Managing coastal realignment

Overview

Where river channels are constricted with artificial embankments, or coastlines are subject to ongoing erosion and inundation, the strategic realignment of the shoreline can be a cost-effective strategy to reduce flooding, expand flood storage, anticipate sea level rise, and create opportunities for wetland development. Dredged material, if available, can be used to construct new dikes, set back from the shore, as well as to augment marsh lands. Furthermore, salt marshes can reduce wave energy and improve the stability of the dike. The breaching of waterfront dikes allows for the controlled, periodic inundation of the new marshes, which in turn provide much-needed habitats to offset those lost by over-development in many cities in the past.