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Coastal VoiceTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SHORE & BEACH PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION

— November 2018 —

INSIDE:PAGE 2: This year’s ASBPA conference

award winnersPAGE 3: This year’s ASBPA student award

winnersPAGE 4-6: Thanks to our 2018 National

Coastal Conference sponsorsPAGE 7: Hurricanes, beaches and your

ASBPA membership

PAGE 8: Join our conference call to share your coastal management challenges

PAGE 8: New S&T white paper releasedPAGE 9-10: Chapter updatesPAGE 11: Coastal risks focus of 2019

Coastal Summit; event chairs announcedPAGE 13-15: Best Restored Beaches —

Bringing Delaware Bay beaches back after Superstorm Sandy

PAGE 15: Upcoming conferences

We volunteersBy KATE GOODERHAM, ASBPA Managing Director

We (and 450 of our closest friends) just got back from the 2018 National Coastal

Conference. It was amazing. We had the most speakers, posters and attendees EVER. You know why it was amazing? Because of volunteers. While those of us on staff will take our bows for our part in the success, ASBPA was and is a volunteer orga-nization. You, as our massive team of volunteers, are what makes ASBPA special.

Just as one example, Judith Ashley, Cris Weber and Reuben Trevino put in countless hours mak-

ing the conference amazing. They found new sponsors, developed a whole new track for the conference, brought in partners, organized the field trip and did countless things we don’t even know they did! They are just three of the many volunteers that make the conference great.

But it’s not just the conference. We have committees and working groups that develop is-sues of interest. We have chapters that bring ASBPA to the grassroots level. These are all people who have day jobs. Yet they know that by making ASBPA strong, their agency, their organization and their profession is strong.

The No. 1 reason we love vol-unteers is because of all of their and your great brains. You come up with

great ideas. But you don’t just leave it there. You work together to make them happen. Besides being our brains, you are also our eyes and ears. If you don’t know some-thing, you know someone who does. That is very powerful.

So we heartily thank the great volunteers for the conference, but we

also thank all the other unsung he-roes who work daily to advocate for healthy coastlines. A toast to you!

And, for those who want to make a difference, let us know. We’ll find a place for you. v

Coastal Voice 2

This year’s ASBPA conference award winners

Among those honored at this year’s ASBPA National Coastal Conference: Murrough P. O’Brien Award: Anthony P. Pratt (top left, on left) Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Project Award: 1994-95 Galveston Sea Wall Beach Nourishment Project (top right) Rising Star Award: Katherine Brutsché (above right, on left) Member of the Year: Bret M. Webb, Ph.D., P.E. (not shown, unable to attend) Robert G. Dean Coastal Academic Award: Jack A. Puleo, Ph.D. (above left, on left)

Coastal Voice 3

Nicholas Kraus Coastal Scholar Award: Taylor Zimmerman (above left, on left) Educational Award (Masters): Jyothi Palaparthi (top right, on left) Educational Award (Ph.D.): Alireza Gharagozlou (top left, on left) Student Poster Winners (above right): Laura Lemke (left) and Mariah McBride (right)

This year’s ASBPA student award winners

Coastal Voice 4

Thanks to our 2018 sponsors

Reception sponsorNotebook sponsor

Lanyards sponsor

Water bottle sponsorShort course sponsor

Mobile sponsor

Wi-fi sponsor

Volleyball sponsor

Conference bag sponsor

Awards sponsor Poster session sponsor

Field trip sponsor

Coastal Voice 5Session track sponsorsExhibitors

Exhibitors

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General sponsors

Ad upgrade:

Handbook advertisers AV sponsor

Coastal Voice 7

Thanks to our 2018 National Coastal Conference partners

Hurricanes, beaches and your ASBPA membershipBy DEREK BROCKBANK, ASBPA Executive Director

In the wake of two of the most destructive hurricanes on record, ASBPA is standing up for beaches,

dunes and natural coastal infrastruc-ture. ASBPA and our members know that without beaches and dunes the damage from Florence and Michael would have been vastly greater.

As North Carolina DEQ Director Braxton Davis said: “Beach nourish-ment projects that resulted in high dunes and wide beaches did what they were supposed to do. They buffered the storm.” But when most people see beach erosion after a storm, they don’t think about the protection that beach provided — they just see lost sand. And, unfortunately, many people just see the cost of replacing the sand and begin to question why we pay for beach nourishment.

