The abstracts of this issue are below. Note that ASBPA members only now have access to a full digital edition of Shore & Beach (click here). Become a member now to get immediate access to the latest issue!
From the Editors’ Desk: Contemporary challenges and lessons learned at the edge of the sea
Tiffany Roberts Briggs and Bret Webb
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009320
Beach tourism and local economies: A micro-level study of visitor spending in southern California
Philip King, Sarah Jenkins, Lorenzo Spaccarelli, Kiki Patsch, Dan R. Reineman, Sharmila King, Charles Lester, and José Castro-Sotomayor
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009321
California’s beaches are vital economic and recreational assets, attracting millions of visitors annually and significantly contributing to local economies. Despite the established economic importance of beaches, recent micro-level analyses of visitor spending at individual sites remain limited. This study addresses that gap by analyzing visitor spending patterns at 24 beaches across Santa Barbara and Ventura counties using intercept survey data. Results highlight that overnight visitors staying in hotels or short-term rentals generate significantly higher spending than day-trippers or other overnight visitors. Lower-cost accommodations, such as camping or staying with family or friends, lead to reduced expenditures. This study also finds that beaches near urban centers see increased visitor spending, most likely due to accessible amenities like dining and shopping. These insights have important policy implications, suggesting that expanding higher-cost lodging options could boost local tax revenues, while maintaining affordable lodging is essential to ensure equitable access. Finally, this study provides a useful baseline for benefit transfer analysis, supporting future economic evaluations of beach economies.
Barrier island overwash and breaching captured by immediate post-hurricane reconnaissance and simulated with a numerical model
Stephanie M. Patch and Peyton Caraway
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009322
This study investigates the morphodynamics of a developed barrier island during a hurricane, focusing on overwash processes and breach initiation. XBeach is used to simulate morphological change on Dauphin Island, AL during Hurricane Nate (2017). The study area includes structures and a pit on the north side of the island. The XBeach model setup is calibrated and compared to post-storm surveys, achieving a Brier Skill Score of at least 0.84 and RMSE of at least 0.30 for survey transects within the high-resolution model domain. Using a storm impact scale to characterize morphological changes, overwash is predicted for most of the study area, except for a single dune that reaches only the collision regime. However, post-storm imagery shows this dune is overwashed and its sediment redistributed across the island. While XBeach underpredicts overwash of this dune, it accurately predicts a breach through the pit. On the north side of Dauphin Island, a pit is breached into Mississippi Sound by flow from the Gulf Mexico channelized along a ridge. The pit breach is captured by drone and aerial photographs taken immediately after the storm. Satellite imagery collected less than ten days after the storm show the breach is closed, highlighting the importance of immediate post-event reconnaissance of dynamic barrier systems.
Predicting flood severity of repetitive-loss properties in southeastern Florida
Rebecca Clark, Diana Mitsova, Weibo Liu, Tiffany Roberts Briggs, and Colin Polsky
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009323
Flooding due to tropical storm activity is a costly issue impacting the coastal communities of Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. This study investigates the potential impacts of storm activity coupled with climate change-induced sea level rise on coastal communities, emphasizing on areas with high numbers of repetitive loss properties. Research methods include hotspot analysis using FEMA actuarial claims data for both counties from 1978 – 2014, hydrological modeling and LiDAR-derived data processing via ArcGIS Pro to simulate inundation scenarios based on recent hurricane events (Irma and Ian) combined with projected sea level rise for 2050 and 2100. Results indicate that by 2050, Miami-Dade coastlines could experience a 1.44% increase in flooding likelihood for Irma-like conditions, with a 9.5% increase in the highest-risk areas. For Ian-like conditions, the increase is 1.1% and 5.3%, respectively. Broward County shows slightly lower increases. By 2100, the impact accelerates, with Miami-Dade potentially seeing an 18.62% increase in the highest-risk areas for Irma-like conditions. The study highlights the critical need for long-term planning and targeted interventions in identified hotspot areas to mitigate future losses. It emphasizes the importance of incorporating location-based vulnerabilities in flood insurance policies and developing proactive flood risk management strategies to enhance community resilience in the face of increasing coastal flooding risks.
Microplastics in mangrove and beach sediments on southeast Florida barrier islands
Kayla O’Brien and Tiffany Roberts Briggs
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009324
Coastal estuaries and beach systems are at high risk for microplastic pollution. The distribution, abundance, and hazards microplastics present in these coastal environments is not fully understood but are widely recognized as needed to support efforts aiming to protect and enhance these valuable systems. This project aimed to quantify the abundance and variation of microplastics in estuarine mangrove and open coast beach sediments on Southeast Florida barrier islands. Barrier islands serve as a buffer between Florida’s wetland environments, reefs, and other marine habitats and may serve as a conduit or temporary sink for microplastics entering the ocean. There have been no extensive studies or monitoring efforts evaluating microplastics in Southeast Florida barrier islands sediments, nor comparing geomorphic properties of an area on microplastic accumulation. Study sites included back barrier estuarine mangroves and open coast beaches at three regionally similar but geomorphically distinct study sites throughout Palm Beach County, Florida. The sites were sampled seasonally in 2022 (i.e., summer and winter) to quantify the spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics. Microplastic abundance, color, shape, and size was documented. Sediment samples were analyzed for moment method statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation/sorting) at quarter and half-phi intervals above 63 μm. This novel study quantified spatiotemporal variability of the microplastic pollution conditions in Southeast Florida barrier islands mangrove and beach sediments, where previously no data existed. This research is important for coastal managers to gain a better understanding of current microplastic pollution conditions and the factors influencing them to inform best management and conservation practices.
Coastal Observations: Nature-based shoreline stabilization: the interplay of policy, science, and engineering on living shorelines in Moriches Bay, New York
Sydney Miller and Aram Terchunian
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009325
Living shorelines have become a preferred approach to shoreline stabilization in New York State, driven by policy mandates that prioritize nature-based solutions over traditional hard infrastructure. New York’s environmental conservation laws, which restrict methods like filling wetlands, require innovative approaches to mitigate erosion and storm surge. The design and construction of such projects require an understanding of low-energy coastal environments, the balance between ecological habitats and infrastructure, policy and regulation challenges, and adaptive management strategies based on monitoring data. The living shoreline project on Moriches Bay in Westhampton, New York, a multi-property segmented offshore breakwater, beach fill and rock cored dune serves as a case study illustrating the convergence of policy, science, and engineering in implementing effective living shorelines on Long Island. This paper examines the interplay of these elements in driving the successful implementation of nature-based solutions for shoreline stabilization in New York.
Coastal Forum: Coastal water pollution challenges in San Diego County, California
Stephen P. Leatherman
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009326