Presentation Abstract
Beaches constitute more than 50% of Puget Sound’s 4000 km shoreline. More than a quarter are armored or buried under fill and many others have been impacted indirectly by changes to adjacent shorelines and to sediment transport regimes. Restoring these beaches typically involves removing bulkheads and groins, excavating historic fill, replacing lost sediment, and replumbing tidal inlets and stream mouths. We often emphasize process-based restoration, but for beaches, what does this mean? Geomorphic processes operating on beaches include erosion, deposition, overwash, sediment supply and transport, stream flow, and shoreline migration. These physical processes in turn impact ecosystems by shaping the distribution of habitats and dictating disturbance patterns. Process-based restoration means allowing sediment to move, flooding to occur, and landforms to migrate, all of which can impact existing ecosystems and threaten the human landscape, adding significantly to project complexity and risk. Successful restoration requires understanding basic beach behavior, but it also involves awareness of the different spatial and temporal scales at which processes occur and recognizing that beach systems are inherently dynamic. Ultimately, we recognize that the goal should be to restore processes, not to create static landscapes, something that will become increasingly relevant in an era of rapidly rising sea levels. We will look at beach projects from around the Salish Sea and examine geomorphic factors that influence their performance. While some of these are fairly site-specific design issues, others are related to the complex challenges of restoring dynamic features in landscapes that continue to evolve over time. The lessons inform not only how we build projects, but what we monitor and how we define restoration in 21st century coastal systems.
Session Title
Challenges and Solutions for Shoreline Armor Removal and Design of Soft Shore Protection: Part I
Keywords
Restoration, Puget Sound Beach
Conference Track
SSE1: Habitat Restoration and Protection
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE1-314
Start Date
4-4-2018 1:45 PM
End Date
4-4-2018 2:00 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Beaches--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Restoration ecology--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Process geomorphology--Washington (State)--Puget Sound
Geographic Coverage
Puget Sound (Wash.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Geomorphic challenges to restoring Puget Sound beaches
Beaches constitute more than 50% of Puget Sound’s 4000 km shoreline. More than a quarter are armored or buried under fill and many others have been impacted indirectly by changes to adjacent shorelines and to sediment transport regimes. Restoring these beaches typically involves removing bulkheads and groins, excavating historic fill, replacing lost sediment, and replumbing tidal inlets and stream mouths. We often emphasize process-based restoration, but for beaches, what does this mean? Geomorphic processes operating on beaches include erosion, deposition, overwash, sediment supply and transport, stream flow, and shoreline migration. These physical processes in turn impact ecosystems by shaping the distribution of habitats and dictating disturbance patterns. Process-based restoration means allowing sediment to move, flooding to occur, and landforms to migrate, all of which can impact existing ecosystems and threaten the human landscape, adding significantly to project complexity and risk. Successful restoration requires understanding basic beach behavior, but it also involves awareness of the different spatial and temporal scales at which processes occur and recognizing that beach systems are inherently dynamic. Ultimately, we recognize that the goal should be to restore processes, not to create static landscapes, something that will become increasingly relevant in an era of rapidly rising sea levels. We will look at beach projects from around the Salish Sea and examine geomorphic factors that influence their performance. While some of these are fairly site-specific design issues, others are related to the complex challenges of restoring dynamic features in landscapes that continue to evolve over time. The lessons inform not only how we build projects, but what we monitor and how we define restoration in 21st century coastal systems.
