Northport study will look at flooding — and whether a 'harbor walk' would help ease it

The threats of rising sea levels, coastal erosion and stormwater flooding are prompting Northport Village officials to study ways to protect and shore up their popular waterfront and whether the addition of a harborfront walk would help. 

Now, officials in the North Shore community will get a boost from a federal grant of almost $70,000 to be used for that purpose. 

The study will look at environmental causes of flooding downtown, said trustee Dave Weber Jr., Northport's commissioner of docks and waterways and wastewater management. He said the village began considering a harborfront walk about four years ago, when the Town of Huntington started exploring that idea for Huntington Harbor.

“It’s a feasibility study to see whether creating a harbor walk would be the right way to go about preparing for hardening of the bulkhead, hardening of the shoreline,” Weber said. "They're going to look at future sea level rise, future temperature rise and see how high we need to raise the grade in order to protect from future events."

A harborfront walk would improve and update the infrastructure along the shoreline, said Weber, who wrote the grant application.

A 'double whammy' flood threat

Henry Bokuniewicz, a distinguished service professor with Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said like the South Shore, the North Shore is vulnerable to rising sea levels and climate change — but the way the problem manifests is different.

Along the South Shore, the slope of the land is much lower and is generally flatter, he said. Along the North Shore, the harbors are notched into steeper elevations on either side of them. 

Bokuniewicz said water can inundate North Shore harbors two ways: via storm surge from Long Island Sound into harbors and coves, and “the funneling of rainwater from upland into that same embayment. You get kind of a double whammy in those harbors and coves.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aid will be used to study the waterfront from the northwest corner of Northport Park to the southwest corner of the Woodbine Marina parking lot, Weber said. 

Long Island Sound Partnership will serve as intermediary between the EPA and New York Sea Grant, which will distribute the Long Island Sound Resilience Planning Support Grant, Weber said. The study will be conducted by Florida-based engineering firm NV5.

The $69,979 grant covers the full cost of the study. Village Mayor Donna Koch said that's beneficial because it does not tie up village funds.

“A lot these grants can be a double-edged sword,” she said. “They are great to have, but many times municipalities have to come up with $20,000 to $30,000  to accept it. This grant is 100% fully funded.”

She said community members, organizations and experts in various fields will be included in the process to ensure the final design reflects “shared values and aspirations.”

Using two studies in tandem

In July, village trustees approved a $135,000 contract with Melville-based H2M architects + engineers to be its consultant to create a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and Harbor Management Plan.

That study will examine access to the village’s waterfront, ways to clean its waterways and create long-term land and water use plans.

The two studies will be used in conjunction with each other, Weber said. He sees that as a benefit because it will help the village get funding for improvements.

“The LWRP will be more policies and procedures on how to gain access to the waterfront and how to utilize our waterfront,” Weber said. “The harbor walk study is going to use scientific data to see what is possible to clean up the water and better utilize the waterfront.”

He said the results of the harbor walk study can be expected in about 11 months, while the LWRP could take up to two years.

“This is an exciting time for the village because ... all the pieces are coming together for a redesign of the waterfront," Weber said.

As for plans for a harbor walk along Huntington Harbor, Huntington officials say the process is slow but progressing. That harbor walk would connect two underused shorefront parks in Halesite, north of Huntington village.

"I think both are the most underutilized assets in our town," Assemb. Keith Brown (R-Northport) said of the Northport and Huntington harborfronts.

Brown has worked with other elected officials to bring funding to both municipalities to create harborfront walks.

"They have so much potential for redevelopment as walking paths with amenities that will be more inviting to residents and visitors,” he said.