Completed Projects
FWC Youth Conservation Center Living Shoreline (2022)
This project showcases nature-based alternatives to hardened seawalls as an educational demonstration of shoreline protection options for waterfront homeowners. The demonstrations are installed along a berm separating two ponds at the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center in Apollo Beach. The Center is operated as a partnership of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Tampa Electric Co. (TECO) and The Florida Aquarium. Featured techniques include a traditional seawall, a seawall enhancement section, use of oyster reef balls and oyster bags, and a Living Shoreline comprised solely of native plants. This "grey-to-green" design continuum provides a range of design options to improve resiliency and protect coastal property from flooding and storm surges.
Educational signs describe the techniques, and the project will be incorporated into youth lesson plans and programs. College interns will monitor the long-term succession of these installed shorelines, an often-missing component of such projects.
Funding comes from a $43,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, with$67,500 in support from FWC.
COST: $110,000
PARTNERS: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, TECO, Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
Educational signs describe the techniques, and the project will be incorporated into youth lesson plans and programs. College interns will monitor the long-term succession of these installed shorelines, an often-missing component of such projects.
Funding comes from a $43,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, with$67,500 in support from FWC.
COST: $110,000
PARTNERS: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, TECO, Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
Haya Linear Park Phase 1 Living Shoreline
Haya Linear Park is a public greenspace bordering the eastern shore of the Hillsborough River just north of downtown Tampa. The river shoreline is badly eroding in this area because of boat wakes. Ecosphere and the City of Tampa partnered to restore all 2,200 linear feet of the greenway shoreline through a phased approach incorporating a Living Shoreline, restoration of a small stream and adjacent wetlands, and recreational amenities.
The first phase of the project, completed in 2020, removed nuisance and invasive plants and installed a breakwater made of boulders to immediately deflect wave energy and provide shoreline stabilization. Ecosphere helped the City secure a $76,000 Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund for the work; the total cost of this phase was $123,000.
COST (Phase 1): $76,000
PARTNERS: Tampa Bay Estuary Program (Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund), City of Tampa, South Seminole Heights Civic Association, with in-kind services provided by the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
Watch this news report about the Tampa founding father for whom Ignacio Haya Linear Park is named
The first phase of the project, completed in 2020, removed nuisance and invasive plants and installed a breakwater made of boulders to immediately deflect wave energy and provide shoreline stabilization. Ecosphere helped the City secure a $76,000 Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund for the work; the total cost of this phase was $123,000.
COST (Phase 1): $76,000
PARTNERS: Tampa Bay Estuary Program (Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund), City of Tampa, South Seminole Heights Civic Association, with in-kind services provided by the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
Watch this news report about the Tampa founding father for whom Ignacio Haya Linear Park is named
Haya Linear Park Phase 2 Wetland Restoration
In 2021, Ecosphere assisted the City of Tampa in securing a $50,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County to complete a Living Shoreline along this public greenway on the Hillsborough River. Soil was brought in to fill eroded sections of the riverbank along 2,200 linear feet of shoreline, creating a natural slope extending to the boulder breakwater installed in 2020. Residents of the South Seminole Heights Civic Association assisted with planting native shoreline plants to absorb storm surges and provide habitat for fish and wildlife. Residents also convinced the City to contribute $150,000 to finish the entire wetland restoration, including resculpting a weed-choked drainage ditch as a meandering creek, and building a kayak launch and foot bridge for the southern area. In all, the project provides more than one acre of wetland habitat within Tampa's urban corridor.
COST: $200,000
PARTNERS: City of Tampa, Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, South Seminole Heights Civic Association
MacDill AFB Phases 1-4
Ongoing work at MacDill AFB includes restoration of more than 400 spoil mounds created by extensive ditching of wetlands for mosquito control on the base in the 1960s. This “checker-board” system of ditches smothered native mangroves and quickly became overrun by harmful invasive plants such as Brazilian pepper. Ecosphere is working with MacDill to implement a master plan for restoring the Base’s historic mangrove forest. To accomplish this, Ecosphere employs a technique called hydro-blasting, using pumps and high-pressure fire hoses to reduce the height of the mounds to foster mangrove recovery while preventing invasives from returning. Salt marsh grasses also have been planted in some areas to stabilize soils and promote mangrove recruitment.
A unique aspect of this work is the creation of high salt marshes, called salterns, that are a rare habitat of special restoration focus in the Tampa Bay watershed. Construction phases completed through 2020 have created 17 total acres of salterns, along with approximately 3 acres of new marsh and enhancement of 7.2 acres of existing marsh habitat.
