The Friends of Rye Nature Center group is working to secure permits for a Blind Brook restoration project that would help prevent flooding and erosion.
The project would aim to reshape the stream bed, enhance the wetlands, and plant native vegetation. Construction is planned for the summer of 2026.
The “riparian zone” along Blind Brook in Rye, essentially a natural floodplain, is crucial for managing high-water events caused by tidal shifts or flash flooding, said Christine Siller, executive director of Friends of Rye Nature Center. A healthy riparian zone, with native vegetation and a U-shaped stream bed, helps store and dissipate water, preventing flooding and erosion.
“What you would want the bottom of the brook bed to look like is more like a U shape,” Siller said. “But what’s happened over time, because of all the flooding and the fast-moving water, it’s not a U anymore. It’s basically a rectangle shape.”
The restoration project seeks to reshape the brook’s U-shape, stabilize its banks, remove invasive plants, and enhance wetlands by planting 272 native trees and 619 shrubs, restoring water management and native ecosystems, according to Siller.
The project kickstarted in 2021 when environmental engineers from the firm of Barton & Loguidice conducted a characterization study, resulting in a design that models how the riparian zone should look under normal conditions.
The Friends group secured a $284,000 grant from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund in December 2022, using those funds to develop the EPA-required Quality Assurance Project Plan, conduct wetland delineation, and design restoration elements with Barton & Loguidice.
The plan is now at its 60 percent design mark, and the Rye City Council has agreed to be the “lead agency” for the State Environmental Quality Review application. After the Planning Commission approves the designs, the Friends will obtain necessary permits by April 2025, reapply for funding in May 2025, and, after securing grants, prepare for construction to begin in summer 2026.
“We’ll lean on some volunteer events to help with the planting part, which is important, because it becomes educational about what’s happening in that area,” Siller said. “That’s not only addressing the issues that we’re having on our nature center’s property, with the constant flooding and the sedimentation and the loss of important habitats, but really educating people about just the difference that having more vegetation versus just plain old grass makes for flooding.”
The damage from flooding has filled the area with an invasive species called lesser celandine that prevents other vegetation from growing. Enhancing the wetlands will remove that layer and allow for the planting of healthier trees and shrubs.
By restoring the riparian zone, the community can better manage stormwater, reduce erosion, and enhance local habitats. Siller emphasizes that such efforts not only improve flood resilience but also promote environmental education for residents.
“It’s just raising this awareness of the difference of using plants to hold your storm water on your own property, the difference that can make for not just your own basement, but your neighbors in general,” Siller said. “If everybody just held a little bit more water, it would probably make a difference for other people’s properties.”