Environmental restoration projects underway at G.T. Bray Park in Bradenton

Wetlands restoration projects underway

Crews at G.T. Bray Park in Manatee County have been working on upgrades to help water quality and to restore natural habitat.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A Manatee County park has been working on upgrades to help water quality and to restore natural habitat.

You can hear the call of birds just feet away from 59th Street West in Bradenton.

Invasive plants have been cleared, and a stormwater pond transformed with native vegetation.

"It’s an opportunity to provide habitat where there is none," said Staff Scientist Dr.Jay Leverone with the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

For the last several months, the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program has worked to not only restore the pond, but create wetlands in the Western portion of G.T. Bray Park.

130,000-cubic-yards of dirt was removed from a stream along with invasive plants.

"This was an opportunity to demonstrate that if there is an area that is relatively small, several acres that is of private or public land, that we can rejuvenate that land for the betterment of the wildlife," said Leverone.

$900,000 in funding came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes its importance.

"Projects like this filter nutrients. They help restore the natural hydrology, and they ultimately support very critical habitat for the watershed," said Thomas McGill the manager for Oceans, Wetlands and Streams Protections Branch for EPA Region 4.

The landscape will help remove nutrients and sediment from the water.

While it seems like a small area, water from this stream eventually ends up in Palma Sola Bay.

"It helps us create better water quality for the downstream of Palma Sola Bay, which is an area where we have a lot of mating activities of Manatees and also it’s a great nursery for Bottle Nose Dolphins," said Dr.David Tomasko the Director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

Image 1 of 4

▼

That’s why the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program said even the smallest piece of land can have a large impact.

"The vast majority of our watershed is urbanized there’s not a whole lot of natural areas left in our watershed, we want to preserve what we can preserve and then treat the run off from areas that have been developed so this project does both," said Dr.Tomasko.

The total project is expected to be finished next month.

200,000 native plants, shrubs and trees are scheduled to be planted at the Western portion of G.T Bray Park, next week.

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: