Embracing the ever-changing edge where land meets sea, coastal resilience is more than a concept—it is a way of life. From weathering storms to navigating rising tides, the shores hold stories of resilience and adaptation. In this blog, we dive into the world of coastal communities, exploring the challenges they face and the innovative solutions that can get them back on track.
Coastal regions are invaluable ecosystems that play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity, providing economic opportunities, and offering recreational spaces for communities. Unfortunately, these areas face significant challenges due to climate change, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and human activities. Building coastal resilience has become imperative for safeguarding the well-being of both ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
Approaches to Coastal Resilience
Coastal systems that can recover from the adverse impacts of natural and human induced changes demonstrate resilience. Achieving this may require the integration of sustainable practices, innovative technologies, and community engagement to create robust systems capable of withstanding and adapting to environmental challenges. Following are the most common approaches to protecting and restoring coastal systems:
- Ecosystem-Based Approaches: Protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems such as marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs serve as natural barriers against storm surges and erosion. These habitats also contribute to biodiversity, fisheries, and carbon sequestration, enhancing overall ecosystem health.
- Infrastructure Resilience: Designing and constructing resilient infrastructure, including flood barriers, can mitigate the impact of extreme weather events. Implementing green infrastructure solutions like living shorelines helps balance the need for protection with ecological sustainability.
- Community Engagement and Education: Empowering coastal communities through education and engagement is critical for fostering resilience. Awareness about sustainable practices and emergency preparedness enhances the community's ability to respond effectively.
- Innovative Technologies: Using technology, such as early warning systems, data analytics, and remote sensing, can enhance our ability to monitor and predict changes in coastal environments.
- Adaptive Planning and Policy Frameworks: Implementing adaptive planning and robust policy frameworks at local, regional, and national levels is essential. These frameworks should incorporate risk assessments and community input to guide sustainable development and resource management.
Creating and Restoring Resilient Coastlines
RES has extensive experience in creating and restoring resilient coastlines. The following are a few projects we have recently completed. These communities are already experiencing the benefits of coastal resilience and will continue to do so in the future.
BHP Terrebonne Biodiversity and Resiliency Projects | Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
As an integral partner in this project, RES is restoring the historic Cypress-Tupelo Swamp habitat through the planting of 30,000 restorative cypress trees, invasive species management, with the goal set on bringing the area back to its historic state. RES designed, permitted, and is constructing a 25-acre marsh terrace with 5,000 cypress trees and 35,000 marsh grass plugs. Our team is committed to the project through five years of monitoring, mapping, and reporting along with annual drone flights to monitor progress on site.
Graveline Bay Coastal Marsh Restoration | Dauphin Island, Alabama
RES planted more than 87,000 marsh plants covering 60 acres. Plant species included Saltmeadow Cordgrass, Smooth Cordgrass, and Black Needlerush. The completed project provides coastal resilience for the community, which includes new habitat for coastal birds, fish, shellfish, and various other wildlife native to the region. Over the next several years, the marsh plants will begin to grow and fill in the marsh mounds on site. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab will monitor the project for the next three years.
Jose Marti Park Adaptive Re-Design | Miami, Florida
RES is providing services for the Jose Marti Park adaptive re-design in Downtown Miami, a ±13-acre riverfront park that faces challenges like tidal flooding during King Tides, hurricane season, intensified storms, and sea level rise. With a focus on resiliency, RES is designing a model/tool kit to adapt the waterfront to existing and future sea level rise, which can be replicated for other properties along the Miami River and in coastal Florida.
RES led the design for civil engineering and nature-based project elements, encompassing innovative stormwater retrofits, water quality treatment, and environmental considerations like living shorelines, green infrastructure, resiliency, and ecosystem restoration. RES is responsible for environmental permitting stormwater features and implementing low-impact development (LID) stormwater retrofits. The design incorporates LID principles, merging stormwater management with functional environmental art and public education. Flood prevention measures will be installed, including tidal backflow prevention valves on existing outfalls and deep drainage wells, which can combat saltwater intrusion.
Key Takeaways
As climate change continues to pose threats to coastal regions, the importance of building resilience cannot be overstated. By adopting a comprehensive approach that combines ecosystem-based solutions, infrastructure resilience, community engagement, technological innovation, and adaptive planning, we can create a future where coastal areas thrive in the face of adversity. Coastal resilience is not only a necessity for the preservation of ecosystems but also a safeguard for the countless communities that call these areas home. It is a shared responsibility that demands collective action to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for coastal regions worldwide.
- Coastal regions are invaluable ecosystems that play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity, providing economic opportunities, and offering recreational spaces for communities.
- Building coastal resilience has become an imperative for safeguarding the well-being of both ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
Photo credits:
Jose Marti Adaptive Re-Design Rendering
Image by Curtis Rogers Design Studio
