shoreline stewardship
Washington State’s San Juan Islands are home to much of the region’s healthy and intact nearshore habitat providing significant food, shelter and migratory services to numerous marine species including endangered salmon and whale populations.
The primary threat to San Juan County’s nearshore habitat is the cumulative impact of incremental shoreline development (Shared Strategy 2005). As the majority of San Juan County’s shoreline development occurs through single-family residential development and individual shoreline alterations voluntary protection will be essential for salmon, orca and overall ecosystem health.
The goal of FRIENDS Shoreline Stewardship Program is to educate San Juan County shoreline property owners about the biological importance of their land, improve management at priority sites and increase compliance with existing shoreline protection policies.
Alternatives to Shoreline Armoring
Shoreline armoring – the addition of structures or material along the shoreline to decrease the impact of waves and currents or to prevent the erosion of banks or bluffs – is one of the major contributors to loss of shoreline habitat.
Shoreline armoring structures, such as sea walls and bulkheads often bury the upper intertidal zone, increase site erosion of beach sediments and block sediment supplies from upland sources.
Soft shore protection and restoration techniques employ indigenous materials such as gravel, sand, logs and root masses in designs that mimic natural beach shape and processes. In addition to the benefit of protecting private property along shorelines without the negative impacts of shoreline armoring, soft shore protection methods offer direct benefits to nearshore marine environments. These include: restoration of forage fish spawning habitat, introduction of woody debris, shading, revegetation and increased shoreline complexity (Johannessen 2001).
The benefits of Soft Shore Restoration are visible below:
Blakely Island Site
Before Soft Shore Restoration
(1997 - Photo courtesy of Jim Johannessen of Coastal Geologic Services) |
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Blakely Island Site After Soft Shore Restoration
(2000 - Photo courtesy of Jim Johannessen of Coastal Geologic Services) |
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More information about FRIENDS work with alternatives to shoreline armoring can be found on our SCIENCE - Shoreline Restoration page.
Assessing Upland Impacts
With over 400 miles of shoreline and relatively small watershed areas, non-point pollution rapidly impacts San Juan County’s fragile marine ecosystems. With so much shoreline and so little land area, water moving across almost any property can impact the nearshore environment.
Marine areas with less flushing are the most susceptible to this kind of pollution. These same bays and estuaries provide breeding, feeding and shelter habitat for a host of species, including eelgrass, shellfish, crabs, forage fish, juvenile salmon and the wide variety of invertebrates that form the basis of the marine food web.
Stormwater plays a major role in nearshore and marine pollution. In a rural county like San Juan, where public infrastructure to control storm water and the pollutants it carries is extremely limited, our individual efforts to reduce storm water runoff are key to reducing the amount of pollutants reaching our shores and lakes, and also limiting erosion and improving recharge of groundwater aquifers. The same low impact development principles critical to managing storm water in urban areas apply also to the San Juans, and are good guidelines for improved management of any site. For example, when designing a home, consider reducing the footprint by building upwards -- not outwards – or just smaller, use spaced stones or gravel instead of concrete for walks and driveways, maintain native plants, and direct flow from gutters and roads into vegetated areas.
 Pollution is the common thread that links an array of problems along the coastline, including eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, dead zones, fish kills, shellfish poisonings, loss of seagrass and kelp beds, and even some marine mammal and seabird deaths. The good news is that reducing domestic pollution and managing storm water are things that we, at the individual, family and community level, can do something about.
Be Part of the Solution
Reduce your upland impact and protect local waters with these actions:
- Eliminate or cut back on fertilizer use
- Maintain and update septic systems*
- Keep native vegetation and minimize lawns
- Drive less and keep your car running clean
- Properly dispose of animal waste from pets
- Use non-toxic or biodegradable household products
- Keep yard waste out of local waters
- Properly dispose of sewage from boats
- Improve livestock pasture and manure management
- Limit the impervious surface on your property
- Help protect forests, wetlands and other open space in your community.
* San Juan County offers low interest loans for septic system repairs.
Contact Mark Tomkins in the Health Department at 378-4474 for information.
To learn more about good property stewardship click these links:
Shoreline Guidebook - Puget Sound Action Team (1.7 MB)
Living By the Water Project - Website
Funding for FRIENDS Shoreline Stewardship work has been provided by the Puget Sound Action Team, The Russell Family Foundation, The Harder Foundation, The Horizons Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
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