What is a living shoreline?
Living shorelines are engineered structures installed to control shoreline erosion while also meeting a variety of ecological goals. Through the thoughtful and innovative placement of materials, living shorelines can maintain the connectivity between land and water habitats while intercepting wave energy, reducing sediment and salt marsh loss, and providing habitat for a variety of fish, birds, mammals, and shellfish. Retaining connectivity and supporting ecological function are key qualities that differentiate living shorelines from other shoreline protection techniques such as bulkheads and sea walls.
What is PDE’s History with Living Shorelines?
The Delaware Estuary Living Shoreline Initiative (DELSI) was created in 2008 with PDE and Rutgers University to address the increased loss of tidal salt marshes in the Delaware Estuary using a combination of native wetland plants, natural structures, and intertidal shellfish to trap sediment and absorb waves. This unique living shoreline tactic provides an economical approach for communities in the Delaware Estuary to combat the erosion of tidal marshes, which provide valuable services including water filtration, storm buffering, and a variety habitat needs for many local and transitory species.
Click on the link below to learn more about what living shorelines are, what they can do, why PDE is involved in living shoreline efforts, and where PDE’s living shorelines are located.