Welcome to the Freshwater Kills

Welcome to the Freshwater Kills. Keeper of Water. , About the Freshwater Wetland , Travel along the pathway to view the Randall's Island Freshwater Wetland. This area was once part of the Little Hell Gate Channel, which divided Randall's Island Park into two separate islands: Wards Island and Randall's Island. This channel would have connected the East River/Long Island Sound to the east with the Harlem River/Hudson River Estuary to the west. The water found here would have been influenced by the tides, comprising a "brackish" mixture of freshwater and saltwater. Beginning in the 1930s, the channel and adjacent wetlands were filled in, mainly by construction debris, creating the single land mass you see today., New York City once contained 224,000 acres of freshwater wetlands, most of which were lost over the past 200 years due to filling and dredging activities to accommodate expansion of the growing metropolis. Today, only 2,000 acres remain, and the city has lost many plant and animal species that relied on such an important ecosystem., When the Randall's Island Park Alliance (RIPA) began to reclaim and restore the Park as a public and natural resource, in 1992, the Island's wetlands and natural areas were degraded with garbage and construction debris. RIPA joined with the NYC Parks Department to restore the wetlands habitat through reconstruction of the 5.5-acre Freshwater Wetland site, which regularly pooled with rainwater. Construction debris, fill, and invasive plant communities were removed from the site. Upland areas were planted with native shrub and tree species such as hackberry, sweetgum, sassafras, elderberry, serviceberry, silky dogwood, and highbush blueberry. The emergent wetland area was planted with native herbaceous species such as blue flag iris, swamp milkweed, pickeralweed, New England aster, soft rush, and lurid sedge, plants that are particularly adapted to thrive in saturated soil and standing water. These plants are essential to the natural habitat because they provide rapid root growth, stabilize soils, prevent erosion, provide flood storage, and improve water quality., Building Habitat through Ecological Corridors , The Freshwater Wetland complex features several unique and vital habitats. Areas with higher elevation and above average flood zones host "upland" forest and meadow plantings, offering habitat structure and nectar for wetlands wildlife; their extensive roots also provide erosion control and form helpful sod. The intermediate zone was provided to provide "scrub-shrub" habitat, with low-growing woody plant material that tolerates periods of saturated soils and helps stabilize the slopes. In spring and early summer, the scrub-shrub plants also provide flowers for earlier pollinators, which then turn into nutrient-rich berries , a source of food for the island's birds and mammals. The lowest-lying zone in the Freshwater Wetland, the "emergent wetland," is perhaps the most distinctive. During periods of flooding, this area may hold standing water up to a foot in depth; it is home to the site's "hydrophytes," plants that prefer saturated soils and standing water. The site's hydrophytes, including the cardinal flower, blue flag iris, cattails, and sedges, are rooted in the ground and rise above the water line, where they fruit and flower. The slow-moving water of this low-lying area helps settle sediments and provides a rare and essential breeding location for insects and other invertebrates., In New York City's heavily urbanized environment, habitats with all the components necessary to support plants and wildlife are far and few between. As a result, green spaces like the Freshwater Wetland, designed to provide a broad range of habitat options, gather a great diversity of life:,

. Slow-moving freshwater and seasonal ponds provide essential water sources for many insects to complete their life cycle. , . A variety of flowering plants throughout the seasons ensures stable sources of nectar and fruit. , . A mixture of habitat structure, including thickly-vegetated areas, trees, mid-canopy shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses provide wildlife with spaces to build nests, hide from predators and safely forage.

, Runaway Runoff , The Freshwater Wetland on Randall's Island absorbs 55 acres of runoff from the adjacent roadways and fields, which otherwise would typically flow untreated into surrounding water bodies. The restored wetland effectively absorbs nearly all of the area's runoff, even during storm events, where one inch of rainfall over the drainage area can total 1.5 million gallons of water. In the wetland, runoff is slowed by a series of chambers separated by rock barriers, helping to filter out sediment and litter. Emergent wetland plants further slow the water's flow, allowing sediment to settle into the moist soils. Plants and bacteria in the low areas then absorb and break down pollution. By the time the rainwater reaches the end of the wetland, it is slowly released into the Harlem River. Randall's Island Park's Freshwater Wetland thus helps to reduce flooding and improve overall water quality., [Sidebar:] , Constructed Wetlands Green Stormwater Infrastructure , Constructed wetlands are a valuable way to reduce costs and improve the world. They can hold millions of gallons of water during storm events, by diverting runoff from local waterways and wastewater treatment. Diversion of runoff into constructed wetlands helps protect surrounding areas and reduce flooding of buildings and roadways. These wetlands also reduce treatment costs and help to improve local waterways, by providing low-cost passive filtration of pollution and sediments in the stormwater before it reaches larger water bodies. Although there were likely no freshwater wetlands historically on Randall's Island, the creation of the Park's Freshwater Wetland takes advantage of open space to create and support a declining habitat in our expanding metropolis.