1. Science, Service, Stewardship
Nearshore Strategies
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
South Puget Sound
Paul R. Cereghino
October 2010

2. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Nearshore Strategies
►Nearshore systems are physically dynamic
►Critical processes operate at large scales
►Strategy responds to whole situation
►Social, Economic and Ecological

3. NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Science, Service, Stewardship
Nearshore Strategies
►Plan at the scale of physical systems
►Support quest for USACE Construction General
►Facilitate regional project comparisons
►Identify high value sites w/o projects
►Begin integrating protection and restoration
PSNERP

4. NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Overlapping ‘Sites’ – physiographic process domain
River Deltas
(2; Nisqually/Deschutes)
Coastal Inlets
(144; 16-33 High Potential)
Barrier Embayment
(179; 20-50 High Potential)
Beaches (288; 1/3 of all Puget Sound)
Science, Service, Stewardship
Landform-Based Framework
Watershed
Influence?
DriftCell
Influence?

5. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Degradation Gradient
Historic
►Dike and fill wetlands and embayments
►Stabilize eroding shorelines
Ongoing
►Cut, scrape and pave watersheds
►Stabilize eroding shorelines
►Spread pollutants

6. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Degradation Gradient
As degradation increases:
►Risk of a threshold change of state increases
►Reliability of restoration decreases, cost increases
►Opportunity for regaining lost services increases
►Strategy for protection or restoration changes
Degradation

7. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Degradation Gradient
Varies in character:
►Lost landform
►Shoreline modification
►Nearshore degradation
►Watershed degradation
Requires different approach

8. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Potential Gradient
as a site becomes larger,
and more complex
Quantity,
Diversity, or
Resilience
of ecosystem services increases
Potential
High
Low

9. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Gradient Analysis
Potential
Degradation

10. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Gradient Analysis
Protect Restore Enhance
Protect Restore Enhance
Potential
Degradation

11. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Gradient Analysis
River Deltas Inlets
EmbaymentBeaches

12. Potential
=
Watershed Area
+
Inlet Length
+
Historic Wetland
Potential
=
Watershed Area
+
Inlet Length
+
Historic Wetland

13. 99
68
25
35
28
7
2
1 1
144

16. 162
34
10
23
6
13
5
13
144

17. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Gradient Analysis
Protect Restore Enhance
Protect Restore Enhance
Potential
Degradation

19. 88/38 57/51
59/29
59/29
03/68
14/61
40/81
52/69

20. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
► South Sound – a shallow mosaic of inlets and
embayments – shortest beaches in PS
● Human scaled – stewardship?
► The largest hole – Deschutes/Indian/Moxlie
► Nisqually missing OT/TF component
(historically 22.5 ha)
Strategy Opportunity

21. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Strategy Opportunity
► 24 of 51 tentative Puget Sound high potential
inlet protection sites
► 33% of the SS watershed flows into Inlet Sites
compared to 13% sound-wide
► South Sound has lost 72 barrier embayments
in 52 drift cells (typically small; mean of 289 m)

23. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Strategy Opportunity
► (always more) Questions
● Sediment system management below scale of drift
cell?
● Natural variation in inlet functions among sites?
● Spatial distribution effect on inlet functions?
● Inlet function sensitivity to varied degradation?
● Integration of SMP/regulatory as primary protection
for restoration investments?

24. Science, Service, Stewardship
NOAA
RESTORATION
CENTER NORTHWEST
Acknowledgements
Charles ‘Si’ Simenstad (UW)
Scott Campbell (USACE)
Erin Iverson (AnchorQEA)
Chris Behrens (USACE)
Curtis Tanner (USFWS)
Bethany Craig (UW)
Jen Burke (UW/NPS)
Margen Carlson (WDFW)
Nearshore Science Team: Miles Logsden (UW), Kurt Fresh (NOAA),
Randy Schuman (King Co.), Tom Leschine (UW), Megan Dethier (UW)
Nearshore Implementation Team and Steering Committee’s
Jen Steger (NOAA)