Enhancing the Water Quality Benefits of Shellfish-Based Living Shorelines in Delaware

This is a report on the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s installation of Delaware’s first “hybrid” living shoreline along 300’ of eroding salt marsh adjacent to the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve. Historically, living shorelines have typically been installed along eroding landscapes to stem erosion as a more natural alternative to more structural techniques (e.g., bulkheads, sills, etc). As such, the primary goal of most living shorelines has been erosion control. However since living shorelines can contain a variety of natural components (e.g., plants, sediments, shell, etc), they can also be designed to address a variety of other goals including habitat and water quality enhancement.