Storms, Erosion, Flooding
Seventy-five percent of the population of Massachusetts lives in coastal counties and our coasts provide an even greater number of people a wide range of economic, social, and recreational opportunities. Competing uses of our coastline can result in conflicts between the protection of waterfront upland property and the preservation of the beneficial functions of coastal landforms and resources, conflicts between private ownership of the coast and public access, and recreational demands on the coast through boating, fishing, shellfishing, and the use of beaches for swimming and sunbathing.
Threats to coastal communities include climate change driven sea-level rise, increasingly intense storm systems and their related flooding and shoreline erosion. Woods Hole Sea Grant Program elements include:
- Characterizing coastal processes
- Researching coastal hazard mitigation
- Developing new approaches for managing shorelines and marshes, marine spatial planning and ocean zoning
Research
Among the important research projects recently supported by WHSG are:
- Shoreline Resilience and Inlet Management
- Valuation of Ecosystem Benefits of Living Shorelines
- Shoreline Resilience
- Pond Management and Carbon Storage in Salt Marshes
- Inverse Modeling of Prehistoric Storm Intensity Based on Grain Size Characteristics of Hurricane-Induced Events (2016-2018)
» See a full list of funded projects from 2010-present
Newsletter Stories
Storms
- Research: Sediment Cores Hold Clues to Past Climate
(June 2018) - Outreach: Reporting from the Heart of the Storm
(June 2018)
Erosion
- Research: Mapping Katama Bay’s Restless Sands
(Dec. 2017)
Flooding
- Outreach: Helping Communities Lower the Cost of Flood Insurance
(March 2018)
Community Engagement
WHSG employs specialists with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension to create an effective outreach partnership providing reliable technical and science‐based information to distinct groups within our region. Extension and outreach staff share their expertise with communities and individuals, as well as working directly with the management community charged with making regulatory decisions. Engagement efforts include:
- Assisting coastal resource managers, property owners, and the public in making informed, effective decisions that contribute to maintaining the beneficial functions of coastal landform systems
- Assisting towns with floodplain management and educating coastal managers and the public about flood risk and safety
- Coordinating the Community Rating System across Cape Cod
- The Islands Coastal Conference, which alternates each year between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands. The free conference attracts coastal managers, environmental organizations, town officials and staff, conservation commissions, planning boards, consultants, researchers, experts and partners from across the region to discuss a range of critical issues.
- Creating and providing for free the Homeowner's Handbook to Prepare for Coastal Hazards
- Conducting teacher workshops on beach and dune dynamics and coastal processes
- Co-sponsoring workshops and conducting needs assessments on issues relevant to sustainable coastal development
Resources
Coastal Issues and Flooding
- Takings Liability and Coastal Management in Massachusetts
- Climate Change and Government Negligence Liability in Massachusetts
- Maintenance of Water and Sewer Infrastructure in Response to Sea Level Rise in Massachusetts
- Responding to Nuisance Flooding of Coastal Highways: Options for Massachusetts Municipalities
- Floodplain Regulations and Historic Structures in Massachusetts
- Homeowner's Handbook - Third Edition, July 2020
- Dealing with Coastal Erosion – The Spectrum of Erosion Control Methods
- Q&A on Purchasing Coastal Real Estate in Massachusetts
- Impacts of Armoring on a Sandy Shoreline
- Shoreline Armoring Impacts Video
- Longshore Sediment Transport, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
- National Flood Insurance Program
- Flooding: Protect Your Property
- Flooding: Protect Our Floodplains
Marine Extension Bulletins
» To Tree, or Not to Tree? The use of discarded Christmas trees for dune stabilization (New!)
» What Is That Sticking Out of the Sand?
» Hurricane Vs. Nor’easter
» Biodegradable Erosion Control
» Coastal Dune Protection & Restoration
» Effect of Sea Level Rise on Barrier Beaches of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
» A Primer on Beach Raking
Signs
Keep Boats OFF the Beach Grass
Rip Currents – Break the Grip of the Rip
These Dunes Aren’t Made for Walking