That’s where ASBPA comes in. ASBPA is pushing back on the false narrative that the cost of renourish-ing beaches after a storm is a waste of money, or the callous call for coastal

communities to fend for them-selves with no federal support to rebuild their coastal infrastruc-ture.

We know we’ll never con-vince everyone, but the conversa-tion about beach and shoreline

recovery must be based on good sci-ence, engineering and economics. Being a science-based organization, ASBPA fully acknowledges the changes

inevitably coming to our coastlines — we were as alarmed as anyone by the latest IPCC report on climate impacts and sea level rise — but that doesn’t mean we should immediately abandon the resources we have along our coast-lines. We need to restore coastlines to protect the infrastructure and assets in coastal communities, while also look-ing at policies that encourage resilience and incentivize rebuilding in areas less prone to flood and storm damage.

ASBPA has been taking this message to the media and the halls of Congress. We are the only organiza-tion in Washington, DC, advocating for federal policies and funding for wide beaches, high dunes and healthy wetlands. We are pleased to share that a Water Resources Development Act that contains many good coastal provi-sions passed Congress in early Octo-ber, and an Energy & Water appropria-tions bill with increased funding for coastal restoration and research passed a month before that.

We’ve already begun to reach out about ASBPA membership renew-als for 2019. We hope you will renew promptly, and consider supporting ASBPA at a higher level — if you’re an individual member, can you renew as a Government or Corporate member? The increased financial support of our government and corporate members provide the resources we need to con-tinue to grow our presence in Wash-ington, DC, and with the media.

Communities, firms and indi-vidual that have a vested interest in preserving shores and beaches for 2019 and into the future, need to come together under the banner of ASBPA and make our voices heard in favor of strong, science-based coastal policy. I hope you will renew your ASBPA member for 2019. v

BROCKBANK

EXECUTIVE REPORT

Coastal Voice 8

ELKO

Join us to share your coastal management challengesBy NICOLE ELKO, Ph.D., ASBPA Science Director

We hope you all enjoyed the fall conference and, in particular, hope all the

coastal practitioners who attended had a chance to contribute their individual coastal management challenges. As a follow up, we will hold a Special

Meeting of the ASBPA Science & Technology (S&T) Commit-tee on Tues-day, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. EST. Please call in to 515-604-9936 using the code 579505#.

Even if you aren’t a member of the

committee or you aren’t a regular par-ticipant, we really want to hear from our industry and local community members on this call. We will discuss your coastal management challenges. Maybe you are considering includ-ing erosion control structures in your beach preservation plan, perhaps you are struggling with balancing pub-lic beach access with the need for a high, continuous sand dune for storm protection, or maybe your community is interested in implementing setbacks or other regulations to manage coastal development. These are just a few examples of challenges faced by coastal practitioners around the U.S. Join us to share yours! v

SCIENCE REPORT

Figure 1. Online survey of coastal academics’ responses to “Has overall coastal science/engineering funding increased or decreased over the past 5 years?”

New Science & Technology white paper releasedBy NICOLE ELKO, Ph.D., ASBPA Science Director

The ASBPA S&T Committee has completed a white paper entitled “Training the Next

Generation of U.S. Coastal Scientists and Engineers: 2018.” We conducted a survey of 51 coastal academics from science and engineering pro-grams. Most coastal academics (62% of respondents) stated that funding has decreased over the last five years. Despite the reduction in funding, the number of coastal university courses has either increased or stayed the same in 84% of the programs. Courses that teach fundamentals are offered annu-ally or every semester by 80% of the programs.

The white paper recom-mends:

1. A robust consortium of coastal engineering & science academics toward cooperative arrangements for interdisciplin-ary approaches by leveraging major research resources, facili-ties, and educational capabili-

ties.2. The National Science Founda-

tion should continue to fund funda-mental research on coastal engineering and science

3. Federal agencies, academics, and stakeholders continue to support the U.S. Coastal Research Program, which has established a program to fund applied research in academic coastal engineering and science programs and promote partnerships between academia, federal agencies, & private interests. v

Make ASBPA smile with Amazon Smile

As the holiday shopping season approaches, there’s a very simple way you can help support ASBPA: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon.com, please

instead go through smile.ama-zon.com and choose American Shore and Beach Preservation Association as your designated charity, and Amazon will do-nate 0.5% of everything you spend to ASBPA!

