Data on how coastal sediment moves and impacts the landscape is lacking in many places. Having such data allows officials to respond more effectively to the impacts of storms, high water levels, and variations in sediment supply. This project will study sediment movement and model beach and dune changes in Southwest Florida. Project results will provide Florida communities with site-specific guidance and economic models to improve flood planning and protect vital infrastructure.
Why We Care
This project will evaluate changes to coastal barrier islands to offer regionally and locally meaningful information to promote cost-effective flood protection actions now and in future decades. By modeling various management strategies and storm types and comparing results to “no action” strategies, the communities the team supports will have the information to make the best restoration and flood mitigation related decisions.
What We Are Doing
In this project, barrier landscape change in Southwest Florida will be modeled over annual to multidecadal timescales to reveal the short- and long-term sustainability of the coastal system and provide the basis for a cost-benefit analysis of management approaches to inform effective flood protection projects. Approaches include artificial beach/dune nourishment, as well as other strategies that enhance natural infrastructure, such as dune planting and biophysical modification (e.g., to elevation and plant species) of dune systems. Specifically, this Southwest Florida work will:
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- Characterize coastal geomorphology, tides/currents, and vegetation to construct baselines of current and past environmental conditions.
- Assess the efficacy of different dune vegetation/sand placement treatments for increasing dune health.
- Improve understanding of stakeholder’s management approaches and what benefits they are looking to achieve from preserving or enhancing flood protection.
- Assess short-term/acute impacts to barrier island stability using process-based scenario modeling of different regimes of beach/dune nourishment and dune vegetation treatments under fair weather conditions and different scenarios of storminess.
- Assess long-term/chronic impacts to barrier island stability by combining results of short-term modeling with a long-term model of morphologic change to explore the influence of changing water levels and different scenarios of storminess.
- Complete the cost-benefit analyses defined by guided discussions with stakeholders.
Stakeholders in this project are located across Lee and Collier counties, including the following communities and managed areas: City of Sanibel, Bunche Beach Preserve, Town of Fort Myers Beach, Lovers Key State Park, Barefoot Beach Preserve, Delnor Wiggins Pass State Park, City of Naples, and Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Benefits of Our Work
Areas vulnerable to short- and long-term flooding and erosion will be better understood with improved ability to decide appropriate management actions, via the cost:benefit analysis of management strategies. Specifically, the results of this project will better describe coastal change areas with areas in need of protection clearly identified. Geo-economic models will help identify effectiveness of different management strategies. Recommendations for dune vegetation assemblages and planting locations will improve success of management actions.
This project is led by Christopher Daly at the Florida Gulf Coast University in collaboration with Michael Savarese and Jeannine Richards at Florida Gulf Coast University, and Daniel Ciarletta and Rose Palermo at the U.S. Geological Service. This project is funded by the NCCOS Effects of Sea Level Rise (ESLR) Program.