Skip to main content

FILTER

December 20, 2018

Former feeder bluff with sediment impounded by armoring. Photo by Hugh Shipman.">

The latest numbers on shoreline armoring

By Jeff Rice Washington state has released the latest statistics for Puget Sound’s shoreline armoring Vital Sign, comparing armoring creation and removal in 2017. Those familiar with the Vital Sign will know that the state’s goal is to finally see, by 2020, a net decrease in the length of shoreline armoring throughout Puget Sound. Armoring […]

April 25, 2018

Before and after composite view at the site of a 2013 bulkhead-removal project on the shore of Penrose Point State Park in Pierce County. Composite: Kris Symer, PSI; original photos: Kristin Williamson, South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group">

Shoreline armoring implementation strategy finalized

Following a public comment and external review period, the EPA-funded Habitat Strategic Initiative team has officially released a Shoreline Armoring Implementation Strategy, which aims to reduce shoreline armoring in Puget Sound. The team developed the strategy in partnership with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Puget Sound Partnership, Puget Sound […]

July 17, 2017

Shoreline armoring puts flood insurance at risk

By Jeff Rice, Puget Sound Institute Communities across Puget Sound must consider salmon-safe alternatives to shoreline armoring or risk losing their flood insurance, according to requirements established by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. The requirements stem from a Biological Opinion issued by NOAA in 2008 finding that shoreline armoring and other development in the floodplain […]

October 20, 2016

Removing Puget Sound’s ‘Great Wall’

Can we really wait 700 years to remove all of the armoring along Puget Sound’s shoreline? Let’s do some of the math. Senior Writer Christopher Dunagan reports in Salish Sea Currents this week that armor removal now exceeds new creation by somewhat less than a mile per year. At first glance, that’s a good thing. It is a reversal […]

April 22, 2016

PSI armoring report featured on KUOW

KUOW interviewed PSI’s Aimee Kinney today about the impacts of shoreline armoring on the Puget Sound ecosystem. Kinney was the lead author of an analysis report of recent nearshore studies funded by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. New studies reveal that shoreline armoring degrades beach ecology and hurts Puget Sound species like forage fish and salmon. […]

April 8, 2016

Sources of sand: maps show crucial ‘feeder bluffs’

For more than a hundred years, property owners have seen shoreline erosion as the enemy. They have battled it with startling amounts of concrete and have lashed together so many protective beach structures that about a third of Puget Sound’s shoreline is now classified as armored. It’s a fitting term for this longstanding battle against […]

March 29, 2016

Studies show high amounts of illegal shoreline armoring

Our series on shoreline armoring continues today with two new stories. Studies show that a significant number of shoreline structures are being built illegally without required permits. We also report on efforts to educate shoreline property owners about alternatives to environmentally-damaging concrete bulkheads. Read these stories and others from the series in the Encyclopedia of […]