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Rapid Tidal Marsh Growth in the Hudson River due to Shoreline Modifications

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About the project

The state of New York is working to remove hundreds of dams built on tributaries of the Hudson River estuary to improve habitat connectivity and reduce the risk of dam failure. The Dams and Sediment in the Hudson (DaSH) project brought together a collaborative team of scientists and stakeholders to better understand how sediment released by dam removals would affect the estuary and provide practical tools to regulators and practitioners. Along with this summary of the history of tidal wetland growth as a result of Hudson River shoreline modification, the project produced a series of factsheets and journal articles about their research on the amount and potential impacts of sediment trapped behind dams and the processes governing marsh growth in the estuary.

About this resource

This factsheet summarizes research findings from the Dams and Sediment in the Hudson project related to tidal wetlands in the Hudson River estuary. Results show that many tidal wetlands are the Hudson are remarkably young, having developed only within the last 150 years as a result of human activity, and are growing vertically up to three times faster than sea level rise.