Editor’s note: This story is part of “Washout: Our vanishing beaches,” a series about the reshaping of Rhode Island’s shoreline. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TRANSCRIPT:
Luis Hernandez: Shoreline communities throughout our region are faced with growing questions about how to manage the beach erosion caused by climate-related storms and rising seas. Today, we take a look at the South Coast of Massachusetts. We’re joined by reporter Adam Goldstein, who has been reporting on this issue for the New Bedford Light. Adam, always a pleasure. Thank you.
Adam Goldstein: Thanks for having me, Luis. Always a pleasure.
Hernandez: Where do we see the greatest amount of beach erosion on the South Coast?
Goldstein: So the South Coast is a fairly unique environment in that we have the enclosure of the Elizabeth Islands. Buzzards Bay is shallower waters where you don’t have as much direct exposure to ocean waves, so our tidal range is a bit narrower and leads to generally less beach erosion, especially in terms of some of those interior towns like Mattapoisett, Marion, et cetera. Where we really see the most beach erosion on the South Coast is in Falmouth off the Cape, as well as Dartmouth and Westport, which have more of that open ocean exposure that you guys are used to in Rhode Island.
Hernandez: Last winter storms, how bad did that get?
Goldstein: There was pretty significant erosion off of East Beach in Westport. There was cobble thrown on the roadway, feet of beach eroded, septic systems eroded, some washed away to sea. So I believe it was somewhere in the range of tens of feet of erosion that occurred in those winter storms. Buzzards Bay, or at least the coastline of the South Coast, roughly a third is salt marsh, roughly a third is hardened structures like sea walls, armoring, coastal barriers, and then roughly a third is beaches. So our beach erosion, our beaches are small, but we had significant damage to sea walls, a lot of coastal road flooding and some damage to salt marsh restoration projects and coastal wetland projects along the coastline.
Hernandez: So what are South Coast officials doing to address the problem? What are the biggest ideas, I guess?
Goldstein: Well, in terms of South Coast leadership, I mean there’s been a lot of talk about beach replenishment programs, especially in Marion at Silver Shell Beach. There’s discussions of one even in New Bedford at West Rodney French Beach. A lot of it’s really been kind of the same old traditional strategies of getting on the dredging list and waiting for a number of years for a project to clear out some of the shoaling that people are experiencing in these harbors and use that sand to rebuild the beach or get sand brought in to rebuild the beach. But as of right now, I mean, movement’s been fairly limited on a beach restoration. East Beach still really doesn’t have much of a solution. I know there was some tension between Westport officials and some of the residents in the area of what the town should do. A buyback is being discussed, but as far as I know, that didn’t get particularly far. So really there’s been some discussion of plans, but not much action.
Hernandez: Remind us, too, of what a buyback is.
Goldstein: Oh yeah, absolutely. So a coastal buyback would be if the state or a municipality would essentially use some of its funding and some of its money to essentially purchase coastal properties back from the owners that are in line of coastal flood damage, extreme risk from storms, storm damage, et cetera.
Hernandez: It’s like a managed retreat in a way. I’m wondering how often does that come up? Is that ever considered a viable possibility?
Goldstein: I know there’s discussions of it right now going on in Wareham that are starting to catch steam, and I know the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has been in consultation with a team of advisory outside groups like the trustees of reservations on how a managed retreat system might work on a statewide level. So local and state programs are starting to gain traction in the state. It’s clear that local municipal managers are more willing to discuss the issue, especially as this roadway flooding and infrastructure damage continues to pile up. So another thing that people are really talking about is the cost of homeowners insurance and of flood insurance. As tides keep rising, these beaches continue to erode and salt marsh continues to get flooded out. I mean, we’re losing some of that natural storm protection, so it’s increasing the risk to a lot of these coastal properties.
Hernandez: I’m just wondering what the conversations are like, what you hear from people, because I want to know is there a difference between what homeowners are thinking and talking about to what lawmakers are talking about to what scientists are talking about when they discuss the future?
Goldstein: I think local coastal homeowners are still pretty reluctant to give up their little piece of paradise on the coastline. I believe that conversation is coming. The cost of maintaining these properties, I mean, the risk of another major storm, we’re looking at an above average Atlantic hurricane season according to some of these early predictions. I mean, how long can people stay out here as long as your insurance keeps rising, especially if your property’s worth $2 million. I think the discussion is still slow for homeowners, but it’s definitely something that a lot of these municipal leaders are thinking about, especially a lot of these communities that rely largely on property tax revenue.
Hernandez: So do South Coast officials believe that enough public attention is being given to these issues?
Goldstein: They believe that it’s been refreshing to see some of these state leaders, especially with these resilient coast initiatives that Governor Healy’s pushing forward, it’s clear that it’s starting to get attention. A concern that I’ve definitely heard a few officials mention is that this may become another federal or state shiny object, and soon you’re going to have 70 coastal communities competing for the same small slice of the federal or state pie available for coastal resilience projects. They’re thrilled that attention’s starting to be paid to it. It’s definitely fallen off the radar in recent years. But there is caution that some of these grant proposals and funding opportunities that were available to smaller coastal towns before may fall by the wayside as demand outpaces supply of resources. So there’s a lot going on. People are tentatively optimistic that more attention’s being paid to these issues. But there is that note of caution.
Hernandez: Considering all the reporting you’ve done on this, and again, all the people you’ve heard from, I’m just wondering what else do you want to add about what’s happening?
Goldstein: There’s a lot of really interesting green infrastructure projects that are really taking off around the region between salt marsh migrations. They’ve done them successfully in Rhode Island, but salt marsh restoration is really not necessarily a new field of study in Massachusetts, but the timing is urgent, and a lot of these techniques, they’re considered experimental for maintaining some of this. Salt marsh is critical to the ecosystem. Major source of blue carbon provides significant amounts of habitat for rare threatened and endangered species, storm protection. It’s a really critical ecosystem, and we’re losing a lot of it at a pretty rapid rate. So looking forward, I think efforts to conserve salt marsh and efforts to maintain some of these natural forms of storm defense and infrastructure is something that’s going to be worth paying a lot of attention to on the South Coast.
Hernandez: I’ve been speaking with Adam Goldstein, reporter for the New Bedford Light. Adam, always a pleasure. I appreciate the insight.
Goldstein: Thanks for having me, Luis.
Click here to read more from “Washout: Our vanishing beaches,” a series about the reshaping of Rhode Island’s shoreline.
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