By now you may have heard of living shorelines. If not, they are an alternative to shoreline hardening (i.e., bulkheads) that use natural elements, like native marsh grasses, to prevent shoreline erosion. In addition to preventing erosion, they also provide many other benefits. Living shorelines improve water quality, lessen the effects of storms, provide wildlife habitat and more.
Bulkheads and other shoreline hardening are the traditional means of preventing erosion. However, they do not provide the variety of natural benefits that living shorelines can. Additionally, bulkheads need to be repaired or replaced regularly, which inherently causes shoreline loss. Living shorelines, when properly designed and installed, can adapt to changes in the environment and adapt over time with little human intervention.
Now, we know that living shorelines can provide many natural benefits and require less maintenance over time than shoreline hardening methods. However, not that many people have living shorelines. Most people still put in bulkheads. Why?
Most often, property owners do not install living shorelines because they don’t know much about them or they are concerned about the cost associated. Well, living shorelines can cost around the same or less than a bulkhead to install. In the long-term, living shorelines are even more cost-efficient. A recent study performed in the Back Bay of Biloxi showed that the living shoreline at Camp Wilkes could have been more than 3 times as costly and still would have cost less than maintaining and replacing a bulkhead over 30 years.
If you are interested in living shorelines after learning about them, but still unsure about the associated costs, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium Living Shoreline Program has a newly opened cost-share program for Mississippi property owners. This program will provide a portion or all of the materials needed for a living shoreline project. This would significantly reduce the cost of installing a living shoreline project for private property owners. Exactly how much cost-assistance will depend on the total size of the individual project as well as the number of applications for assistance that are submitted. Cost-assistance will remain open as long as funds are available.
To apply for participation in the cost-share program, you must fill out an application.
If you have any questions about living shorelines or the cost-share program, you may contact the MASGC Living Shoreline Program by emailing Eric Sparks or Sara Martin.
Meet the author
Sara Martin
Wetland Specialist, Mississippi State University
Sara Martin is a wetland specialist for Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, a program manager at Mississippi State University and the science coordinator for the Mississippi Sound Estuary Program.In her... Read more
Phone: 228-546-1016
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