Coastal Management (AQA GCSE Geography)

• The aim of any coastal management is to protect the environment but mostly people from the impacts of erosion and flooding
• Not all coastal areas can be protected or managed as there are economic constraints

Hard engineering methods

• Hard engineering involves building some form of sea defence, usually from concrete, wood or rock
• Structures are expensive to build and need to be maintained
• Defences work against the power of the waves 
• Each type of defence has its strengths and weaknesses
• Protecting one area can impact regions further along the coast, which results in faster erosion and flooding
• Hard engineering is used when settlements and expensive installations (power stations etc) are at risk: the economic benefit is greater than the costs to build

Hard Engineered Defences

Soft engineering methods

• Soft engineering works with natural processes rather than against them
• Usually cheaper and does not damage the appearance of the coast
• Considered to be a more sustainable approach to coastal protection
• However, they are not as effective as hard engineering methods

Soft Engineered Defences

• There are conflicting views about using a particular type of engineering for coastal defence
• Most coastal managers aim to use a range of methods depending on the value of what is being protected
• This method is known as Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
• ICMZ aims to use a combination of methods to best reflect all stakeholder's needs

Coastal strategies

• Management of coastal regions is done through identifying coastal cells
• This breaks a long coastline into manageable sections and helps identify two related risks:
  • The risk of erosion and land retreat 
  • The risk of flooding
• Identification allows resources to be allocated effectively to reduce the impacts of these risks
• The 'cost to benefit' is easier to calculate using coastal cells

Shoreline management plans

• Shoreline Management Plans (SMP) set out an approach to managing a coastline from flooding and erosional risk
• The plans aim to reduce the risk to people, settlements, agricultural land and natural environments (salt marshes etc.)
• There are four approaches available for coastal management, with differing costs and consequences:
• Hold the line
  • Long term approach and the most costly
  • Build and maintain coastal defences so the current position of the shoreline remains the same
  • Hard engineering is the most dominant method used with soft engineering used to support
• Advance the line
  • Build new defences to extend the existing shoreline
  • Involves land reclamation
  • Hard and soft engineering is used
• Managed realignment or retreat
  • Some or all coastal defences are removed, allowing the coastline to move naturally
  • Over time the land becomes flooded marshes, effectively protecting the land behind 
  • Most natural approach to coastal defence as it doesn't need maintenance and creates new habitats for animals and plants
  • However, the land is lost to the sea, which brings conflict, loss of livelihood and saltwater damages existing ecosystems
  • Mostly soft engineering with some hard engineering to support
• Do nothing
  • Cheapest method, but most controversial of the options
  • The coast is allowed to erode and retreat landward
  • No investment is made in protecting the coastline or defending against flooding, regardless of any previous intervention
• Decisions about which approach to apply are complex and depend on:
  • Economic value of the resources that would be protected, e.g. land, homes etc
  • Engineering solutions: It might not be possible to 'hold the line' for moving landforms such as spits, or unstable cliffs 
  • Cultural and ecological value of land: Historic sites and areas of unusual diversity
  • Community pressure: Local campaigns to protect the region
  • Social value of communities: Long-standing, historic communities

• The Holderness Coastline is located on the East Coast of Yorkshire and runs for 61 km Flamborough Head in the north down to Spurn Head where it meets the Humber Estuary in the south
• It is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe at 2 m per year
• It is made of soft boulder clay and chalk
• The coastline has naturally narrow beaches, which give less protection as wave power is not reduced
• Longshore drift is the dominant process due to North Sea waves
• Waves along the coastline have a long fetch (travel long distances) which increases wave energy

• The biggest issue of the Holderness coastline is that it is retreating too quickly

Management

• Bridlington is protected by a 4.7 km long sea wall
• Gabions have been built at Skipsea
• Hornsea's cliffs are formed from soft boulder clay and as a popular tourist destination, management is aimed at protecting hotels, arcades and creating a sandy beach. Hornsea has spent money on repairing its wooden groynes at a cost of £5.2 m, it also has a concrete sea wall. Recently a stone and steel gabion along with a concrete revetment have been built south of Hornsea, helping to protect the caravan park
• Riprap at a cost of £2 m, groynes and beach nourishment at Mappleton have produced a sandy beach and protects the town 
• Withernsea has a sea wall, groynes, riprap and beach nourishment in an effort to widen the beach and so reduce wave energy
• 2.25% of all UK gas comes through the gas terminal at Easington and £4.5 m was spent on riprap, but the scheme protects the terminal and not the village
• Spurn Head is protected with groynes and rock armour

Conflicts

• Careful management of coastal regions is necessary to ensure sustainability
• Conflict arises when coastal development is seen to be given a higher priority than overall coastal conservation
• The management along the Holderness Coast has been successful in part, with the village of Mappleton and the B1242 road no longer at risk from erosion
• Due to the use of groynes at Mappleton, sediment has been prevented from moving south which has increased erosion at Great Cowden 
• Erosion has destroyed farms along with the loss of 100 chalets at the Golden Sands Holiday Park
• Locals have disagreed about where sea defences are located, especially if community land is not protected
• Some sea defences negatively impact tourism and reduce the amount of money coming into the area
• Spurn Head is at risk of losing habitats due to a lack of sediment to maintain the spit
• Overall, maintaining coastal defences is expensive and the cost may be too great to continue defending an area that is eroding quickly and will continue to erode