If you have an Amazon (or Amazon prime) account or have previously shopped at Amazon, click here to automatically sign up to donate to ASBPA.

Smile.amazon.com has the same prices, selection and benefits as Ama-zon and Amazon prime, just with the additional benefit of providing your designated charity a portion of what you spend. There is NO COST to you — just benefit for ASBPA. So please, for all your online purchase go here, and help preserve American coasts by supporting ASBPA!

Thanks and happy holidays! v

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CHAPTER UPDATES

Giving TuesdayThe Tuesday after Thanks-

giving — Nov. 27 this year — has become internationally known as “Giving Tuesday.” Following a long weekend of shopping, please consider donating to nonprofits that are working to make the world a better place. In the coming weeks, ASBPA will be rolling out our Giv-ing Tuesday campaign. Check our website and social media for what our “cause” will be this year, and plan on making a one-time dona-tion to ASBPA on Nov. 27 (or dur-ing December)! v

Editor’s Note: Lots going on locally. Check out what is happening near you!

California Shore & Beach Preservation Association

By SUSAN BRODEUR

Registration is now open for the California Shore and Beach Preservation Association con-

ference “Coastal Conditions — Strate-gies for the Present and Future,” to be held at Bodega Marine Laboratory, Bodega Bay, on April 17-19, 2019. See our conference website at http://asbpa.org/coastalconditions/

In addition to attending, we have many ways for you participate in this year’s conference! Information can be found on the website for all of these options.

1. Sign-up for a pop-up talk — Less than 5 minutes, slides optional.

2. Present a poster — Wednesday evening poster session/reception.

3. Come on the Sonoma coast field trip — Spend the afternoon visit-ing the rugged coast and rivers. Sign up on the website (space is limited).

4. Watch a special showing of “Sand Wars” — Tuesday evening there will be a public event at The Grange in Bodega Bay.

5. Sponsor the conference — Help us support student scholarships and professional connecting with sponsoring parts of our event.

Lastly, there will be a community engagement opportunity on the third day where we at CSBPA will lead a discussion to hear from YOU. What would you like CSBPA to focus on in the coming years to support coastal science, engineering, and management in California? What can we provide as an organization to encourage more

connection among the public, practi-tioners, and decision makers?

Hotel and other logistic informa-tion can be found on the website as well. Don’t delay as space is limited — plus we are looking forward to seeing you there!

Central Gulf Coast Chapter

By BRET WEBB, President

Please put these dates on your calendar and plan to attend one or both events. Also, feel free to

distribute this broadly. These are not “members only” events. More infor-mation about each event is provided below, and more details will follow in the coming weeks.Lunch & Learn: Beneficial Use

Date: Nov. 13, 2018Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.Location: Mississippi DMRTopic: Beneficial Use of Dredged

SedimentsSpeakers: Lauren Averill and

George RamseurInfo: Come join other ASBPA

members and friends for a lunch and learn opportunity focused on ben-eficial use of dredged sediments. The event will be hosted at the Mississippi

DMR facility. A signup link will be sent out in the coming weeks. We will also communicate the “lunch” plans at that time. Help us “broadcast” this op-portunity to other likeminded individ-uals (pun intended). For those of you unable to make the trip, the presenta-tions will be streamed via WebEx.Evening Social Event

Date: Nov. 28, 2018Time: TBD Location: Downtown Mobile,

Establishment TBDTopic: None! Just come and have

fun!Speakers: No way!Info: We would like to hold an

evening social event in conjunction with the Mississippi-Alabama Bays & Bayous Symposium scheduled for Nov. 28-29 in downtown Mobile, Alabama. The social event will be held in the evening (post conference activities) and will be located at an establishment within walking distance of the confer-ence facility. We are awaiting the sym-posium agenda to be finalized before a time and location are set. An event signup link will be sent in the next few weeks with more details.

Central East Coast Chapter

By MAURA BOSWELL, President

The CEC Chapter is planning a workshop for May 2019 in conjunction with the Hampton

Roads Sea Level Rise/Flooding Adap-tation Forum with a focus on living shoreline projects and regulations. The Central East Coast Chapter continues to grow its membership and is always looking for additional volunteers to participate in the planning and ex-ecution of chapter ideas. Please let us know if you are interested in becoming more engaged with the local chapter.

