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Preserving the Natural Shoreline
Special responsibilities come along with the pleasure of living on the water.
Waterfront property owners who live along a bayfront, creek, canal or stream have unique access to these waterbodies and the opportunity to protect and monitor them. Keep in mind that a healthy coast means a healthy economy and a healthy nation.
When people and industries build on, dredge or fill estuaries, wetlands, and submerged lands, we destroy the coast. In addition to being beautiful places for us to live, these habitats are essential to the food web and critical to our nation's seafood. In the end, by altering the coast, we hurt ourselves.
SHORELINE EROSION
Protecting the coast does not necessarily mean keeping the shoreline in place. The coast naturally shifts, moving sand and sediment from one place to another, frequently in the form of erosion. Certain places on the coast build up over time; other spots erode.
Shoreline armoring, such as using seawalls, bulkheads, jetties, and revetments, interfere with this natural shifting and may even contribute to erosion. These devices can trap sand in one place -- sand that's needed downstream, which "starves" these beaches. By using these devices, you may be harming property further down the coast!
NATURAL PROTECTION
Barrier beaches, dunes, dune grasses and other native vegetation absorb the impact of waves crashing against the shore and help prevent erosion.
These natural protectors also provide shade along waterways and regulate the water temperature. Cooler waters hold more oxygen, which is critical to the survival of fish and other aquatic animals. Removing natural protectors or trimming native plants too low can result in rising water temperatures, decreasing the oxygen and killing the plants and fish.
Native shoreline vegetation also acts as a pollution filter, absorbing the nutrients, such as lawn or garden fertilizer, carried to the coast with rain water. By absorbing the nutrients, the native plants prevent these pollutants from over fertilizing and harming the coast.
What Waterfront Property Owners Can Do To Protect The Coast
- Protect the natural slope and native shoreline vegetation. Modifying the shoreline structure by changing the natural contour and removing or cutting vegetation, can eliminate benefits including breeding grounds and nursery habitats for estuarine fish, invertebrates, and wading birds, water quality maintenance, shoreline stabilization, and reduction of inland flooding.
The two most important things that waterfront property owners can do are:
1) maintain the native vegetation and
2) maintain the natural slope of the shoreline.
Restoring the vegetation and improving the shoreline may be possible in some cases.
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- Revegetate areas with native plants. Take into consideration the existing vegetation (also find out what the original vegetation was before removal or alteration), water depth and water level fluctuations, tidal activity, water salinity, shoreline slope, drainage characteristics and any other site specific factors. Refer to an environmental consulting business or landscaping firm that specializes in shoreline vegetation.
- Plant shoreline vegetation along a gentle slope from higher ground seaward. Plants will not be able to filter pollutants efficiently or prevent pollutants from entering the waterway if they are planted after a steep slope or a sudden drop in water depth.
- If planting on a steep bank or eroded area, use biodegradable paper or sisal nets or a tarpaulin to prevent erosion and to help stabilize the bank until the vegetation covers the area and holds the soil.
- Regrade the shoreline landward of mean high water with a gradual slope (between six to three feet horizontal to one foot vertical). Coastal permits or variances may be needed.
- Place a swale and berm system in areas where stormwater runoff is a major problem. Swales should have gradually sloping sides with three or more feet horizontally to one foot vertically. Swales catch the rapid flow which is held by the berm so that nutrients and pollutants can settle to the bottom and percolate slowly through the soil.
- If the property has a natural contour which forces stormwater runoff to drain into one or two locations, create a percolation basin or pond to retain stormwater runoff.
- Terracing can be used to help control erosion and stormwater runoff problems on waterfront property that has a very steep backyard. Terracing creates a series of tiers with the last tier meeting the water's edge and could incorporate a swale and berm system, a ground covering that would not require mowing or fertilizer, and native shoreline vegetation.
- If a hardened shoreline such as a seawall is in place, consider planting native vegetation seaward of the structure, if the soil is at mean high tide or higher. Consider placing a swale and berm system a foot or two back from the seawall to prevent stormwater runoff from cascading over the wall and into the waterbody.
- Before hardening a shoreline, consider the building and maintenance expenses as well as environmental concerns. Consider alternatives which are ecologically sound. Sloped riprap or rock revetment is preferable to a seawall. Vertical seawalls are more vulnerable to erosion, wave, and storm damage.
Plants should also be suited to site specific drainage features. Planting non-native species can cause you to need more fertilizers and pesticides which pollute the water and stress the ecosystem.
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- Remove exotics and replace them with native vegetation. Problem species spread aggressively and become established along coastal zones, canals, waterways, and drainage ditches. They shade out, exclude, or outcomplete desirable native species which stabilize the shoreline and are a part of the food web.
- Keep the adjacent waterway free of organic yard debris such as grass clippings, shrubbery trimmings and leaves. These items also contribute to water pollution. Lodged in a creek bend or trapped and rotting at the end of a canal, dissolved oxygen is used up in the process of decomposition, depriving fish and aquatic plants of needed oxygen.
- Dock planning: Design the dock access ramp and the main platform in accordance with state regulations. Use the smallest possible area and a plan which is environmentally sensitive.
- Important: The toddler or young child who wanders off is far less likely to drown in the shallows along a natural shoreline. Vegetation give children something secure to grasp hold of and pull themselves up by. A vertical seawall is a steep drop and a child would never be able to climb the slick concrete slab which has nothing to hold on to.
- Monitor the creek, canal, or waterbody adjacent to your property. Walking, canoeing, or boating the stream behind your home on a regular basis can alert you to any number of problems.
Look for erosion, stormwater runoff, and turbidity problems generated by road and bridge construction. Are turbidity screens in place and functioning properly or are the waters near the work site disturbed and muddy?
Get to know the stream and keep an eye out for algal blooms, fish kills, and discharge of sewage. Debris in waterways can interfere with the natural flow and block fish migration.
Be aware of certain areas along the stream where dumping has occurred. Trash, derelict vessels, and white goods such as old washing machines and refrigerators should be removed. Mark the location of potential problems on a map and notify your coastal program.
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