Rutgers Awarded $4.2 Million To Advance Climate Resilience and Ecological Restoration in Woodbridge

Rutgers and its partners aim to transform flood-prone properties into functional natural landscapes to protect communities and strengthen coastal ecosystems

A $4.2 million award to Rutgers University will help transform former home sites along the Woodbridge River into wetlands and woodlands designed to reduce flooding in surrounding neighborhoods.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a private conservation grant maker, has approved the funding for restoration in Avenel and Sewaren, two sections of Woodbridge Township, N.J., where properties have been acquired through New Jersey's voluntary Blue Acres buyout program.

Led by Rutgers ecologist Brooke Maslo, the project will create places to collect and temporarily hold stormwater, improve drainage and restore habitat for birds and other wildlife. The project is expected to start early next year. The work applies years of research and planning to a landscape where some homes have been removed and others remain, their owners having elected against accepting a buyout.

"Climate resilience requires us to rethink how we manage our landscapes," said Maslo, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources and a wildlife ecology specialist with Rutgers Cooperative Extension. "Instead of relying exclusively on engineered infrastructure to manage flooding, we can restore the natural functions of these floodplains with thoughtful nature-based solutions to help communities adapt to a changing climate."

The project, she said, "demonstrates how ecological science can be translated into practical solutions that benefit both people and wildlife."

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Blue Acres program allows property owners in flood-prone areas to voluntarily sell their homes to the State and move away from the risk. Restoration gives the land left behind a new purpose, helping manage water in the surrounding community.

Voluntary buyouts offer families relief from the ongoing trauma and stress of chronic flooding.

Courtney Wald-Wittkop

Program Manager, N.J. DEP Blue Acres Program

"Voluntary buyouts offer families relief from the ongoing trauma and stress of chronic flooding," said Blue Acres program manager Courtney Wald-Wittkop. "When these highly flood-prone properties are converted to open space there is a benefit to the residual community in that these lands can be revegetated to act like a sponge to absorb and hold floodwaters and protect nearby neighborhoods from flooding."

Following Superstorm Sandy, Woodbridge Township began its broader flood resilience effort in 2013, partnering with Blue Acres to enable the buyout of more than 160 flood-prone properties. Working with Rutgers and other partners, the township developed a plan for restoring these acquired lands, improving drainage and managing floodwater across 490 acres along the Woodbridge River floodplain. More than 30 acres of habitat have already been restored within the project area.

"This award builds on years of work by the township, our residents and our partners," said Thomas Flynn, Woodbridge Township's floodplain manager. "It will help us carry out plans for land that can better handle flooding and serve the community for years to come."

The project will implement nature-based resilience interventions across the Woodbridge River floodplain in two priority areas, Avenel and Sewaren. These interventions are designed to capture runoff from surrounding developed areas, temporarily storing and filtering water before it drains into the Woodbridge River. By increasing the landscape's capacity to retain and gradually release stormwater, the interventions are intended to reduce localized flooding and improve watershed function.

The restoration strategy also recognizes that climate resilience and biodiversity conservation are closely connected. Establishing native plant communities and managing invasive vegetation will improve habitat quality for resident and migratory wildlife while also helping to restore ecological processes that contribute to flood mitigation.

"Native plants provide food and shelter that wildlife depends on," said Marc Virgilio, private lands coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a partner providing technical assistance for ecological restoration. "Restoring marshes and wooded areas can strengthen those habitats while contributing to the community's efforts to manage floodwater."

This award builds on years of work by the township, our residents and our partners.

Thomas Flynn

Floodplain Manager, Woodbridge Township

The project also builds on a longstanding commitment to public engagement. Since 2015, Rutgers and its partners have organized public programming that connect Woodbridge residents with the ecological restoration taking place in their communities. Further, the design plans include passive recreational trails and interpretative signage that invite the public to enjoy this newly transformed open space.

"We have thoughtfully integrated public access, trails, and other recreational amenities into the restoration design so that these spaces create opportunities for residents to connect with nature and better understand the role healthy landscapes play in protecting their communities," said Jeremiah Bergstrom, a landscape architect at South Dakota State University and co-director of the project.

Rutgers undergraduate interns will help collect information in the spring of 2027 about vegetation, wildlife and water levels before construction. The team will monitor restored areas afterward to assess progress and identify maintenance needs, including watering new plants and controlling invasive species.

The work is part of a larger restoration strategy intended to reduce flood risks throughout roughly 490 acres. The partners hope the effort will provide a practical model for other communities deciding how to care for land acquired through flood buyouts.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization founded by the U.S. Congress in 1984. It operates independently, though it collaborates with federal entities such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It raises funds from private corporations, foundations and individuals and matches these donations with federal funds to support large-scale environmental projects.

For Maslo, the award reflects a partnership that began with public nature walks in Woodbridge in 2015. Conversations with township officials led to questions about flooding, then to initial designs and small restoration projects.

"Universities have an important role to play in addressing the environmental challenges facing our communities," Maslo said. "Our responsibility extends beyond generating scientific knowledge. We need to work with public agencies, practitioners, and the community to put that knowledge into action, evaluate the outcomes, and use what we learn to improve future decisions."

That collaboration helped the team secure successive rounds of planning and design support through the foundation's National Coastal Resilience Fund. The new award will help put those plans into action, with Rutgers, government agencies and design professionals working together.

Explore more of the ways Rutgers research is shaping the future.