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Hawaii Shore & Beach Preservation Association

By DOLAN EVERSOLE, President

The Hawaii Shore and Beach Preservation Association (HSB-PA) has been busy planning for

our annual meeting in December. This has catalyzed our chapter’s thinking about our role and function. Last year the Hawaii Chapter developed a chap-ter testimony policy to assist in provid-ing protocols on the chapter providing testimony on coastal projects. A year later we are actively evaluating several projects that are underway to see if the HSBPA can provide useful technical and policy testimony.

Northeast Shore & Beach Preservation Association

By DAN BARONE, President

Greetings from the North-east Chapter of ASBPA! The Northeast Shore & Beach

Preservation Association (NSBPA) has recently elected several new officers to the chapter and we couldn’t be hap-pier that our region will be leveraging the expertise of these coastal science and engineering experts to grow our chapter’s mission!

Our new 2019 chapter presi-dent will be Dan Barone, Ph.D., from Michael Baker International. Dan is very excited to be serving as NSBPA’s president and has already brought lots of enthusiasm to the role while work-ing with his chapter directors. Expect lots of activity in the chapter in 2019!

Also new to the NSBPA officer role is chapter secretary Sarah Hamm from Dewberry. Sarah has been ac-tively engaged with Dan and the rest of the Board since her nomination and is looking forward to collaborating with

the Chapter on new endeavors! Continuing to serve as chapter

treasurer will be Richard Weggel, Ph.D. Our new chapter vice presidents are Tom Herrington, Ph.D., from Monmouth University and Frances Bui from CDM Smith.

Texas Chapter of ASBPA

By JERRY MOHN, President

The Texas Chapter of the ASBPA had a luncheon meeting on Aug. 23 at the Galveston Island

Convention Center Convention Cen-ter. This was the fourth year we had a meeting to tie in with the Galveston District Army Corp of Engineers col-laborative and partnering meeting they have the day before at their headquar-ters. The Galveston District of the Army Corp of Engineers handles the entire Texas Coast.

We had great presentations: • U.S.ArmyCorpGalveston

District “Watershed and Coastal Storm Flood Risk Management and Resil-iency in Texas on America’s Energy Coast” and the status of the “Coastal Texas Protection & Restoration Proj-ect”.

• TheTexasGeneralLandOf-fice, who manages the Texas beaches,

gave an update on implementation of the Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan published in 2017.

• TheGalvestonParksBoardprovided an update on their activities and projects, including challenges with local funding for beach operations and maintenance, and challenges with obtaining USACE permits for beach maintenance activities.

The Texas Chapter was ready for the ASBPA’s National Coastal Confer-ence here on Galveston Island from Oct. 30 through Nov. 2, “Resilient Shorelines for Rising Tides.” We wel-comed all members to this great city on the Texas coast, once referred to as the “Wall Street of the South.” Besides a great conference, we hope the at-tendees had an opportunity to explore this historic city with many Victorian homes, historic downtown shopping area, and amusements like the Pleasure Pier and Moody Gardens. The Texas Chapter held a welcome Mexican Buffet dinner on Oct. 30 at the San Luis Hotel, with a mariachi band, for the ASBPA Board of Directors, Texas Chapter Board of Directors, Officers, Staff, Chapter Presidents, and event and corporate sponsors.

The final meeting in 2018 for the Texas Chapter will be Dec. 10 in South Padre, Texas. Again, it will be a lun-cheon meeting with presentations on local coastal projects.

This will complete the meet-ing activities for the Texas ASBPA chapter for 2018, where we will have completed four meetings, the first here in Galveston, the second in Corpus Christi, the third again in Galveston and the fourth in South Padre. For 2019 we will have one in Austin during the Texas Legislative Session, another symposium (which will be our fifth one), a meeting again in Galveston to tie in with the U.S. Army Corp Galveston District meeting, and a final meeting somewhere along the Texas coast. v

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Partnering with Coastal News Today and ASPNBy DEREK BROCKBANK, ASBPA Executive Director

ASBPA is pleased to share that we are partnering with the newly re-launched “Coastal

News Today” and the just-started “American Shoreline Podcast Network (ASPN).” Run by longtime ASBPA members Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham, this news service and podcast network looks to become the preeminent source for wide-ranging coastal news and analysis. Coastal topics will range from policy to eco-nomics to science to recreation and more. The latest news will be featured on the website and newsfeed, and are presented in-depth on the podcasts by experts in the field, but with an easy-going “kitchen table conversation” feel to them.

