What is a living shoreline?

Virginia Code defines a living shoreline as “a shoreline management practice that provides erosion control and water quality benefits; protects, restores, or enhances natural shoreline habitat; and maintains coastal processes through the strategic placement of plants, stone, sand fill, and other structural and organic materials.”

Tidal wetlands are the natural shorelines that give our local waterways their characteristic beauty. Tidal wetlands provide us with important services such as flood control, shoreline erosion control and the natural filtering of pollutants from our waters. They also provide essential fish and wildlife habitats that are important for commercial and recreational fishing, boating, bird-watching and other types of recreation. 

What does it mean to “restore” a living shoreline?

Most of the shores in Virginia Beach were once filled with grasses and oysters, but have now been replaced by bulkheads and riprap. The man-made shorelines that we are used to here in Virginia Beach were not the natural norm. Before we started to develop this area, there were vegetated buffer zones, or natural living shorelines all over the city. Today, we can restore these living shorelines rather than installing more grey infrastructure. Restoring means replacing eroding land, bulkheads, or riprap with the sandfill and grasses where appropriate.

What are the benefits of a living shoreline?

• Prevents erosion and protects properties
• Restores habitats for wildlife
• Enhances the appearance of our waterways
• Absorbs tidal fluctuations
• Improves water quality

How can I get involved?

Lynnhaven River Now assists locals in installing living shorelines on their properties in Virginia Beach. For inquiries, please fill out the site visit form. We also have volunteer opportunities to get involved in installing living shorelines, for current listings check out the events page. 

Shoreline Monitoring:

LRNow monitors new projects quarterly in order to assess the success and health of our projects. In partnership with The Virginia Institute of Marine Science to expand the depth of knowledge and monitoring practices on living shorelines we use cutting edge ArcGIS technology to collect data on each of the shorelines. In partnership with Virginia Beach City Public Schools, we provide internship opportunities for students in the Environmental Studies Program to get hands-on experience using GIS in the professional field.

Living Shoreline Collaborative

As a non-profit working to protect the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, LRNow is a member of the Living Shoreline Collaborative (LSC). The LSC provides our communities with knowledge on best practices for restoring waterways and providing professional networking for those in the field.