5 Conservation Practices for Shorelines, Streams, and Wetlands
5 Conservation Practices for Shorelines, Streams, and Wetlands
Colby Moorberg; Allison Aubert; Eric Brevik; Isaiah Euler; Teddy Gillespie; Brooke Hogan; Megan Owens; and Daniel Stich
Abbreviations
PDF – Portable Document Format
NC – North Carolina
NRCS – Natural Resources Conservation Service
SWCS – Soil and Water Conservation Society
URL – Uniform Resource Locator
US – United States
USACE – US Army Corps of Engineers
USDA – US Department of Agriculture
USFWS – US Fish and Wildlife Service
Streambank, Shoreline, and Coastal Protection
Broome, S. 2015. Restoration and Management of Coastal Dune Vegetation. Raleigh, NC: NC State University. https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/restoration-and-management-of-coastal-dune-vegetation.
Coastal dunes perform many functions, protecting low-lying areas, acting as barriers against storm surge and waves, and providing habitat to migratory birds and other animals. This extension bulletin from North Carolina State University describes these functions of beach-dune systems. It focuses primarily on beach dune restoration, including grasses, fertilization, construction, and protection.
National Research Council. 2007. Chapter 3 Methods for Addressing Erosion. In Mitigating Shore Erosion Along Sheltered Coasts, 44–77. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. https://www.nap.edu/read/11764/chapter/5.
This chapter from Mitigating Shore Erosion Along Sheltered Coasts focuses on strategies for limiting erosion on shorelines. The strategies can be grouped into soft and hard methods of conservation. Soft methods described in this chapter include managing land use, vegetation, marshland, seagrass, and vegetated dunes. Hardened structures described include bulkheads, seawalls, revetments, breakwalls, and sills. Strategies to trap or add sand are also discussed in detail, including beach nourishment, groins, and breakwaters, among others. The chapter then provides design elements and criteria for implementing conservation practices on shores and coasts.
USDA NRCS. 1996. Chapter 16 Streambank and Shoreline Protection. In Engineering Field Handbook, 143. Washington, D.C.: USDA NRCS. https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/viewerFS.aspx?hid=21429
Chapter 16 of the Engineering Field Handbook from the USDA NRCS provides technical details for streambank and shoreline protection practices. This chapter should help engineers determine appropriate measures to minimize streambank and shoreline erosion.
USDA NRCS. 2010. Streambank and Shoreline Protection. Conservation Practice Standard 580. 4. Washington, D.C.: USDA. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1046931.pdf.
This conservation practice standard overview defines streambank and shoreline protection as applying structural or vegetative measures to protect and stabilize banks of streams, lakes, estuaries, or excavated channels. This standard includes the purpose of the practice, conditions where it applies, criteria, considerations, plans and specifications, and operat