The Money Point Shoreline Restoration in Chesapeake has been chosen as one of four coastal restoration projects to win top honors from the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association for successfully demonstrating creative solutions to eroding shores, rising seas and degrading environmental conditions.
Located on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, the Money Point Shoreline Restoration is the nation’s first large-scale sediment remediation project completed by nonprofits, the Elizabeth River Project and its sister Living River Restoration Trust, along with multiple community partners, and included the first known living cap design to isolate contaminated sediments and provide critical wetland and oyster habitat.
Before Money Point Wetland Project
After Money Point Wetland Project
Businesses adjacent to Money Point have reported reduced flooding, a lush marsh with a resident otter family, an increase from just four to 26 species of fish utilizing the marsh, over 110 documented bird species, oysters growing on the reef and a significant upland buffer flourishing into a forest. Money Point demonstrates that restoration projects function best when the entirety of an ecological continuum is nursed back to life.