State Funding Project to Help Eroded Areas on Long Beach

Plymouth will get more than $275,000 from the state to fill seven severely eroded washover areas on Long Beach with rounded cobbles to increase storm damage protection and flood control for Plymouth Harbor.

“The cobble is of similar size and texture to the existing beach sediment and is less susceptible to erosion than sand,” according to the Patrick Administration in a press release on Monday.

The amount is part of $1.5 million “to reduce risks associated with coastal storms, erosion and sea level rise through natural and non-structural approaches, continuing Governor Deval Patrick’s $50 million investment in climate change preparedness. Grants were awarded to Chilmark, Gloucester, Plymouth, Salem, Save Popponesset Bay, Inc., Scituate and Westport.”

“With these grants, the Patrick Administration is providing direct support to local projects that design and implement sustainable approaches to addressing climate change impacts,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Maeve Vallely Bartlett. “These innovative, community-based projects protect vulnerable coastal development while maintaining natural shoreline systems such as floodplains, wetlands, beaches and dunes both now and in the future.”

The Patrick Administration said, “The Green Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience Grants Program, administered by EEA’s Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), provides funding and technical resources for local efforts to increase natural storm damage protection and flood and erosion control. Grants can be used for planning, feasibility assessment, design, permitting, construction and monitoring of green infrastructure projects that use natural approaches as a viable alternative to increased armoring with structures like seawalls and groins. Projects funded this year include building and enhancing dunes and beaches, planting beach grass and other erosion-control vegetation, restoring coastal floodplain and creating salt marsh habitat.”

“Working to enhance the storm damage prevention and habitat functions of natural landscapes is an important approach for increasing climate change resiliency,” said CZM Director Bruce Carlisle. “From restoring beaches and dunes to creating new salt marshes, the green infrastructure projects proposed by these municipalities and nonprofits will reduce erosion and flood damage to developed areas while enhancing beaches, dunes and other natural shoreline systems that themselves provide shoreline protection, as well as habitat, recreational value and so much more.”