marina will become a certified Clean Marina in the state of Wisconsin. The Clean Marina Program is designed to reduce pollution from marinas to protect Wisconsin’s waterways. Program staff conduct site visits to verify marina practices and provide training and technical support to marina and boatyard managers.

“I’m impressed by Barker’s Island Marina’s willingness to participate in this project and go through the certification process,” Noordyk said. “They understand that healthy water quality and a clean Lake Superior is crucial to their business plan.”

“It’s a unique opportunity to advance green infrastructure and help improve water quality at the marina, as well as improve its resiliency to coastal storms, and flooding,” said Todd Breiby, program coordinator with the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, which is partnering with Sea Grant on the Great Lakes Protection Fund grant. “We’re hoping what we learn on Barker’s Island can be transferred to other locations and marinas around the state.”

The marina sits on city land, so the city of Superior is also involved.

“There’s a lot of really good energy on Barker’s Island right now,” said Andrea Crouse, water resources program coordinator with the city. “We know that a lot of boaters spend time on the water because they love being around water, and they value programs like the Clean Marina Program. We expect this will be a draw for people who are out on sailboats or motorboats on the lake – knowing that they could dock at a place where there’s a clean marina certification and good practices is something that people feel good about.”

Barker’s Island Inn

The parking lot at Barker’s Island Inn will get a “green” makeover in 2021. Image by Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Crouse said the city was recently awarded a grant for just under $500,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes Program to improve stormwater storage and reduce runoff impacts on Barker’s Island, including a “green” parking lot around Barker’s Island Inn. Conceptual plans call for installing infiltration medians and pervious surfaces around the lot edges in 2021 to discourage water runoff, and planting native trees and shrubs.

“We’re also exploring dark-sky lighting options for the parking lot,” Crouse said. “We’re thinking not only about water quality, but about how we can keep this a safe and well-lit area for people using it, while minimizing the ambient light that’s shining up into the sky or being directed to places that are problematic for wildlife.”

Across the road from the lot is a sandy area used as a catamaran launch, however, it was never an official site. Crouse said the area is eroding, sending sediment into the harbor. Plans involve creating an official launch and installing grass paving, which is a grid of plastic that can withstand the weight of vehicles and heavy foot traffic. This will stabilize the shoreline and prevent soil compaction and erosion.

And that walking trail that currently dead-ends across from the inn? Crouse said it’s going to be expanded. “Most people like walking in a loop, so we’re going to lengthen the trail to go around the hotel property and allow walkers to extend their hike,” she said. The trail will be constructed with low-impact practices, possibly a porous asphalt.

The final of the areas slated for work in 2021 are the tennis courts behind the inn. “They are in rough shape right now,” said Crouse. “We’ll be talking with the inn to discuss whether they want to keep one of those courts or none of them . . . But we’ll be removing several of them, at least, and putting in a green playground area so there will be more room for children and families that are using the space, as well as folks that are using the marina.”

Crouse said the timing of the projects is fortunate. “…Knowing that these projects might be happening at a similar time will allow us to be really efficient with city effort and funds so we can design these as much as possible in tandem. It’s a huge benefit to the public for us to be able to coordinate these projects together.”

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/environmental-improvements-coming-to-barkers-island/

Marie Zhuikov