Publication Date
7-2021
Publisher
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
Sea level rise and/or extreme events are capable of causing excessive erosion on the beaches and foredunes that line the outer edges of the barriers enclosing Humboldt Bay and the Eel River delta within the Eureka littoral cell. Erosion of these protective barriers threatens the natural and cultural resources and infrastructure behind them in two significant estuaries. A major goal of the Climate Ready Project and the Humboldt Coastal Resilience Project was to quantify present day beach-dune morphodynamics, which could then be used to model the impacts of sea level rise and extreme events. For this purpose, a total of 73 cross-shore transects were established along the littoral cell. Elevation and vegetation data collected on transects will be used in a quantitative model to predict beach, dune and barrier responses to sea level rise and extreme events. The purpose of this report is to present raw data in the form of graphs of elevation change along transects as the basis of qualitative observations of response during the period of data collection, 2016-2020. The primary audience is property owners within the study site. Conclusions of this report are based on qualitative analysis and may change when modeling is completed