The Endangered Species Act is creating headaches for waterfront property owners, but it also has inspired new bulkhead designs that actually add aesthetic and environmental value to properties. Replacing slab bulkheads and seawalls with a design of boulders and vegetation provides valuable fish habitat while enhancing the natural appearance and aesthetics of the shoreline. When chinook salmon and bull trout were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, it was generally known that another layer of regulatory compliance would be added to development projects. What may not have been so apparent to individual property owners is that the same regulations that apply to large shoreline developments apply to them when it comes to the important task of controlling the erosion of their beaches.
Waterfront property is susceptible to the natural erosion of waves and weather.
At highest risk for erosion are flat beaches or beaches with low or high banks. Property with rocky shorelines or those that have gentle sloping beaches with adequate natural vegetation and a good supply of heavy drift to hold soil are less at risk. A traditional remedy for shoreline erosion is the construction of a bulkhead or seawall. Obtaining permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct or repair them had been a straightforward process in the past. With the listing of chinook salmon and bull trout under the ESA, the permitting process has become more complex for the Corps and, therefore, for waterfront property owners.