Nonpoint Pollution | Success Stories | Hydromodification

Hydromodification Success Stories

Note: Highlighted projects are not necessarily funded by the Coastal Nonpoint Program nor do they necessarily represent projects that have been approved by NOAA and EPA to remove remaining conditions on state programs.

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

Maryland Promotes Vegetated or "Soft Structural" Shoreline Erosion Control: Nearly 69% of Maryland's 7,700 miles of coastline are eroding at an average rate of 0.6 feet/year. Erosion could be delivering approximately 5.1 million cubic yards of sediments to the Chesapeake Bay each year. Maryland has sought to address this problem by providing technical assistance to waterfront landowners to implement a variety of innovative and traditional shoreline erosion control practices. Practices include softer structural approaches that combine the use of vegetative plantings and harder structures, such as rip rap sills, to diffuse wave energy and to protect marshlands, as well as a living shoreline approach that focuses on planting or organic materials such as coir fiber logs to restore, protect or enhance the natural shoreline environment.

The Maryland Coastal Nonpoint Source Program has directed a portion of its funds to the Shore Erosion Control (SEC) program that provides the technical assistance necessary to implement shoreline erosion control practices. SEC program staff provides assistance to landowners by evaluating sites, assessing problems and recommending solutions. Staff work with property owners during the project planning and implementation stages to make sure the owners have a good understanding of the benefits of different types of shoreline protection methods, costs, maintenance needs and regulatory requirements. Several recent projects have included installing off-shore segmented stone breakwaters and sand beach replenishment along 700 l.f. of eroding shoreline not only to abate erosion and prevent sediments from entering the waterway, but also to protect 1.1 acres of existing wetlands. Another soft structural project created 6,210 square feet of marsh and prevented 17 tons of sediment, 12 pounds of nitrogen and 8 pounds of phosphorous from entering the water.

The SEC Program further promotes vegetated, non-structural approaches to shoreline erosion control by offering short-term interest-free loans. The funds can be used to help with the design, construction, or management of soft-structural or vegetated stream bank or shoreline erosion control projects.

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Southern California Implements Wetlands Recovery Project: Like many urbanized and developing areas, Southern California has witnessed a 70-75% loss of coastal wetlands. Past efforts to acquire, restore and enhance the region's remaining wetlands were disjointed and piecemeal. Southern California lacked a regional approach to wetlands protection and restoration that recognized the important interrelationships among the areas wetlands. Therefore, in 1997 the State formed the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project to bring together 17 state and federal agencies to work in a coordinated effort with local governments, businesses, and the environmental community to protect and restore wetlands and watersheds in the Region. The Wetlands Project has developed a regional restoration plan and each year, develops a list of priority projects to undertake.

The State provided the initial funding for the Wetlands Project but the Project has since developed a strategy to secure $200 million in additional support from federal, state, local and private sources over the next 10 years. The Wetlands Project uses the money to support priority projects in four major areas: acquisition, wetlands restoration, restoration planning and design, and restoration of the ecological function of coastal watersheds such as projects that stabilize shorelines or restore natural drainage patterns. The Project also runs a small grants program to fund community-based restoration projects. As of June 2003, 75 projects totaling almost $70M have been supported through state, federal, local, and private funds.

To aid their restoration efforts, the Wetlands Project has also developed an interactive, web-based GIS mapping program that shows where restoration projects are located and provides detailed summaries about each restoration project, wetland and watershed. In addition, the advance mapping function allows the user to select from over 20 data layers and view, query, buffer and measure features within the data layers.

 

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