 NJDEP Grant Award
Ocean County was awarded a $3 million 2018 Water Quality Restoration Grant from the NJDEP for a 4-year living shoreline restoration project at Cattus Island County Park, part of $10 million in grants for local water-quality improvement projects in the Barnegat Bay watershed.
Signifcant Erosion of Cattus Island Shoreline
The overall goal of this project is to restore critical shoreline areas of Cattus Island County Park to address significant erosion and prevent extreme wetlands and habitat loss in the Barnegat Bay. Some areas of the park have lost more than 300 feet over the past 85 years. This erosion is likely to increase over time, if the shoreline, and especially the northeast peninsula known as “Page’s Point,” is not stabilized.
Cattus Island breakwater protects surrounding natural lands and neighborhoods
Cattus Island is the most significant salt marsh and the largest breakwater in the northern portion of Barnegat Bay. It preserves a significant portion of the total remaining natural lands in the northern part of Barnegat Bay, encompassing 530 acres out of over 1,000 acres of preserved public property in the immediate vicinity. In addition, Page’s Point itself serves as a wetland buffer and upland forest breakwater that protects four surrounding neighborhoods from tidal flooding and erosion. While the project’s primary goal is to restore and provide resiliency to public land, the adjacent protected area includes Toms River Township’s Shelter Cove Park, containing at least 825 homes with a total estimated value of $181.5 million, and 25 businesses with a total estimated value of $37.5 million.
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