22 Nov 2021

In Virginia, a harder push to create softer shorelines

by | posted in: Climate Change & Sea-Level Rise, Environmental Guidelines and Regulations, Shoreline Erosion Control | 0

by Whitney Pipkin, Bay Journal

Plugs of grasses are planted in sand as part of a living shoreline project on private property along Virginia’s Elizabeth River. Rather than hardening the shore’s edge with concrete or riprap, living shorelines create natural edges that receive the water’s ebb and flow and, over time, can be more resilient in the face of rising sea levels and powerful storms.
Plugs of grasses are planted in sand as part of a living shoreline project on private property along Virginia’s Elizabeth River. Rather than hardening the shore’s edge with concrete or riprap, living shorelines create natural edges that receive the water’s ebb and flow and, over time, can be more resilient in the face of rising sea levels and powerful storms.

Not long after Sterling Rollings bought a 100-year-old cottage in Portsmouth, VA, on the Elizabeth River — his first waterfront property — his shoreline began retreating.

The change was gradual at times, an inch or two of grass giving way to murky mud, and stark at others. Nor’easters churning up raucous waves would eat several inches from the edge in a day. By the time Rollings called the Elizabeth River Project early this year for help, the jutting point of his shoreline had receded by about 3 feet.

Read more at https://www.bayjournal.com/news/wildlife_habitat/in-virginia-a-harder-push-to-create-softer-shorelines/article_943f8c00-426f-11ec-a444-f3f64e06ebc3.html