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Project Glossary

APNEP: Albemarle Pamlico National Estuary Program  |  BioNC: Biohabitats, lead engineer consultant  |  ESMP: Estuarine Shoreline Management Plan  |  M&N: Moffatt & Nichol, coastal engineer and permitting consultant  |  NCDCM: North Carolina Division of Coastal Management  |  NCSG: North Carolina Sea Grant  |  RCCP: Resilient Coastal Communities Program  |  SLR: Sea Level Rise  |  VCAPS: Vulnerability, Consequences, Adaptation, and Planning Scenarios

Project Overview and Goals

The Town of Nags Head Living Shoreline Design seeks to develop 60% level design plans for two living shoreline projects, identified as priority areas by the community in 2022 during the development of the Estuarine Shoreline Management Plan (ESMP). This living shoreline design project is funded by the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s (NCDCM) Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP), Phase 3 – Engineering & Design.

Project goals include:

• Advancing the design of two living shoreline projects identified in the Town's Estuarine Shoreline Management Plan.
• Improving coastal resilience through reduction of estuarine shoreline erosion and protection of critical infrastructure using nature-based solutions.
• Obtaining permitting for two living shoreline projects.
• Successfully meets the requirements of the funding grant.

Project Context & History

The Town of Nags Head (the Town) is a vulnerable coastal community who, in 2015, partnered with North Carolina Sea Grant (NCSG) to adopt initial adaptive practices and policies for sea level rise (SLR) and climate change through the Vulnerability, Consequences, Adaptation, and Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) Report and Comprehensive Plan, finalized in 2017. 

In 2022, the Town completed a Risk and Vulnerability Assessment and Project Portfolio as part of the ESMP that identified the estuarine shoreline as vulnerable to impacts from sea level rise and storm surge. This effort was funded by NCDCM's Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP), Phase 1 and Phase 2.

As background, the Town has lost much of its estuarine marsh, along with the ecosystem services and shoreline protection it provided. In the face of coastal hazards, including hurricanes, nor'easters, and SLR, the Town and similar coastal communities experience erosion and flooding along its estuarine shoreline, leading to the loss of private and public lands and negatively impacting critical infrastructure and natural resources. The Town has taken a proactive stance towards preserving critical infrastructure, natural resources, and coastal ecosystems, as evidenced by the 2017 VCAPS project in partnership with North Carolina Sea Grant, the Town's 2017 Comprehensive Plan, and the 2023 adopted ESMP.

The Town has experienced a significant loss of 55 acres of land along the estuarine shoreline since 1950. Shoreline erosion, which intensifies in storm events, has compromised local infrastructure including roads and water management systems. It has also contributed to loss of marsh and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), and thereby loss of juvenile fish habitat, wave attenuation services, and sediment accretion by rooted plants. To address these issues, the Town proposed to advance two of priority ESMP’s concept-level nature-based projects to 60% design and develop state and federal permits. The Town received funding from the NCDCM’s RCCP to complete site assessments and preliminary design for two prioritized living shoreline project sites that were selected through an extensive public input process detailed in the ESMP. A key component of each project site is the restoration of former brackish marsh, which serves as a nursery for juvenile fish, crustaceans, and birds while offering crucial flood mitigation and water quality services.

The Estuarine Shoreline Management Plan (ESMP)

The Estuarine Shoreline Management Plan (ESMP) comprehensively addressed the management of 17 miles of estuarine shoreline in the northern portion of the Town while balancing land use, ecosystem health, public health, and recreational opportunities. The objectives of the plan prioritized shoreline management opportunities through:

• a biogeographical inventory of existing shorelines, historical changes, and impacts;

• identification of shoreline best management practices, uses, and policy; and,

• exploration of legal and regulatory barriers to nature-based shoreline management, and consideration of the impacts of future hazards, such as sea level rise (SLR), on the estuarine system.

The ESMP developed strategies that prioritized living shoreline management projects appropriate for each segment of the Town's shoreline. The Plan set overall policy recommendations for management of the estuarine shoreline, examined potential legal issues that are expected to arise with project implementation, and explored how sea level rise impacted the long-term management of the estuarine shoreline.

In 2024, the Town secured a grant from the RCCP to develop 60% level design plans of two living shoreline projects identified by the community as priority areas. This led to the current Nags Head Living Shoreline Design project, initiated in November 2023. The project will serve as a model of nature-based solutions for coastal communities struggling to protect local infrastructure and livelihoods and an alternative to the rapid development of bulkheads on the estuarine shoreline.

Proposed Solution of the ESMP

The ESMP’s nature-based solutions included the restoration of brackish marshes, constructing offshore living breakwaters while creating publicly owned and maintained "islands" of marsh with hardened edges to deflect wave energy, and reusing dredged materials to encourage the formation of subaquatic habitats. Spanning a combined total of 5,000 linear feet, the three prioritized project sites offer a unique opportunity to demonstrate an alternative to bulkheads that delivers stacked benefits. Two sites are adjacent to Jockey's Ridge State Park, identified as a resilience hub in the CREST siting tool. The third site is a highly visible, publicly owned "event site" frequented by visitors and recreational enthusiasts who appreciate its natural aesthetic and boat access. The final solutions were sited and designed based on the dominant wind and wave directions, bathymetric considerations, historical erosion rates, erosion hot spots, fetch considerations, salinity levels, sediment migration patterns, and the location of preexisting marshes.

National Fish and Widlife Foundation's CREST tool

The anticipated outcomes of this project phase were categorized into short-term and long-term achievements:

Short-term outcomes:

1. Expand on the prior data and modeling effort to develop a historical shoreline change analysis and future shoreline prediction model for shoreline and salt marsh.
2. Determine the status of SAV through coordination and partnership with the Albemarle Pamlico National Estuary Program (APNEP) and conduct an in-water habitat survey.
3. Expand on the prior data and modeling efforts to create an updated, ground-truthed baseline bathymetric model for the three project sites and their surrounding areas.
4. Development of a circulation and sediment transport model for the Town's estuarine shoreline.
5. Based on the above data, complete up to 60% engineering design completion for the three proposed project sites.

Long-term outcomes:

1. A regionally significant precedent in transformative, nature-based approaches to shoreline protection.
2. An expansion of brackish marsh and quiescent SAV habitat and their ecosystem benefits.
3. Improved sea level rise protection for both private and public properties.
4. The creation of a roadmap for other coastal communities to gather relevant data and conduct analyses that contribute to successful project outcomes.

Nags Head Living Shoreline Design Project Sites

The two community-prioritized estuarine marsh restoration and shoreline stabilization sites are the Old Nags Head Woods Road and West Soundside Road.

Click "CONTINUE" at the bottom of this page to learn more about the project sites.

Interactive Map of the Project Sites

We’d love to hear from you! Below you will find an interactive map of the project areas. Are there any areas that need improvement? What areas concern you? Please provide any observations of shoreline conditions over various wave/wind events. These are some initial prompts to spur your thoughts as you consider what you’d like to include on the interactive map below. 

Available Presentations and Downloads

Please find below links to our presentations and downloads. We will continue to add to this archive as materials are prepared, refined, and released.