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Rather than making a static set of coastal units, our project created a series of data-processing models for dynamically delineating coastal units based on selected inputs. The 10 coastal units displayed in this map represent an example delineation generated by prioritizing sediment loss.

Our working method for dynamically delineating coastal units is described in the above diagram.

These custom visualizations describe various sediment movement types based on USACE Sediment Budget Analysis System (SBAS). We used this data extensively in our project as a way to understand generalized patterns of sediment movement across the region.

To target specific priorities, our simple models can be strategically combined. The above maps show the combination of models to produce coastal units relevant to Ecological Protection, Property Protection, Sediment Gain, and Erosion Control.

Our public and interactive website will enable local stakeholders and decision-makers to generate a sets of coastal units based on selected priorities, such as sediment loss/gain, coastal habitat, and erosion.

To create final coastal units related to the potential of passive sediment management strategies, we created and combined two models: a Coastal Process Model and a Coastal Conditions Model.

Our team visited a variety of sites throughout our region of study, including Wright Beach in Dunkirk, where we spoke with local representatives about the site's unique challenges and potentials.

Our team Considered relevant Passive Sediment Management Strategy typologies falling into two categories: Process-Based Strategies and Form-Based Strategies.

The development of condition-specific design ideas allows for the application of common interventions across a range of sites experiencing similar challenges within our study region. These drawings suggest a potential design intervention for coastal areas experiencing bluff erosion.

New York Healthy Coasts and Communities

The New York Healthy Coasts and Communities project aims to characterize coastal forces (wind, waves, longshore transport), the geologic and geomorphological contexts, and the social/cultural conditions along the Lake Erie shoreline of New York. This regional information will be assembled, mapped, and analyzed to identify a series of coastal ‘units’ that group reaches of the shoreline based on the above factors. Then, the plan will identify strategies that leverage these conditions to achieve needed benefits and outcomes. This work is meant to serve as a framework for future, more site-specific design and engineering projects that take advantage of passive sediment management (PSM) strategies. The goal of this working method is to establish possible design solutions that are both contextually specific and transferrable to other geographies that share similar attributes. This project is funded by the Cornell Water Resources Institute and supported by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

Led By: Sean Burkholder

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New York Healthy Coasts and Communities

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