Policy for management and protection of the coast

Policy for management and protection of the coast

Policy for management and protection of the coast Mona Ohlsson Samhällsbyggnadsförvaltningen Ystads kommun, 2008 3

THE MUNICIPALITY GUIDELINES REGARDING COASTAL PROTECTIONS The basic position of the municipality of Ystad is that the nature shall have its course. Erosion and accumulation is a part of the coastal dynamic system and as much as possible these natural processes will be preserved in order not to create any disturbances in the dynamics of the coastal system. Beach erosion and flooding may have large consequences for coastal areas and it is mainly three aspects that are important for the municipality of Ystad: Protection against loss of valuable land and infrastructure; Protection against flooding of areas adjacent to the coast; Preservation of the extent and width of beaches. In discussions about coastal protection there is the question of whether measures should be taken at all or if it is better to do nothing. The question is whether coastal protection in a particular case is a reasonable alternative, i.e., whether the positive effects exceed the negative. Because coastal protection always means an encroachment of the natural processes between sea and land and that measures can be quite expensive, one must carefully consider the possibilities for a positive result. One example could be if it is possible to recreate a part of the beach without causing negative effects on adjacent beaches or decrease the recreational value of the beach too much. One can use various types of socio-economic analyzes in order to determine the most favourable alternative from an ecological and economically sustainable point of view, to be used as a basis for decision-making. It is important to take all stakeholders into considerations and it is the responsibility of the municipality to take responsibility for the general interests and balance these against other interests. In cases when coastal erosion has threatened investments in the form of settlements, infrastructure or natural areas the municipality have earlier selected the alternative to secure the coast line through hard coastal protection measures to limit the erosion in the most affected areas. The municipality policy is still that measures should be taken in these cases in order to decrease the coastal erosion damages. Physical measures in the form of hard or soft coastal protection are the protective alternatives that are currently used. The harbours and marinas in the municipality contribute to the coastal erosion as they function as obstacles along the coast. The structures disturb the natural sediment transport from west to east by trapping the sand that is otherwise carried by the currents along the coast. In order to maintain the depth in the port, the marina and the entrance channel to the port are dredged regularly. The material that is dredged from the port and marinas is seldom brought back to the coastal system which, therefore, gradually loses sediment. Most coastal protection measures in the municipality of Ystad consist of hard structures. A proper functioning of these requires significant sand transport along the coast. One of Ystad's biggest coastal problems is that the dredged sand is not brought back to the coastal system and, as a result, the protective measures do not have the desired effect. It is the opinion of the municipality of Ystad that the best practice of coastal management is to combine the current hard protection measures with soft measures so that sediment is brought into the 4

sediment transport cell. Only then can the natural processes continue while, at the same time, the impact on adjacent coast lines will be less negative. A positive side effect of soft measures is that the sand that is nourished to the beach will gradually be transported to down-drift beaches. This is in most cases regarded as a positive effect. Thus, the effects of the beach nourishment will last for a long period of time as the sand is being transported from the nourished beach to its final location of deposition at Sandhammar bank. With the future climate conditions that were outlined in the national Climate and Vulnerability Report it is clear that these problems will continue also in the future. There is a large probability that much larger portions of the beaches in the municipality of Ystad, as well as in other parts of south Sweden, will suffer from beach erosion, but also from floods and increasing groundwater levels. This requires the municipality to adapt the society in order to meet the future threats. Integrated coastal management is one dynamic, multidisciplinary and continuously ongoing process that will promote a sustainable planning and management of coastal areas. The objective of integrated coastal management is, in a longer time perspective, to find a balance between economic, social and cultural objectives and environmental and recreational interests, within the framework that the natural dynamic processes constitute. The municipality of Ystad will work towards an integrated management of the coastal area. Besides managing the eroding coastal areas in a long-term sustainable way, also other parts of the coast must be included in the coastal planning. In the future, planning and feed-back will probably constitute the two most important elements in the coast management process. Research and Development in the Municipality of Ystad Since the mid 1980 s the municipality of Ystad has worked actively against its erosion problems. Information and knowledge have been acquired through research, pilot projects and investigations. Already in an early stage, one understood the importance of involving the governmental authorities and during the entire time while the municipality of Ystad has been engaged in the problems of buildings, plants, infrastructure and protected areas being threatened by the sea, the effort to involve the National and Regional authorities has continued. This effort by the municipality of Ystad contributed strongly to the appointment in 2003 of SGI to be the Swedish governmental authority commissioned to have a coordinative role in reducing the risks of coastal erosion and damage caused by such erosion. The municipality of Ystad is still working on convincing the governmental authorities to spend more effort on problems relating to coastal flooding and erosion and that the governmental authorities shall provide a greater financial support to municipalities with such problems. Ystad has also strongly contributed to improved knowledge about erosional processes, sediment transport etc. Several research projects have been implemented along the coast, for example experiments with fins, pressure equilibration modules and UDC-pipes. The groin system that constitutes the main erosion protection in Löderups Strandbad is a prototype-scale experiment that in part was financed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency with approximately 7 million SEK during the 1990 s. The municipality has been very open-minded towards new research projects. The municipality of Ystad has also been the main driving force behind Erosionsskadecentrum. The organization is a merger of twenty coastal municipalities of which Ystad is the municipality that is one of the most active. 5

