The Wrack
The Wrack is the Wells Reserve blog.
Announcing the New Decision Support Tool for Nature-Based Strategies in Southern Maine
The Wells Reserve at Laudholm just launched a new online mapping tool to aid coastal communities in southern Maine working to address coastal flooding and erosion. The Decision Support Tool for Nature-Based Strategies in Southern Maine is designed to help determine which types of adaptation strategies — such as living shorelines or beach nourishment — are appropriate and feasible along the shoreline, based on environmental characteristics and socio-political considerations.
The tool was developed in partnership with the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, York County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Nearview, LLC in response to needs identified in the Climate Ready Coast Southern Maine Coastal Resilience Plan. Learn more about the project on our project page.
What is the tool?
The Decision Support Tool is an online interactive map that includes three shoreline data layers created from a detailed GIS analysis:
- Site Suitability Assessment: indicates the relative biophysical suitability for nature-based strategies of locations along the southern Maine coastline, based on a weighted scoring system for environmental, wave exposure, topography, and erosion factors.
- Socio-Political Feasibility Assessment: describes proximity to key habitats, conservation lands, infrastructure, and other factors that may affect project feasibility.
- Beach Priority Assessment: identifies beaches that may benefit most from resilience actions using a relative scoring system that considers erosion rates, beach width, dune stability, and proximity to structures.
Features of the tool:
- The tool includes sea level rise and parcel boundary layers for additional planning context.
- The tool is optimized for use on mobile devices to facilitate access in the field.
- The tool also allows users to add additional layers to the map for greater context using the “Add Data” widget, and the datasets are available as a feature service from ArcGIS Online.
Why was the tool created?
This tool was developed to support implementation of the Climate Ready Coast - Southern Maine Regional Coastal Resilience Plan. During the creation of the Coastal Resilience Plan, participating communities and regional partners indicated a need for more information about the suitability of coastal areas for nature-based strategies. The Decision Support Tool is intended to provide site-specific, bio-physical, and socio-political information to support decision-making in southern Maine.
This data is intended for regional planning purposes to support nature-based coastal resilience strategies. It does not substitute for site-specific analysis or professional engineering assessments.
Who created the tool?
The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve worked closely with Nearview, LLC, Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, and York County Soil and Water Conservation District to develop the tool and the geospatial datasets. The development was guided by an advisory team with representatives from the Maine Geological Survey, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Walsh Engineering Associates Inc., and the New Hampshire Coastal Program.
Questions or feedback? Contact Jacob Aman, Stewardship Director, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.
