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New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve Shoreline Management Plan
Milligan, Donna Hardaway Jr, C. Scott Green, Cameron W. Wilcox, Christine
Milligan, Donna
Hardaway Jr, C. Scott
Green, Cameron W.
Wilcox, Christine
Abstract
The New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve is located in Mathews County, Virginia on the New Point Comfort peninsula between Mobjack Bay and Chesapeake Bay. The 105-acre site is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy and provides food and habitat for local and migratory birds, as well as vital protection for the federally-threatened northeastern beach tiger beetle (Cicindela dorsalis). The area is primarily marsh shoreline along Mobjack Bay, of which 1,900 feet was the focus for site specific shoreline management. However, the Chesapeake Bay shoreline and coast adjacent to the observation walkway were also included in management planning.
The Shoreline Studies Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science was tasked with two goals: 1) to determine how erosion can be managed at the site using The Nature Conservancy’s goals, and 2) to create a “next generation” management plan that incorporates previous knowledge of Chesapeake Bay shore protection, site assessment, and design. The objective of this project is to create a plan utilizes a holistic approach to incentivize reach-based shore protection while simultaneously enhancing habitat and future coastal resiliency along a singular reach.
What was found during the site assessment process was that the shoreline is a high energy site, primarily eroding (-1.0 ft/yr) saltmarsh habitat that transitions into an accreting and migrating low sand overwash and dune system to the south. Additionally, the access road at the site sits at a relatively low elevation, which floods during moderate storm events. In response, the Shoreline Studies Program has created several suggested management options including a hands-off managed retreat approach, a variety of sill system designs, utilizing artificial intertidal oyster reef systems, a headland control rock sill living shoreline system, and thin-layer sediment placement. After providing these
suggestions to The Nature Conservancy, they decided that 3D-printed Natrx intertidal oyster reef modules were the management strategy that best suited their goals. Six structures ranging from 81 to 196 ft long are proposed to be placed at mean low water along the marsh shoreline. It is the hope of both the Shoreline Studies Program and The Nature Conservancy that this strategy will provide shoreline protection to conserve this vital protected habitat as well as create new oyster habitat.
This project is year 1 of a two-year project. The overall goal was to develop a framework that can be used for next generation management planning and applying it to a site, NCPNAP. The framework is included as an appendix to this report. It is in progress as the framework may be refined during Year 2 when it is applied to another site.
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Date
2023-01
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Virginia Institute of Marine Science
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NPCP_Man Plan_Final-lr.pdf
Adobe PDF, 6.8 MB