Presentation Abstract
Hard armor structures, including bulkheads, seawalls, soldier piles, and other structures are present at 29% of Washington shores of the Salish Sea, as documented in mapping conducted by CGS for the ESRP Beach Strategies project . Hard armor adversely affects nearshore ecosystems by disrupting natural processes of sediment input and transport, reducing resiliency of down-drift coastal areas to impacts of sea level rise, and impairing essential forage fish spawning and other habitats. Soft shore protection, also referred to as sustainable shorelines or nature based solutions, allows for slowing erosion while maintaining natural processes. Soft sure protection design and implementation have received increasing attention and acceptance in the Salish Sea in recent decades. This has stemmed from increasing documentation of negative impacts of hard armor, dramatically stricter regulations, the increasing rigor applied to the design process, and expanded information and outreach. Lessons learned on design and implementation will be presented based on continuously advancing soft shore protection approaches over the past 20 years and the design and implementation of more than 120 of these projects throughout Puget Sound and in the central Salish Sea. Project approaches successfully applied to both residential and larger reaches of shore will be highlighted, organized around different short types (barrier beaches, bluffs, artificial shores), relative wave energy, and by property extent. Principles featured in the 2014 Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines will be distilled, along with data and examples not included in the MSDG. Soft shore protection has been shown to work in all wave energy environments of the Puget Sound region, depending on other factors such as shore orientation, project length, backshore with, and other site characteristics. Case studies will be provided to illustrate points, and site selection implementation pointers will be included as lessons learned. Additional references will be provided for further information.
Session Title
Challenges and Solutions for Shoreline Armor Removal and Design of Soft Shore Protection: Part II
Keywords
Beach, Restoration, Soft shore, Armor removal
Conference Track
SSE1: Habitat Restoration and Protection
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE1-321
Start Date
4-4-2018 3:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2018 3:45 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)
Shore protection--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Restoration ecology--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Shorelines--Monitoring--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
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
Soft shore protection: lessons learned from 20 years of project design and implementation
Hard armor structures, including bulkheads, seawalls, soldier piles, and other structures are present at 29% of Washington shores of the Salish Sea, as documented in mapping conducted by CGS for the ESRP Beach Strategies project . Hard armor adversely affects nearshore ecosystems by disrupting natural processes of sediment input and transport, reducing resiliency of down-drift coastal areas to impacts of sea level rise, and impairing essential forage fish spawning and other habitats. Soft shore protection, also referred to as sustainable shorelines or nature based solutions, allows for slowing erosion while maintaining natural processes. Soft sure protection design and implementation have received increasing attention and acceptance in the Salish Sea in recent decades. This has stemmed from increasing documentation of negative impacts of hard armor, dramatically stricter regulations, the increasing rigor applied to the design process, and expanded information and outreach. Lessons learned on design and implementation will be presented based on continuously advancing soft shore protection approaches over the past 20 years and the design and implementation of more than 120 of these projects throughout Puget Sound and in the central Salish Sea. Project approaches successfully applied to both residential and larger reaches of shore will be highlighted, organized around different short types (barrier beaches, bluffs, artificial shores), relative wave energy, and by property extent. Principles featured in the 2014 Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines will be distilled, along with data and examples not included in the MSDG. Soft shore protection has been shown to work in all wave energy environments of the Puget Sound region, depending on other factors such as shore orientation, project length, backshore with, and other site characteristics. Case studies will be provided to illustrate points, and site selection implementation pointers will be included as lessons learned. Additional references will be provided for further information.
