Lewes’ living shoreline

The boat basin at the University of Delaware's Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes faces a dual threat: rising sea levels and intense storms that surge water into the basin, threatening campus infrastructure and the fleet of research vessels that are harbored there.

To combat this issue, researchers have installed a living shoreline that protects critical infrastructure while also providing ecosystem benefits to the area.

Living shorelines are nature-based structures that use natural materials like plants, sand, rock and oyster shells to stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion. Unlike hard structures, such as sea walls, living shorelines can work and adapt with nature to provide environmental benefits like habitat for wildlife, improved water quality and increased resilience to storms.