Commitment, Communication and Collaboration
Channel: Norfolk District Army Corps
Date: 2022-10-28

In this video, a team of professionals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) meets with the Senator Bill DeSteph, the Broad Bay Civic League, and City of V.A. Beach leadership to discuss plans to construct an artificial oyster reef in Broad Bay and reassure the league's local residents that their recent concerns had indeed been heard. 

The discussion took place aboard a USACE survey vessel, which allowed for real-time scanning of the proposed site.  The Phase II reef construction comes as part of the Lynnhaven River Basin Ecosystem Restoration project, which aims to improve the overall health of the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Over the last few decades, the water quality of the Lynnhaven River has been impaired to such an extent that oysters and other fish harvested from the estuary have at times not been fit for human consumption. However, through the sustained collaborative efforts of Virginia Beach city leadership, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other local organizations, continued improvement is underway.