Living Shorelines
Channel: DEESTUARY
Date: 2012-05-18

The Delaware Estuary Living Shoreline Initiative is a pilot project designed to stabilize the shorelines of tidal marshes.  The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Rutgers University and others are doing this by using intertidal shellfish, such as ribbed mussels, to form natural breakwaters.  These "living shorelines" traps sediment (mud) and absorb waves that would otherwise wash away, or "erode," plants.  The goal of this project is to provide an economical solution for communities near the Delaware River and Bay that are struggling to combat the erosion of valuable tidal marshes.  Please visit DelawareEstuary.org for more info, including a practitioner's guide.