Living Shorelines in Virginia: A Case for Stopping Recurrent Erosion while Protecting the Chesapeake Bay
J. Timothy Hare, PE, CH2M HILL, 5701 Cleveland St., Suite 200, Virginia Beach, VA 23462, 757-671-6229,
tim.hare@ch2m.com
Coastal Virginia encompasses more than its Atlantic shoreline. The Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries
are home to nine of Virginia’s ten largest cities and five of its six largest counties. These stretch from the
upper tidal portion of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia to the mouth of the Bay in the southeast.
These coastal communities have to contend with coastal flooding brought on by tropical systems and
northeasters. They also have to contend with sea level rise due to a combination of global climate change
and land subsidence. The localities in Hampton Roads in southeast Virginia have economies that are heavily
dependent on the United States Navy, international shipping, and ship building and repair, all of which are
impacted by coastal flooding and sea level rise. Many other coastal areas have to deal with the same issues.
What makes the Bay localities unique is that they also have to address pollutant load reduction
requirements mandated by the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). This TMDL requires
each community make reductions to its nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment loads from
wastewater and stormwater over a fifteen year period. The reductions are necessary to restore the Bay’s
health. Many times these two different requirements compete for scarce funding and attention.
Living shorelines are a shoreline restoration or stabilization technique that has the potential to address both
requirements. This technique incorporates a low crested berm (or sill) and a strip of wetland vegetation
planted between the berm and the toe of the bank to be protected. This combination reduces the wave
action impacts on the bank’s toe, filters the nutrient rich waters that pass over the sill, and provides habitat
for juvenile fish and crabs. This paper will discuss the progress the Chesapeake Bay Program has made to
develop nutrient and sediment reduction credits for living shorelines. It will use a case study from Newport
News to discuss how different alternatives for bank stabilization were developed to stabilize a 600 foot
section of bluff on the James River. It will describe the current and design conditions considered, the three
alternatives developed, and the cost benefit analysis that led to the selection of the alternative that included
a living shoreline component.
Author Biography:
Tim Hare is a project manager and senior water resources engineer with over 16 years of experience. He has
a BS in Physics from the University of Vermont and served for 9 years in the Navy. After leaving the Navy, he
earned his Master’s in Environmental Engineering from Old Dominion University. Tim currently works in
CH2M HILL’s Virginia Beach office and is a registered professional engineer in Virginia.