Overview of Living Shoreline Permitting and Regulatory Review in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi

Authors: Matthew Shudtz

In the southeastern coastal United States, Department of Defense (DOD) installations and surrounding communities face significant challenges from coastal erosion, flooding, and sea-level rise. Waves driven by wind, boat traffic, and storms can destroy fragile landforms along the coastline, not to mention sea walls and other traditional or “gray” infrastructure.

A nature-based solution to the issue of coastal erosion that is gaining ground in both the public and private sector is the construction of living shorelines.

The term “living shorelines” encompasses a variety of techniques that can be used in place of a rigid bulkhead or other hard structure. As the name suggests, living shorelines typically involve the use of native material such as oyster reefs and/or saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) to reduce wave and tidal energy. They can involve some degree of grading to achieve moderately sloped transition from intertidal areas to uplands and maintain or reestablish a natural connectivity at the land-water interface. With these design features, living shorelines not only reduce erosive forces but also enhance biodiversity and increase heterogeneity of habitat features.

The array of benefits from living shoreline projects inure to both the landowner – from erosion control – and to surrounding communities – through ecosystem services benefits. Research also suggests that living shorelines are a smart financial investment as compared to a wooden bulkhead that would require the landowner to incur significantly more costs over the long term due to maintenance and replacement needs.

This guidebook was produced through an engagement with the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS). It is intended to help minimize delays in project development by providing useful background information on relevant agencies, administrative processes, and the underlying laws in four key states in the Southeast region: North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.

For each state, this guidebook describes:

• The state coastal zone management program;
• State permitting requirements related to water quality and wetlands protection;
• State public trust responsibilities for submerged lands;
• Federal permitting under Clean Water Act Section 404; and,
• Key design aspects of living shorelines that will affect the ability to obtain necessary permits and approvals.

 

 

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