Suffolk Uses $1M Grant to Fund Westhampton Marsh Restoration

Suffolk County plans to use $1 million in federal funding to restore saltwater marshes at Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton and two other locations to help mitigate the effects of sea-level rise.

County officials are working in accordance with the South Shore Estuary Reserve to restore three key marshes that will also help threatened and endangered species, and provide valuable recreation areas for bird watchers and others to enjoy.

“Our salt marshes have been degrading for many years through historic practices of dredge and fill, and now nutrient pollution,” South Shore Estuary Reserve Director Chris Clapp told reporters during a July 15 news conference. “This work here seeks to leverage local and federal funds to restore 140 some-odd acres of marsh.”

The initiative will also help restore the shellfish population, which will in turn maintain some of Long Island’s largest economic drivers — the boating industry, restaurants and tourism. Salt marshes also help to combat flooding when major storms roll through the area.

“Salt marshes are critical,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said. “They’re like the sponges. So when the next storm comes, they are more capable of absorbing water.”

According to Suffolk County Legislator Trish Bergin (R-Islip), people failed to understand the importance of salt marshes in decades past. They began to build too close — or even on top of — these marshes along the coastlines, prompting the need to take action. This new initiative aims to correct those mistakes.

“We recognize now that was not the right thing to do,” Bergin said. “Today, we are here to right the wrongs.”