Oregon is lucky to have many wild and undeveloped stretches of coastline. However, beaches closer to our coastal towns and cities, the one you may walk each day or your backyard surf break, are at risk- caught in what we call the “coastal squeeze” between rising sea levels and shoreline armoring built to protect private property. Riprap, a form of shoreline armoring that replaces natural bluffs with huge boulders, is the most common form seen on Oregon’s beaches.
Extensive riprap placed on the beach in Neskowin, OR. As you can see, waves come right up to the rocks, making this stretch impassible. Photo by Rena Olson.
Riprap reflects wave energy rather than absorbing it, paradoxically increasing erosion of the beach in front of structure and to neighboring properties. Additionally, riprap often juts out beyond the property line, essentially reappropriating a portion of the public beach for private use, and sometimes making access along that portion of shoreline unsafe or impossible for beach users. While nature-based solutions to erosion exist, they are not widely used in Oregon– yet. These alternatives aim to nurture the beach and absorb wave energy, while restoring the natural processes present on the coastal shore. Check out the successful project at Surfer’s Point, a similarly high wave power site, where a beach that was lost to riprap was resurrected with a living shoreline.
The after & before images of Surfer's Point. A living, dynamic shoreline and healthy beach replaced riprap and a crumbling parking lot.
One major issue here is a lack of education around the impacts of shoreline armoring on our beaches. So, to combat that, in conjunction with the launch of our Oregon Beaches Forever campaign in the fall 2024, we also launched a monthly webinar series aimed at deepening our collective understanding of beach dynamics, what threats our beaches face from both a changing climate and encroaching development, and what we might stand to lose if we don’t act. These webinars feature professionals in coastal science, ocean shore regulators, authors, and more! After a short hiatus while we got ready for the new year, we are bringing the webinar series back for 2025!
This month, we will be featuring Meagan Wengrove, Associate Professor at Oregon State University in Coastal Engineering. Meagan will talk about dynamic cobble berm revetments and coastal dunes as nature-based features used for coastal protection in Oregon. She will present two community tailored projects that she and her group have been working on and also include some observations and results from some of the latest findings coming out to inform nature based feature design. RSVP for Meagan’s talk here.
You can learn more about upcoming webinars in the series and RSVP on our event page.
Wanna see what we’ve covered so far? Check out our Youtube channel for recordings of all our webinars. Feel free to share with your networks– you never know who might benefit from a little education!