ASBPA will be helping curate beach stories, and Executive Director, Derek Brockbank, will be hosting a semi-regular podcast called, “The Cap-ital Beach,” which will address timely federal policy relating to beaches and shorelines.

For those who were able to at-tend the National Coastal Conference in Galveston, we hope you were able to stop by the Coastal News Today/ASPN booth and meet Peter and Tyler and share what you’d like to hear on an upcoming podcast. They also recorded three podcasts from the conference which you can hear at https://www.coastalnewstoday.com/ v

Coastal risks focus of 2019 Coastal SummitBy BRIAN CAUFIELD, Coastal Summit co-chair

After another hurricane season that saw two major landfalling hurricanes, we as a nation must

do better at preparing ourselves for the future. We know that climate is chang-ing and that there are inherent risks to our coastal infrastructure. This coastal infrastructure is more than just road-ways and telecommunications systems; it is beaches, dunes and marshes that make up our coastline.

Our coastlines are not just at risk from Mother Nature. Our access to beaches have played out in the court systems in Oregon as far back as 1969 (Thonton v. Hay) and as recently as 2014 in Maine (Almeder v. Town of Kennebunkport). And beach access rights continue to be discussed in Texas, Florida and California. A recent study in North Carolina looked at the state of the beach access points and how they need to be improved.

We cannot just hope that one day we will have all of the money and legal precedents we need to maintain

our coastlines for a resilient future. We must take action now, and attending the ASBPA’s 2019 Coastal Summit is an excellent opportunity to start this shared journey.

We invite you to Washington, DC, March 12-14 and take time to meet with your Members of Congress or their staff and meet with and hear from federal coastal agencies. Hear from successful communities that received the Best Restored Beaches awards this year, and toast the winners of “Coastal Advocate,” “Friend of the Coast,” “Corps Award,” “Congressional Staffer Award,” “Agency Award” and “Friend of the Coast Media Award.” Summit registration opens in late November. v

The three co-chairs for the 2019 Coastal Summit are Brian Caufield, Brandon Hill and

Kathleen Riely. They each will bring a different focus for the 2019 event.

Brian Caufield, P.E., CFM: As a coastal engineer for CDM Smith working as a technical and project manager for company-wide coastal studies, Caufield has more than 10 years’ experience in the

Chairs for 2019 Coastal Summit namedtechnical and permitting aspects of beach nourishment and other coastal projects. Caufield has worked with various stakeholders from federal agencies down to the community and individual homeowners.

Brandon Hill: While attending Texas A&M University at Galveston. Hill worked as a NASA funded scholar and graduated with a Masters of Ma-rine Resource Management. Currently working for the City of South Padre Island as Shoreline Director, he utilizes an ocean-system approach to manage the valuable resources found in Cam-eron County. Hill has accomplished

CAUFIELD

Coastal Voice 1 2Water bill passes

In October’s “Coastal Voice” we reported that the House and Senate had come to agreement on legisla-

tive text for the 2018 Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) as part of the larger “America’s Water Infrastruc-ture Act of 2018.” The bill final passed in the Senate in early October, 99-1, after passing in the House of Represen-tatives in September. By authorizing project construction and studies, and by setting policy for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), WRDA is essential for effective management of our coastlines and to increase coastal resilience across the United States. We are thrilled to see Congress to pass this critical legislation. See our full state-ment: http://asbpa.org/2018/10/10/congress-passes-2018-water-bill/ v

GLO beach access parking compliance, built over a million dollars’ worth of beach access infrastructure and ex-panded the City’s erosion response ca-pacity through the creation of a 5-year nourishment plan built upon particle tracing studies.

Kathleen A. Riely is Execu-tive Director of North Carolina Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association. She represents its members on the state and local levels advocating for sound environmental policies and ensuring coastal protection. She currently serves on the Advisory Council to the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commis-

2019 Coastal Summit awards nominations open

Nominations are now open for the ASBPA Congressional awards, Congressional Staffer

award and Corps award, to be present-ed on March 21st at the ASBPA awards reception held during the Coastal Summit in Washington, DC, on March 11-13. The deadline is Jan. 11, 2019.

