Acting NJDEP commissioner tours Shark River basin, calls for additional 'living shorelines' to help reduce nuisance flooding
Terry Raskauskas lives a block from L Street Beach in Belmar. Flash flooding from heavy rain and tidal flooding from storms happens on average more than a half dozen times a year.
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Flooding around the Shark River basin in Monmouth County has become more common over recent years, says environmental experts. To push back, more towns are looking at living shorelines to help combat the rising waters.
Terry Raskauskas lives a block from L Street Beach in Belmar. Flash flooding from heavy rain and tidal flooding from storms happens on average more than a half dozen times a year.
"Our street floods constantly. Every time there's a heavy rain or a big storm coming," said Raskauskas.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak toured vulnerable spots along the Shark River to see what worked and what still needs to be done.
"It's clear the living shorelines, the nature-based solutions are our best defense for what we're seeing. More frequent and intense storms," said Potosnak.
That living shoreline in a section of Neptune Township now stretches 2,000 feet, featuring a 6-foot-high dune, a new sloped beach, and native plants.
"The beach can absorb the incoming wake and waves. Marshes can absorb the water it acts like a sponge," said Genevieve Clifton, New Jersey Department of Transportation director of Maritime Resources.
One of the problem spots already identified in Belmar is the bulkhead separating Route 35 from the Shark River. Would a living shoreline here protect that neighborhood from flooding? The mayor says it's all part of a much bigger solution.
"It starts right here by making the bulkhead behind me stronger, by putting in a living shoreline which is just plant life with roots that can make animals and sure up that area and potentially making an entire beach here," said Belmar Mayor Caitlin Donovan.
Future plans call for dredging of the Shark River and more living shorelines throughout the basin. Studies are already underway to begin improvements in Belmar. It won't happen overnight but just knowing that a plan is in place is enough for folks like Terry to enjoy the riverfront views with a little more peace of mind.
"Having the shoreline improved in a sustainable way is really desirable," she said.