COST: $849,425
PARTNERS: Department of Defense/U.S. Air Force, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Florida Water Management District
Ulele Spring
The restoration of Ulele Springs has revitalized both Tampa’s signature waterway and a once-neglected industrial area now brimming with possibility.
The spring, severed from the Hillsborough River and forgotten for decades, was little more than a concrete pipe when the Ecosphere team first reimagined its future. A grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service jump-started a unique rehabilitation that re-connected the spring to the river via a small stream, and created a Living Shoreline of native plants and rocks to stabilize the river bank and provide fisheries habitat.
Now, freshwater flows at 672,000 gallons per day from the spring to the Hillsborough River, creating prime habitat for fish and wildlife, including imperiled Florida manatees. As of 2018, 35 manatees have been observed in the spring, many of them repeat visitors. Some 18 fish species have been documented. This successful partnership between Ecosphere, the City of Tampa and the Southwest Florida Water Management District is the picturesque anchor for a redevelopment renaissance that is drawing visitors and new residents alike to Tampa’s flourishing and lively Water Works District. Ecosphere still schedules quarterly volunteer site cleanups and oversees monthly site cleanups of the upper spring basin, which is paid for by the City and the Columbia Restaurant Group.
COST: $686,200
PARTNERS: Southwest Florida Water Management District City of Tampa, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fisheries. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Tampa Electric, Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
Read an article that chronicles the restoration of Ulele Spring and the thriving waterfront redevelopment surrounding it.
Palmetto Estuary Preserve
Our first habitat restoration project demonstrated the value of our organization in brokering partnerships between the public and private sectors to sustain our natural environment. Thomas Ries successfully worked with a private developer (Riviera Dunes, LLC), a local government and regional water managers to facilitate purchase and preservation of this 25-acre parcel on the northern shore of the Manatee River.
Tom assisted the City of Palmetto in securing grant funds to buy and restore the land as a community park; persuaded the developer to fund the restoration design; and provided a fully permitted, shovel-ready plan for the land to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). A win-win for all!
As the first public-private habitat restoration in the Tampa Bay region, Palmetto Estuary was awarded Environmental Project of the Year by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council in 2002.
COST: $768,000
PARTNERS: City of Palmetto, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Riviera Dunes LLC, Scheda Ecological
Tom assisted the City of Palmetto in securing grant funds to buy and restore the land as a community park; persuaded the developer to fund the restoration design; and provided a fully permitted, shovel-ready plan for the land to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). A win-win for all!
As the first public-private habitat restoration in the Tampa Bay region, Palmetto Estuary was awarded Environmental Project of the Year by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council in 2002.
COST: $768,000
PARTNERS: City of Palmetto, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Riviera Dunes LLC, Scheda Ecological
Newman Branch Creek
Through seven phases of partnership with TECO spanning nearly a decade, Newman Branch has been transformed from a straight ditch dredged and channelized in the 1940s to prevent flooding of farmland to a meandering tidal creek winding through mangrove forests, salt marshes and upland hammocks.
Located adjacent to TECO’s Big Bend power plant in Apollo Beach, more than 100 acres of critical coastal habitats have been created or enhanced on TECO-owner property placed under a permanent conservation easement.
The restoration, assisted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, provides important habitat for fish and wildlife, while providing wetland treatment of runoff from nearby agricultural operations. Ecosphere’s work also has resulted in creation of small freshwater “frog ponds” important to amphibians and wading birds.
The property is open to the public, with a nature path, boardwalk and viewing tower, and a marked paddling trail.
COST: $837,650
PARTNERS: TECO, Tampa Bay Estuary Program (Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Located adjacent to TECO’s Big Bend power plant in Apollo Beach, more than 100 acres of critical coastal habitats have been created or enhanced on TECO-owner property placed under a permanent conservation easement.
The restoration, assisted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, provides important habitat for fish and wildlife, while providing wetland treatment of runoff from nearby agricultural operations. Ecosphere’s work also has resulted in creation of small freshwater “frog ponds” important to amphibians and wading birds.
The property is open to the public, with a nature path, boardwalk and viewing tower, and a marked paddling trail.
COST: $837,650
PARTNERS: TECO, Tampa Bay Estuary Program (Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Wolf Branch Creek Freshwater
Small but ecologically valuable, freshwater wetlands – especially near the coast – are extremely important for wading birds and amphibians. These “frog ponds” have historically been lost disproportionately in the Tampa Bay ecosystem, and are a priority for restoration.
