A Case for Living Shorelines on the Severn River

Last week, members of Severn River Association gathered for their monthly meeting at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center. The group welcomed Kevin Smith, Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Director of Ecosystem Restoration, and John Flood, former Board Member of Severn River Association and South River Federation, to speak about Living Shoreline Restoration projects in Maryland.

Living Shoreline Restoration is a topic of interest and importance to the Severn River Association, as the group has spent the past 100 years addressing a variety of environmental concerns that affect the health, scenic beauty, and long term sustainability of the Severn River.

Currently, environmentally-disruptive erosion control methods threaten the state of the Severn River. The practices tend to work against nature and alter the natural flow of water along the river’s shores. Eventually, they disturb the habitat of the plants and animals that depend upon the shoreline for their existence.

The good news; however, is that “shoreline management is continuously evolving,” said Smith during his presentation. He explained that people initially managed erosion by building large bulkheads along the shores of their properties.

Bulkheads completely stop the natural flow of water and sand along the shore; so while controlling erosion, they also rid the land/water boundary of a shoreline that when in place provides habitat for a unique ecological community of plants and animals that populate, diversify, and filter the Severn River.

Over time, Maryland Department of Environment discouraged the use of bulkheads due to their damaging environmental consequences and came to support more naturalized erosion control methods, which allow for “living shorelines.”

"A living shoreline is an area of shoreline that mimics Mother Nature," explained Smith. "It allows for natural tidal flow and sediment movement, which is key to maintaining habitat for birds, crabs, and other beach dwelling creatures."

In order to construct a living shoreline, rocks are stacked together in the water and lined up at a distance from the shore to act as a permeable wall and allow for a minimized, but natural flow of water to continue to reach the shoreline.

There is a catch; however. While rock sills are preferable to bulkheads for erosion control projects, problems occur when too many rocks are used to control erosion and consequently reduce the flow of water that hits the shore.

This reduction in water flow leads to large-scale sediment build up on the shoreline. As sediments build up, a wall is created and invasive plants, such as phragmites, are able to take over the area. Many times, this area becomes a by-catch and traps crabs and fish.

Nevertheless, efforts to reduce erosion and preserve natural shorelines can be reached successfully. In 1998, John Flood conducted a successful shoreline restoration project on the South River, which to this day allows for a natural habitat in which creatures living on and off of the shoreline can persist.

“The project reduced erosion and enabled a dynamic ecosystem. If you do not have dynamic nature, you are not going to have that natural habitat,” insisted Flood.

"Done the right way, living shorelines are beneficial to the people that use them, the animals that inhabit their sandy beaches, and the diverse species that grow and live within their intertidal marshes,” said Smith. “Living shorelines are important for maintaining habitat, providing recreation, and protecting water quality in the Severn River.” 

If you are interested in learning more about Living Shoreline Restoration projects, many grants are available through a number of different organizations and agencies. Chesapeake Bay Trust, Maryland Department of Environment, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources offer grant money to assist individuals and groups with living shoreline restoration in an effort to protect the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland’s shores.

If you would like to learn more about Severn River Association’s work and mission, visit www.severnriver.org. Severn River Association meets at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings are open to the public.