Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Coastal Erosion

As sea level rises, coastal erosion is a major problem on the East End. 


Water front property owners have been battling with town trustees over their attempt to protect their property by building bulkheads or other hardened structures.

The structures usually result in significant loss of sand in front of the structure and also down stream along the shoreline, exposing neighborsbeachfront and public beaches to severe erosion as well. 

The authority of the trustees  based on a colonial era English law   has been challenged in the courts after disputes with homeowners.

In May 2012, a state judge ruled that the Southampton Town Trustees do not have the authority to regulate homeowners placement of structures on or under the ocean beach to protect their homes in the event of severe erosion during major storms, at least within village boundaries.


And  a group of homeowners along Southampton towns oceanfront in Water Mill, Bridgehampton and Sagaponack, combined to fund a multi-million dollar beach replenishment project in 2013 after severe loss of beach sand washed out dunesand threatened homes.



Marine biologist Douglas Hardy has been studying the devastating effects of hardened structures on Southold towns coast line on the north fork of Long Island  effects like severe erosion and reduced coastal resilience in the era of climate change. 

Hardy wrote a paper The Starvation of Southold Beaches  for the Conservation Advisory Council to The Southold Town Trustees.  

Hardy identifies the problem and considers the legal aspects of fixing it as property owners battle with local government.  He notes in the paper that as sea level rises and storms become more extreme, storm surges will overwhelm and undermine hardened structures  and those structures will also magnify storm surge damage to adjacent beaches. He proposes ways to encourage homeowners to plan for sea level rise in a way that better protects coastal resilience.

The paper was submitted in January at a town board meeting, but was not enthusiastically received, according to EastEndBeacon.com, a news blog.



Sustainable East End's Francesca Rheannon talked with Doug Hardy last week. 

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