Navy Extends Partnership with UCI for Resilience Projects at NWS Earle, Cliffwood Beach, Sylvan Lake

The U.S. Navy and the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) have extended a cooperative agreement with Naval Weapons Station Earle to conduct applied research aimed at strengthening resilience to severe storms and weather events through 2029. The modification includes $4.2 million in new funding to continue work started in 2022 at the installation and nearby communities through the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program.

Approximately $3 million of the funding will cover the construction of living shoreline along the Raritan Bayshore in the Cliffwood Beach section Aberdeen Township. The project aims to replenish the beach, restore upland maritime forest features and dunes, and install oyster castles that will help slow erosion by blunting the force of waves while restoring the ecosystem. The UCI will manage the project and monitor the impacts of the improvements.

"The beachfront in the Veterans Memorial Park area has been eroding for some time now, to the point where even a slight increase in the tide can flood Ocean Boulevard/Lakeshore Drive," said UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington. "This project will help ensure the roadway remains open as an evacuation route during storms, and restores a public beach that is the center promenade for the town's bayfront."

In addition, funding will be provided for the UCI to continue its work developing and monitoring the oyster reef at Earle and make living shoreline improvements in the salt marsh area of Ware Creek, which flows through the property to the bay. Steps would be taken to improve stormwater drainage and tidal flow and restore native marsh plants with the goals of increasing resistance to storm surges, improving water quality, and providing habitat.

The agreement also provides funding to continue design work for a living shoreline project at Sylvan Lake, which forms the border between Bradley Beach and Avon-by-the-Sea. This phase would focus on dredging areas of the lake and reusing the sediments to form a more natural perimeter at sections of the lake's north side that currently have concrete walls and bulkheading.