•Congressionalawardsinclude“Coastal Advocate” — ASBPA’s high-est award, a lifetime achievement award — and “Friend of the Coast,” for shorter term or more project-specific contributions. Any ASBPA member may nominate one or more Members of Congress for the awards.

•TheCorps Award honors a member of the Corps of Engineers who contributed to the cause of beach management and preservation. For the most part, these are people from the districts who make projects happen.

•TheCongressional Staffer Award will be given to a single staff member for his or her efforts both to promote beach preservation and to facilitate project requests in the past

legislative session.•TheAgency Award will be

given to a single staff member for his or her efforts to promote beach preser-vation.

• AndtheFriend of the Coast Media Award will be given to a media outlet for exceptional coverage of coastal news.

Nominations are due no later than Jan. 11, 2019, and may be e-mailed to awards@asbpa.org. The nominator will need to be in atten-dance to present the award. For ques-tions, e-mail managing@asbpa.org. v

Chairs———————————— Continued from page 11

RIELY HILLsion which establishes policies for the North Carolina Coastal Management Program. Riely holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a Juris Doc-tor from Quinnipiac University and previously worked at a private law firm specializing in environmental law. v

Great Lakes meeting set for Nov. 14.

Chapters leaders are excited to announce that the Great Lakes Shore and Beach Association

(GLSBPA), a chapter of the ASBPA, will host a conference in Evanston on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Evanston Public Library in Evanston, IL. The conference will provide an opportunity for Great Lakes coastal stakeholders to develop collaborative networks; pro-mote best practices; and learn the latest science, engineering and policy related to our shorelines and ecosystems.

Themes for this conference will include the following: Beach Restora-tion and Preservation, Holistic Shore-line Management, Shoreline Sediment Management, and Inter-agency and Policy Coordination.

The conference invitation link is https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-lakes-shore-and-beach-preservation-association-fall-2018-conference-tickets-49431342476, and a conference registration link is also available at www.glsbpa2018.eventbrite.com/. v

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By CAPT. ALEX MODJESKI

The American Littoral Society (Society) was funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife

Service (USFWS) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in 2014 to restore several beaches in Cumberland and Cape May counties, New Jersey along Delaware Bay post-Hurricane Sandy. The primary objec-tives of the project were to:

1) Restore New Jersey-Delaware Bay beaches that provide critical habi-tat for horseshoe crabs and the feder-ally listed red knot;

2) Build intertidal, living shore-line oyster bars to protect and improve beach resiliency, minimize erosion, and promote biodiversity; and

3) Monitor each restoration to identify outcomes and apply adaptive management strategies when needed to ensure beach integrity.

To date, the Society and its partners (USFWS, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, Stockton University, and LJ Niles and Associ-ates) have restored eight bay beaches (Reeds, Cooks, Kimbles, Pierces Point, Moores, Dyer Cove, Fortescue, and Thompsons Beaches) back to their pre-Sandy footprints; trucked, placed, and spread over 200,996 cubic yards of coarse-grained sand over 56.5 acres; removed 2,051 tons of rubble; and restored over 2.74 miles of shoreline

Bringing Delaware Bay beaches back after Sandy

Thompson’s Beach before (above ) and after (middle) restoration.

in Delaware Bay. In 2015, the Ameri-can Littoral Society was awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for its work in Dela-ware Bay. Restoration of the afore-mentioned beaches was completed in spring 2016.

Of these eight beaches, one beach truly exemplifies the Society’s bay-wide beach restoration initiative. Thomp-sons Beach, located in Maurice River Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey, was devastated by Hurricane

Sandy. To accommodate the anticipat-ed arrival of spawning horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds, the Society and its partners designed, permitted, and restored Cells 2 and 3 (of four cells) at Thompson’s Beach.

Thompsons Beach is the best restored beach in the United States be-cause, through science-based restora-tion, it not only provided the resources to sustain ecological benefits to horse-shoe crab and the federally-listed red

Coastal Voice 1 4Thompsons————— Continued from page 13knot by way of adaptive management, but also illustrated the power of a pub-lic/private trust, its ability to overcome regulatory and logistical obstacles, and still provide needed resiliency for the natural and human-built environs.