Ecosphere converted degraded uplands on this property along Tampa Bay’s South Shore into five freshwater ponds by removing fill material and invasive Brazilian pepper and Australian pine trees, sculpting shallow ponds with gently sloping banks and installing native aquatic plants. The ponds are an essential component of a larger, 1,100-acre tidal wetland restoration conducted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Wolf Branch Creek is now a nature preserve managed by Hillsborough County, open to the public for passive nature recreation such as fishing and wildlife watching.
COST: Cost: $50,000
PARTNERS: Pinellas County Environmental Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hillsborough County, Southwest Florida Water Management District
Ecosphere converted degraded uplands on this property along Tampa Bay’s South Shore into five freshwater ponds by removing fill material and invasive Brazilian pepper and Australian pine trees, sculpting shallow ponds with gently sloping banks and installing native aquatic plants. The ponds are an essential component of a larger, 1,100-acre tidal wetland restoration conducted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Wolf Branch Creek is now a nature preserve managed by Hillsborough County, open to the public for passive nature recreation such as fishing and wildlife watching.
COST: Cost: $50,000
PARTNERS: Pinellas County Environmental Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hillsborough County, Southwest Florida Water Management District
Hooker's Point Stormwater
The first grant-funded stormwater retrofit project implemented at the Port of Tampa provided six acres of stormwater treatment for one of the most industrialized areas of Tampa Bay, on the Hooker’s Point peninsula north of Tampa’s Channelside District. Ecosphere facilitated this grant for the Tampa Port Authority and oversaw the implementation of this water quality improvement project. A drainage ditch was redesigned as a meandering creek with sloping banks planted with native wetland plants to help absorb nutrient from the stormwater runoff. A sediment sump also was installed to reduce sediment entering Tampa Bay.
COST: $70,000
PARTNERS: Tampa Port Authority (TPA), Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
COST: $70,000
PARTNERS: Tampa Port Authority (TPA), Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Stewart Middle Living Shoreline
Once inaccessible, the Hillsborough River is now a living learning lab for students at this public school in Tampa’s urban core, and a successful showcase for alternatives to hardened seawalls. Ecosphere coordinated the design of the Living Shoreline and stormwater retrofit ponds, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District constructed the project. The project was completed on time and under budget, and has resulted in a functioning living shoreline, which also doubles as a learning lab for students from Stewart Middle Magnet School and the adjacent Blake High School.
Approximately 1,900 linear feet of crumbling, eroding shoreline was stabilized by removal of invasive lead trees and other exotics; placement of a rock revetment, and installation of native plants, with students participating in the plantings. A classroom module enhanced student understanding and involvement in the project, and continues to engage students with the ecology of the river, and inspire a commitment to protect it, through hands-on activities such as water sampling and wildlife monitoring. The stormwater ponds treat runoff from this urban area before it enters the river.
COST: $180,000
PARTNERS: Pinellas County Environmental Fund, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Hillsborough County School
Approximately 1,900 linear feet of crumbling, eroding shoreline was stabilized by removal of invasive lead trees and other exotics; placement of a rock revetment, and installation of native plants, with students participating in the plantings. A classroom module enhanced student understanding and involvement in the project, and continues to engage students with the ecology of the river, and inspire a commitment to protect it, through hands-on activities such as water sampling and wildlife monitoring. The stormwater ponds treat runoff from this urban area before it enters the river.
COST: $180,000
PARTNERS: Pinellas County Environmental Fund, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Hillsborough County School
Lost River Preserve
The only project in the Tampa Bay area to receive a grant from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act enacted by Congress to jump-start economic recovery during the Great Recession, Lost River Preserve expands protection of wetlands in the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve by nearly 70 acres.
Ecosphere designed and implement the restoration of the property, dotted with 200 stagnant pits once used for fish farming. The resulting wetlands, planted with marsh grasses and other native wetland plants, were reconnected to the waters of Tampa Bay and serve as foraging and refuge areas for fish and birds. Agricultural runoff is also treated to improve with water quality entering into Tampa Bay.
Hillsborough County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District also contributed funding for the restoration. Lost River Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation such as birdwatching.
COST: $950,000
PARTNERS: NOAA (America Reinvestment and Recovery Act), Southwest Florida Water Management District
Ecosphere designed and implement the restoration of the property, dotted with 200 stagnant pits once used for fish farming. The resulting wetlands, planted with marsh grasses and other native wetland plants, were reconnected to the waters of Tampa Bay and serve as foraging and refuge areas for fish and birds. Agricultural runoff is also treated to improve with water quality entering into Tampa Bay.
Hillsborough County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District also contributed funding for the restoration. Lost River Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation such as birdwatching.
COST: $950,000
PARTNERS: NOAA (America Reinvestment and Recovery Act), Southwest Florida Water Management District