A Guide to Shoreline Management Planning For Virginia’s Coastal Localities

Short pamphlet describing methods for managing and making recommendations for shorelines

Salt Ponds Shore Zone Modeling for Breakwater Placement: Summary Report

The City of Hampton Beachfront and Storm Protection Management Plan (Waterway Surveys, VIMS, and URS, 2011) provides a conceptual plan for the placement of structures along Hampton’s shoreline (Figure 1). The Shoreline Studies Program (SSP) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) provided the original shoreline modeling used for this plan in 1999. The modeling was used to provide guidance on structure placement for management of the entire beach fronting shoreline. The City has built three of the structures in the Plan along the public beach at Buckroeand presently is planning to design and construct the recommended breakwater in the Salt Ponds Reach. Since much of the original modeling and conceptual planning was performed before structures were placed along the shoreline and existing shore conditions have changed, updating the modeling component is necessary in order to better site the breakwater. Using present conditions, the modeling results can be used as guidance to maximize storm protection, minimize downdrift impacts, and better manage sediment transport. The purpose of this project is to recommend a structure position that will fit with the City’s goals

Captain Sinclair\u27s Recreational Area Living Shoreline and Oyster Restoration

Presentation report on Captain Sinclair\u27s Recreational Area Living Shoreline and Oyster Restoration project. Project awarded 2023 ASBPA Best Restored Shore awar

Occohannock on the Bay Living Shoreline Project

Presentation report on Occohannock on the Bay (Camp Occohannock) Living Shoreline restoration project. Project Purpose: Demonstrate living shorelines as cost-effective, hybrid green-gray infrastructure approach for protecting local communities from coastal hazards while enhancing coastal resilience and ecosystem health. Project awarded ASBPA Best Restored Shore Award for 202

Living Shoreline Sea Level Resiliency: Performance and Adaptive Management of Existing Breakwater Sites, Year 2 Summary Report

The Coastal Zone Management program, through NOAA grants, has funded several projects that have reviewed design considerations and monitored living shoreline systems for effectiveness at both shore protection and habitat enhancement. These studies presented data regarding the construction and performance of three living shoreline projects that were built between 1999 and 2003 in Maryland (Hardaway et al., 2007 and 2009) and were in part the basis for the “Living Shoreline Design Guidelines for Shore Protection in Virginia’s Estuarine Environments” and the contractor training classes (Hardaway et al., 2017). In addition, extensive research has been done on the design and performance of breakwater systems around Chesapeake Bay (Hardaway & Gunn, 1991; 2010; 2011). Breakwater and beach systems are appropriate for medium to high energy shorelines along Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. .... The present project seeks to build upon and expand monitoring efforts of sills and headland breakwater systems in Chesapeake Bay to determine effectiveness of shore protection and habitat creation and stability through time using a detailed site assessment and survey of five sites (Figure 1-1) including Aquia Landing, Bavon, Kingsmill, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and Yorktown. In addition, referencing the latest research results of migration and accretion of beaches and marshes in Chesapeake Bay, the project will seek to determine what elements make these successful over the short and longer terms

Town of Colonial Beach Survey of Central and Castlewood Beaches

The Town of Colonial Beach occupies a peninsula between the Potomac River and Monroe Bay. Approximately 2.5 miles of the shoreline is publicly-owned. Two areas on the Potomac River have been enhanced as recreational beaches for swimming and sunbathing. Central Beach is located just south of the Town Pier and is the main recreational beach. Castlewood Beach is south of Central Beach near the entrance to Monroe Bay

Pamunkey Indian Reservation Shoreline Management Plan

In 2015, the federal government officially recognized the Pamunkey Indian tribe. The tribe has a reservation located on the Pamunkey River in King William County (Figure 1-1) and is one of the nation\u27s oldest, dating back to 1646 (Encyclopedia Virginia, 2015). The Reservation has about 13 miles of shoreline encompassing about 1,100 acres. According to the National Wetlands Inventory (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2016), the Reservation has about 80 acres of freshwater emergent wetland and 530 acres of freshwater forested/shrub wetland. Approximately 90 people live on the Reservation and up to 600 people visit in a year. The goal of this project that was funded by the 2017 Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is to develop strategies for coastal resiliency along the Pamunkey Indian Reservation. This was achieved by evaluating the shoreline for coastal erosion issues. This plan applies living shoreline best management practices to the entire Reservation, though shore protection plans were only developed for inhabited areas and sections with eroding uplan

Shoreline Evolution: Northampton County, Virginia Chesapeake Bay Shoreline 2013

Northampton County is situated along Virginia’s Eastern Shore (Figure 1). Because the County’s shoreline is continually changing, determining where the shoreline was in the past, how far and how fast it is moving, and what factors drive shoreline change will help define the shoreline’s future movement. These rates and patterns of shore change along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores will differ through time as winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the Chesapeake Bay shoreline of Northampton County has evolved since 1938. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that year and can be used to assess the geomorphic nature of shore change. Only shorelines of Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries on the Bay side of Northampton County are included in this report. The present report is an update to Hardaway et al. (2004) which documented shoreline change in order to determine the evolution of Bay dunes. While determining how the ocean side shoreline and marshes ar

Shoreline Evolution: Fairfax County, Virginia Potomac River Shoreline

Fairfax County is situated along the upper reaches of the Potomac River (Figure 1). Because the County’s shoreline is continually changing, determining where the shoreline was in the past, how far and how fast it is moving, and what factors drive shoreline change will help define where the shoreline will be going in the future. These rates and patterns of shore change along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores will differ through time as winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Fairfax County has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that year and can be used to assess the geomorphic nature of shore change. Aerial photos show how the coast has changed, how beaches, dunes, bars, and spits have grown or decayed, how barriers have breached, how inlets have changed course, and how one shore type has displaced another or has not changed at all. Shore change is a natural process but, quite often, the impacts of man, through shore hardening or inlet stabilization, come to dominate a given shore reach. In addition to documenting historical shorelines, the change in shore positions along the larger creeks in Fairfax County will be quantified in this report. The shorelines of very irregular coasts, small creeks and around inlets, and other complicated areas will be shown but not quantified