Groton Parks & Recreation Department: Esker Point Beach & Palmer Cove: Coastal Resilience Planning

Press release from Groton Parks & Recreation Department:

April 21, 2022

Learn more about the Esker Point Beach & Palmer Cove Coastal Resilience Plan!Project Site Background:Esker Point is a coastal, municipally managed, public park located in the Town of Groton. The project siteis a low-lying coastal park resource that is currently highly susceptible to the impacts of storm surge (i.e.Superstorm Sandy, Irene), intense precipitation events, and longer-term sea level rise issues. As indicatedon the initial conceptual designs by The Nature Conservancy, the project area has been and will continueto be subjected to routine coastal flooding, extreme episodicProject Background:The Esker Point and Palmer Cove Coastal Resilience Project was identified as a priority project during theSoutheastern Connecticut Regional Framework for Coastal Resilience (nine municipality regionalcollaborative) largely due to potential of the Project to help serve as a catalytic example for othermunicipalities around Long Island Sound looking to manage storm surge and sea level rise implicationsprominent in coastal Connecticut and along the East and Mid-Atlantic coastal areas of the United States.This Project will serve as a novel demonstration site to education the public, academic community,municipal/regional planning/development departments, and elected officials on net-positive coastalresponses that balance risk reduction, enhanced public amenities, and improved ecological integrity andfunction (i.e. resilient triple bottom line) in a highly desirable, coastal public park. The resultingconservation outcomes, once installed, will help to better manage coastal erosion/storm surge, increasethe quantity and quality of habitat, and maximize stormwater runoff infiltration and water qualityimprovements in the adjoining tidal embayment of Long Island Sound.Project Outcomes:This project will result in meaningful enhancement of a critical coastal natural resource for all people ofTown of Groton and beyond. This project will serve to demonstrate exactly how we as a society can reducerisk from extreme weather and climate, improve the quality of life for residents that utilize public parksand other amenities, and help to enhance the environment (i.e. resilient triple bottom line). This speaks tothe ultimately value and benefit of this Project well beyond the project area boundaries across Connecticutand elsewhere along the Nation’s coastlines.The initial conceptual designs completed for the Project by The Nature Conservancy and Town of Grotonproposes the installation of living shorelines, restoration of riparian and maritime scrub/shrub habitats,installation of pervious materials in a parking lot, and a stormwater management bioswale. Project will beadministered and managed by The Nature Conservancy and the Town of Groton – Parks and RecreationDepartment.

This press release was produced by Groton Parks & Recreation Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.