NO

AA

Science, Service, Stewardship

Nearshore Strategies

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

South Puget Sound

Paul R. CereghinoOctober 2010

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Nearshore Strategies

►Nearshore systems are physically dynamic

►Critical processes operate at large scales

►Strategy responds to whole situation►Social, Economic and Ecological

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Science, Service, Stewardship

Nearshore Strategies

►Plan at the scale of physical systems

►Support quest for USACE Construction General

►Facilitate regional project comparisons

►Identify high value sites w/o projects

►Begin integrating protection and restoration

PSNERP

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Overlapping ‘Sites’ – physiographic process domain

River Deltas(2; Nisqually/Deschutes)

Coastal Inlets (144; 16-33 High Potential)

Barrier Embayment(179; 20-50 High Potential)

Beaches (288; 1/3 of all Puget Sound)

Science, Service, Stewardship

Landform-Based Framework

Wat

ersh

ed

Infl

uenc

e?

Dri

ft C

ell

Infl

uenc

e?

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Degradation Gradient

Historic

► Dike and fill wetlands and embayments

►Stabilize eroding shorelines

Ongoing

►Cut, scrape and pave watersheds

► Stabilize eroding shorelines

►Spread pollutants

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Degradation Gradient

As degradation increases:

►Risk of a threshold change of state increases

►Reliability of restoration decreases, cost increases

►Opportunity for regaining lost services increases

►Strategy for protection or restoration changes

Degradation

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Degradation Gradient

Varies in character:

►Lost landform

►Shoreline modification

►Nearshore degradation

►Watershed degradation

Requires different approach

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Potential Gradient

as a site becomes larger, and more complex

Quantity, Diversity, orResilience

of ecosystem services increases Po

ten

tia

lHigh

Low

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Gradient AnalysisP

ote

nti

al

Degradation

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Gradient Analysis

Protect Restore Enhance

Protect Restore EnhancePo

ten

tia

l

Degradation

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Gradient Analysis

River Deltas Inlets

EmbaymentBeaches

Potential=

Watershed Area+

Inlet Length+

Historic Wetland

Potential=

Watershed Area+

Inlet Length+

Historic Wetland

9968

25 35

28

7

2

1 1

144

162

3410

23

6 13

5

13

144

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Gradient Analysis

Protect Restore Enhance

Protect Restore EnhancePo

ten

tia

l

Degradation

88/38 57/51

59/29

59/29

03/68

14/61

40/81

52/69

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

► South Sound – a shallow mosaic of inlets and embayments – shortest beaches in PS

● Human scaled – stewardship?

► The largest hole – Deschutes/Indian/Moxlie

► Nisqually missing OT/TF component (historically 22.5 ha)

Strategy Opportunity

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Strategy Opportunity

► 24 of 51 tentative Puget Sound high potential inlet protection sites

► 33% of the SS watershed flows into Inlet Sites compared to 13% sound-wide

► South Sound has lost 72 barrier embayments in 52 drift cells (typically small; mean of 289 m)

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

Strategy Opportunity

► (always more) Questions

● Sediment system management below scale of drift cell?

● Natural variation in inlet functions among sites?

● Spatial distribution effect on inlet functions?

● Inlet function sensitivity to varied degradation?

● Integration of SMP/regulatory as primary protection for restoration investments?

Science, Service, Stewardship

NOAARESTORATION

CENTER NORTHWEST

AcknowledgementsCharles ‘Si’ Simenstad (UW)Scott Campbell (USACE)Erin Iverson (AnchorQEA)Chris Behrens (USACE)Curtis Tanner (USFWS)Bethany Craig (UW)Jen Burke (UW/NPS)Margen Carlson (WDFW)Nearshore Science Team: Miles Logsden (UW), Kurt Fresh (NOAA), Randy Schuman (King Co.), Tom Leschine (UW), Megan Dethier (UW)Nearshore Implementation Team and Steering Committee’sJen Steger (NOAA)