To Head Off Severe Storm Surges, Nova Scotia Invests in ‘Living Shorelines'
A 'living shoreline' stretching 60 meters (197 feet) had just been established to protect Mahone Bay from just such a storm. Spearheaded by the local environmental nonprofit Coastal Action, the pilot project involved building a layered buffer that starts in the shallows with rock sills, submerged barriers that help break up wave energy. It then proceeded landward with a salt marsh of tidal plants, like smooth cordgrass and seaside lavender. The final component was a vegetated bank, rooted with bayberry and wild rose to stabilize the soil. Unlike hardened 'gray' infrastructure like concrete seawalls or rock armoring — which deflect waves onto nearby roads and shorelines, often worsening erosion — living shorelines absorb and diffuse storm surges naturally.
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