Coastal Issues | Hazards | Case Studies
Coastal Hazards: Case Studies
Below are a few examples of projects states have supported through coastal zone management funding to address coastal hazards.
- Louisiana Guidebook and Workshops Address Coastal Hazard Mitigation
- Hawaii Increases Resilience through Hurricane Force Wind Building Design Standards
- Massachusetts Promotes Coastal Resilience through StormSmart Coasts Program
- Maine Uses Beach Scoring System to Manage Sandy Shoreline
- Oregon Supports Hazard Management with Technical Assistance Tools
- Wisconsin Addresses Lake Superior Bluff Retreat, Erosion
Louisiana Guidebook and Workshops Address Coastal Hazard Mitigation
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita delivered a devastating blow to Louisiana’s already fragile coastline, costing lives, damaging property, and causing further deterioration of the coast. While buildings cannot be made indestructible, they can be built as strong and safe as possible. To help the state improve siting and construction techniques and prepare for future storms, the Louisiana Sea Grant Law and Policy Program partnered with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the Louisiana State University AgCenter, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop the Louisiana Coastal Hazard Mitigation Guidebook. Designed for state and local officials as well as the general public, the guidebook addresses hazard mitigation for both rural and urban areas and demonstrates the cost-effectiveness and benefits of incorporating hazard mitigation into the earliest stages of development (or post-storm redevelopment).
In conjunction with the guidebook, the Louisiana Coastal Management Program and Sea Grant held workshops in three Louisiana coastal towns to help local officials, planners, builders, and consumers rebuild their communities. Also, Louisiana Sea Grant Law and Policy Program staff presented the guidebook to local permitting staff during a Louisiana Local Coastal Programs meeting. As a result, local permitting staff are now equipped to make more informed decisions.
The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources is also developing best management practices based on concepts in the guidebook. These practices will be used to facilitate permit reviews on new construction projects in the coastal zone. The guidebook and workshops are providing officials and the public with knowledge of the relevant laws and techniques for siting and constructing buildings so that they can better protect life and property along the state’s coast.
(top)Hawaii Increases Resilience through Hurricane Force Wind Building Design Standards
In conjunction with a robust network of private and public sector hazard mitigation partners, the Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Program (HCZM) led a statewide effort to adopt hurricane-force wind building design standards. Prior to this effort, Hawaii’s four counties still followed the 1991 or 1997 Uniform Building Codes, causing a system of fragmented building requirements that was problematic to the building, design, and insurance industries. HCZM and the hazard mitigation community understood that new codes would provide a greater level of protection from the destructive impacts of earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods.Simply adopting the International Building Code (IBC) and its universal standards would not properly account for the unique conditions of Hawaii. Specifically, the wind standards of the IBC would not work in Hawaii because of the dynamic topography and wind directionality factors. HCZM funded the necessary wind speed research for the counties of Maui and Hawaii, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency supported the research for Oahu and Kauai.
The State Building Code Council adopted the wind standards for all four counties in its final draft of the State Building Code and required each county to use their specific wind standards no later than two years after state adoption of the State Building Code. As of late 2009, HCZM and its partners had jointly delivered training on the new codes to approximately 1,465 county, state, and federal building officials, design professionals, and development, building, and insurance industry representatives.
Massachusetts Promotes Coastal Resilience through StormSmart Coasts Program
April 2007’s Patriot’s Day Storm caused significant coastal erosion and millions of dollars in property damage along Massachusetts’ North Shore. Photo courtesy of MACZM
The original Massachusetts StormSmart Coasts web site laid the foundation for the National StormSmart Coasts Network, which now includes the Gulf Coast states in addition to an expanded site for Massachusetts. Sites for other states will be added over time.
Following the launch of the original web site and a series of regional workshops designed to introduce local officials to the program, MACZM selected seven coastal communities through a competitive process to serve as pilots and transferable models for all coastal communities. The participating communities are Boston, Falmouth, Hull, Oak Bluffs, Duxbury, Kingston, and Plymouth (the latter three are doing so as a team). These communities are receiving intensive technical assistance support from MACZM and their project partners to implement coastal floodplain and sea level rise management tools and strategies developed through StormSmart Coasts.
Maine Uses Beach Scoring System to Manage Sandy Shoreline
Maine's beach scoring system identified 21 eroding areas in need of beach nourishment, dune restoration, or a combination of activities. The areas of highest need (in red) were concentrated near the Saco River jetties.
Many of Maine's sandy beaches are eroding. To help address this problem, the Maine Coastal Program supported the Maine Geological Survey (MGS) in developing a beach scoring system for the state's sandy shoreline. The pilot study, which focused on Saco Bay in Southern Maine, enabled managers to identify and prioritize beaches in need of erosion control efforts. The scoring system also helped managers identify beach management solutions.
Using existing data, MGS developed a beach scoring system based on six physical factors to evaluate beach segments for erosion. Once MGS collected the initial data, they developed an additional scoring system to determine which type of management action (beach nourishment, dune restoration, no action) would be most appropriate for each shoreline segment. By using the scoring system, Maine was able to identify and rank 21 areas that needed some type of beach management.
Towns along Saco Bay and private citizens have reviewed the report to understand the state of their shores. In addition, Maine's Sand Dune Stakeholder Group, a legislatively appointed body tasked with rewriting the state's Coastal Sand Dune Rules and recommending policies regarding beach management and beach nourishment, has also endorsed the system as the recommended methodology for evaluating and ranking Maine's beaches for beach nourishment.
Oregon Supports Hazard Management with Technical Assistance Tools
Oregon's Coastal Program has developed several technical assistance tools to minimize risk from coastal erosion and storms. Oregon's Coastal Atlas is a comprehensive, interactive mapping program and resource toolbox. The atlas includes several decision-support tools that use GIS and simple mathematical models to help coastal managers, planners, and scientists manage Oregon's shoreline.
The program also has developed a comprehensive model ordinance, Chronic Coastal Natural Hazards Model Overlay Zone, to guide local governments as they develop ordinances to address coastal hazards. The model ordinance, which covers many common hazard areas such as dunes, bluffs, slides, and inlets, calls for conducting a coastal assessment to identify hazard areas and potential impacts to adjacent properties before development occurs. The model ordinance also limits the type of development that can occur in high and moderate hazard-risk areas to minimize potential threats to life and property.
Wisconsin Addresses Lake Superior Bluff Retreat, Erosion
High rates of bluff retreat and erosion along the Lake Superior shore have become a chronic local problem in Wisconsin. To address the issue and increase public awareness, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program has undertaken several projects.
The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program partnered with the University of Wisconsin to conduct a bluff erosion study along its Lake Superior shore. The study analyzed bluff erosion using historical aerial photographs to determine both the volume of sediment lost due to erosion as well as the rate of shoreline retreat. As a result of this study, Bayfield County implemented construction setback requirements to prevent development near erosional bluff faces. In addition, Bayfield County, with assistance from the coastal management program, held two community outreach sessions to inform residents of the erosion problem and what can be done to address it.
The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program also developed an educational DVD, "Wisconsin Shores: Coastal Erosion in the Great Lakes," to educate shorefront homeowners and prospective home buyers about the risks of owning waterfront property. The DVD combines a case study of several homes damaged and/or destroyed by a 2002 landslide along Lake Superior with animation and narration to illustrate risks associated with coastal erosion. The DVD also emphasizes the important role shoreline planning plays in avoiding unnecessary losses in the future.