Building living shoreline teams

BILOXI, Miss. - Mississippi residents living near the waters’ edge often consider ways to protect shorelines from erosion. Construction of living shorelines is a popular technique, but can be hard to find qualified contractors to build the structures. The Mississippi State University Extension Service, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, and collaborators are working to build a contractor workforce that can respond to the demand and promote living shorelines. “Living shorelines” is a term used to describe techniques to stabilize shorelines while providing nature’s benefits, such as improving water quality, absorbing flood waters, and providing habitats for fish and shellfish. An alternative is hardened shorelines, such as bulkheads and seawalls – although negative environmental and economic consequences. But, they’re easier to plan and install – and may be the only logical solution. Alabama and Mississippi are full of hardened shorelines not installed out of necessity. These structures can be replaced with more environmentally friendly options, such as living shorelines. Education and outreach efforts have led property owners to inquire about living shorelines. (Source: Mississippi State University Extension Service 04/05/19)