11-08-2025
To Head Off Severe Storm Surges, Nova Scotia Invests in ‘Living Shorelines'
On September 14, 2022, when Hurricane Fiona battered Nova Scotia with gusts exceeding 100 mph and offshore waves cresting 90 feet, residents of Mahone Bay, on the province's southern coast, watched anxiously to see whether their three historic waterfront churches — flood-prone landmarks whose steeples once guided 19th-century seafarers — would survive.
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.
