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Jessica Schwartz
Living Shorelines: A Way To Help Combat Hurricane Season?
As we enter the 2020 hurricane season, landscapers who work in areas with large coastlines know potential storm damage is about more than just fallen trees and debris. Flooding and erosion can cause some of the costliest and irreparable destruction to a property. Even without a storm event, the progressive erosion of a coastline by wave action over years can be just as damaging. To complicate matters further, coastal sea levels in the U.S. are rising—and at an accelerating rate, according to a “report card” released this past February by researchers at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The U.S.’s most visited national park, the National Mall Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, is just one example of how rising tidewaters are submerging walkways, eroding soil, and damaging the roots of DC’s famed cherry trees. Traditionally, bulkheads have been installed to protect a property from water encroachment. Given the cost and materials, many property owners expect bulkheads to protect their shoreline indefinitely. However, even in the best of cases, bulkheads often completely fail after twenty or thirty years. They can begin to lose sediment from behind the bulkhead even sooner and cause erosion on neighboring properties. And ultimately, even a weak hurricane can demolish a brand new bulkhead. Another thing many may not realize is that once a bulkhead is installed, the intertidal zone (the land between high and low tide) is often eliminated. By losing this zone, an important habitat for fish and other wildlife disappears, water quality ...
Living Shorelines: New Opportunities For Landscapers
An interesting sea change is taking place regarding shorelines and it could be a growth area for ecologically-minded landscapers. Last week, the House passed legislation authored by Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) to help protect coastal communities from sea level rise and stronger storms. The Living Shorelines Act would create a federal grant program through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) to assist states, localities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in constructing living shorelines. Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have introduced the companion bill in the Senate. What Is A Living Shoreline? Living shorelines are a green infrastructure technique using native plants (marsh grasses, etc) with either a natural or engineered means (such as oyster beds, stones, dunes, etc) of breaking up wave energy to create and allow for the natural flood resilience of a healthy, growing shoreline ecosystem. Hard shorelines, on the other hand, such as seawalls or bulkheads, deflect wave energy. Research indicates that living shorelines are more resilient than bulkheads in protecting against the effects of hurricanes, according to NOAA. They also enhance ecosystem functions, which can improve water quality and wildlife habitat protection, say experts. The Living Shorelines Act passed as part of a package of bills included in H.R. 729, the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act, and has the support of the American Society for Landscape Architects. The legislation provides $50 million in federal funds that would be matched by state and local governments and NGOs applying for grants and ...