Ystad works continuously to increase its knowledge about coastal processes by engaging in big EU-project such as EUROSION, MESSINA and SENCORE. These projects have mainly aimed at giving the member states tools in order to work towards an integrated management of coastal areas and to create an European contact network so that everyone working with coastal management in Europe may help each other and exchange advice and experiences. The main work of the municipality of Ystad, apart from protecting existing coastal values, is also to continuously follow ongoing coastal research and development 6

POLICY FOR MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF THE COAST MAIN PRINCIPLES The municipality of Ystad shall aim at changing from a reactive towards a proactive approach with respect to protection and reinforcement of natural land forms. The planning and implementation of measures against coastal flooding and erosion shall have a strong component of integrated coastal management. The protection and reconstruction of the coast shall be performed in areas where a continued erosion would constitute a hazard to the public or where the loss of land is unacceptable due to a high risk of loss of buildings and infrastructure or in areas of nature protection, recreation or tourism. The municipality of Ystad shall, to the extent possible, work in accordance with the natural processes in the coastal zone in order to counteract negative effects of human activities. Involved municipality officials shall, in agreement, formulate an overall objective for the coastal work, which will be subject to continuous re-evaluation. In cases when erosional conditions are changing to the extent that emergency measures need to be taken, the provisions of the erosion policy may be temporarily relinquished. PHYSICAL PLANNING Consideration should be given to anticipated effects of climatic change by, to the extent possible, planning the development of existing infrastructure such, that the risk of damages due to coastal flooding and erosion are minimized. Development and exploitation should be avoided in areas that currently or in the future may be subject to erosion, flooding or high ground water levels. The main procedure for managing these problems shall be to avoid the danger, i.e., to be aware of the uncertainty around future conditions and, therefore, to avoid exploitation of areas at risk with respect to future coastal flooding and erosion. In the planning of new and the development of existing settlements, considerations shall be taken with respect to the ground water levels and the climate change effects on it. The municipality shall, in the planning process, identify areas where erosion may be accepted and, in these areas, specify land use that may tolerate erosion, for example recreation. The integrated coastal plan shall include rules and plans for allowable land use. These will include zones where erosion may be accepted so that the vulnerability of existing and future housing areas may be reduced. In addition, measures will be taken in order to avoid processes that may contribute to damage due to coastal flooding and erosion.

The management of the coastal area must be monitored and adapted as new problems arise. Proposed actions will be built upon knowledge about how the coast is changing which, in turn, is based on regular measurements. In order to ensure new settlements within a 100-year long time perspective, the municipality officials shall agree on safe and common levels for building foundations and grounds, respectively, with respect to coastal flooding and erosion. These levels will be specified in the plans. COASTAL PROTECTION For planned coastal protective measures or other projects that may influence the coastal zone, analyses with respect to costbenefit, risk and environmental protection must be implemented. These will be used as basis in the decisionmaking process regarding best strategies for the specific area. The municipality of Ystad will, to the extent possible, plan new structures and other activities in the coastal zone, such that they do not significantly obstruct the natural transport of sand along the coast. In cases when structures have been or are planned to be built near the coast line, the municipality will take the necessary actions to secure a more or less uninterrupted transport of sand along the coast. In areas where existing housing areas, structures, plants or infrastructure are threatened by coastal erosion, the possibilities for relocation shall be evaluated, based on socioeconomic assessments. As a second option, the use of soft measures, such as beach nourishment, shall be evaluated as means of reducing the risk of coastal flooding and erosion. Establishment of new hard coastal protection structures shall only be considered after other alternatives, with less environmental impact, have been evaluated and found less appropriate. In cases when hard coastal protection are found to be the only suitable alternative, measures will be taken in order to minimize the risk for negative environmental impact. Measurements of the coast line position and coastal profiles are very important and will be implemented regularly. It is the ambition of the municipality of Ystad that suitable material obtained from maintenance dredging operations of the harbour and marinas in the community, unless needed for other purposes, will be collected, cleaned and used as nourishment material along eroding beaches in the community. Dredged material that is used for other purposes will be replaced with sand from land-based pits or taken at sea, in order to maintain the sediment balance in the coastal area. INFORMATION, KNOWLEDGE AND COORDINATION In order to preserve the Policy for Management and Protection of the Coast as an effective guidance tool it will be regularly updated on the basis of long-term, ongoing research and studies. An action plan and a maintenance plan with a ten-year perspective will be established and updated every two years. 8

The municipality administration offices and corporations will work jointly in order to support the research and to ensure that all maps, planning instruments and procedures are coordinated and updated as new information becomes available. The municipality of Ystad will strive to involve National, Regional and Local cooperation partners in coastal projects in order to obtain a regional and multi-disciplinary approach. The municipality of Ystad will work to include coastal protection issues as a natural part of the work in all municipality administration offices and that all concerned units will be involved in the effort to integrate the management of the coastal area. More officials will be involved in the erosion prevention activities in order to create a broad overall vision. At the same time, the specialized advanced knowledge within the municipality must be taken care of in order to further develop the knowledge and experience to be used in the work relating to climate change and coastal erosion on a national as well as an international level. The cooperation between the municipality officials regarding coastal erosion issues will be improved. Procedures for information dissemination and exchange of knowledge will be established. The municipality of Ystad will continue to seek information and new knowledge through participation in EU projects, conferences, seminars, etc. The municipality of Ystad will continuously update its inhabitants with information about the work relating to coastal erosion and protection so that they regard themselves as participants in the decision-making process. This policy has been developed in collaboration with all municipality officials involved in problems relating to the coastal erosion in the municipality of Ystad. 9