Additionally, the restoration of this beach represented individual hope, current and future economic possibilities, and provided commu-nity ownership through volunteerism and engagement. Research has also shown that this beach, out of all eight beaches restored, is the most produc-tive horseshoe crab spawning beach in Delaware Bay allowing for the avail-ability of improved forage habitat for the federally-listed red knot and its improved sustainability.

Approximately 40,000 cubic yards (52,000 tons) of coarse-grained sand was trucked to and placed over 3,000 linear feet (8.4 acres) of beach habitat to re-establish once designated “Optimal Habitat” for horseshoe crab spawning. Additionally, 965.5 tons of concrete rubble, wood, and other debris was removed from the beach prior to sand placement, and 3,200 linear feet of the existing access road was repaired to allow for safe passage of construction vehicles.

The proposed activities followed Standards for Beach and Dune Ac-tivities as prescribed within the New Jersey rules on coastal zone manage-ment (N.J.A.C. 7:7E-3A.1 through 3A.3), as well as the conditions set forth in the Section 7 consultation. As part of the beach restoration, the team also designed an intertidal, shelled living shoreline composed of bagged whelk shell to promote sand accretion, attenuate waves, minimize erosion, and recruit oyster. That double-rowed, 205 linear foot living shoreline will be built April 8, 2017, by more than 100 volunteers, military veterans and Society partners.

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Coastal Voice 1 5

Thompsons————– Continued from page 14

Our research at other Society restored beaches within Delaware Bay has indicated that the double-rowed, intertidal living shorelines made solely of whelk shell assist in accreting sand and keeping the previously placed sand on the beach. The interstitial habitat provided by the whelk further promotes resiliency of the reef and improves the integrity of the beach for both the human-built and natural Bay communities.

Recruitment surveys and fish use surveys conducted by Society staff using traps on reef structures at other beaches have shown an improvement in biodiversity and a healthy natural set of oysters on the whelk. The habitat created supports a diverse community of crustaceans, other invertebrates, and fish that feed and live on these natural structures. The whelk shell has proven to be resilient as well, and has inter-locked to form a stable substrate for sessile organisms as well as providing interstitial environment for organ-isms to find refuge. Wave attenuation studies have shown that these living shorelines have reduced up to 35% of wave activity and are keeping sand on the restored beach. v

CONFERENCES Nov. 9-11: Young Scientists and Coastal Engineers Conference of the Americas, Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico. Details at: https://ycseca.wordpress.com/conference/ . Nov. 13: Central Gulf Coast Chap-ter, “Lunch & Learn: Beneficial Use of Dredged Sediments,” Mississippi DMR, Details at http://asbpa.org/cen-tralgulf/ Nov. 14: Great Lakes Chapter Annual Conference, Evanston Public Library. Register at www.glsbpa2018.eventbrite.com/. Nov. 13-14: North Carolina Beach, Inlet & Waterway Association’s 2018 Annual Conference Tuesday & Wednesday, Blockade Runner Resort, Wrightsville Beach, NC. Go to http://www.ncbiwa.org/events/upcoming-events Nov. 15-16: Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association Annual Meet-ing, Hyatt Place Historic District, Charleston, SC. Details at www.atlanti-cintracoastal.org. Feb. 6-8, 2019: National Confer-ence on Beach Preservation Technol-

ogy, Hilton St. Augustine. Details at www.fsbpa.com/tech-conference.html Feb. 12-13, 2019: South Carolina Beach Advocates Annual Meeting, Wild Dunes Resort, Isle of Palms, SC. Details at: https://scbeaches.org/2019-annual-meeting March 12-14, 2019: ASBPA’s Coastal Summit. J.W. Marriott-ASAE Conference Center, 1575 I Street NW, Washington, DC. Details to follow at www.asbpa.org. April 17-19, 2019: California Chapter (CSBPA), “Coastal Conditions - Strategies for the Present and Future,” Bodega Marine Laboratory, Bodega Bay. Details at: http://asbpa.org/coast-alconditions/ May 27-31, 2019: Coastal Sedi-ments 2019, Tradewinds Island Resort, St. Pete Beach, FL. Registration opens Dec. 1. Details and abstract submission at http://coastalsediments.cas.usf.edu/. Oct. 22-25, 2019: ASBPA’s Na-tional Coastal Conference. Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Ho-tel, Myrtle Beach, SC. Details available in May at www.asbpa.org. v