Editorial: 'Living shorelines' strengthen environment and economy

Despite some citizen concerns about new oyster reefs in Bayou Grande, we believe the “living shoreline” project is a win for the bayou, the Navy Point neighborhood and the overall environmental health of Escambia County.

PNJ reporter Kevin Robinson wrote last week that “the $180,000 grant-funded project saw Escambia County staff and volunteers place about 1,700 linear feet of oyster reefs in the shallows around Navy Point Park.”

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Escambia County Natural Resources Management Director Chips Kirschenfeld said that the piles of bagged oyster shells form a breakwater that will protect the sandy bayou shoreline from waves and further erosion. The reefs will also provide an environment for oyster larvae to grow while creating new estuarine spaces for plants, fish and other wildlife to flourish.

And the best part is, projects like this don’t just beautify a shoreline. They actually clean the water. Each adult oyster incorporated into the colony will filter 50 gallons of water per day, picking up pollutants, sediment and bacteria. This is precisely the sort of smart, economic and multi-purpose restoration project that we have argued to see more of in local waterways.

Living shoreline built at Bayou Grande

Robinson noted that some residents of the Navy Point neighborhood expressed concerns about the oyster reefs impairing recreational activities on the bayou — a favorite spot for many to fish, swim and boat. While safety concerns about children swimming near sharp oyster shells may have merit, residents should be trusted and challenged to adjust their behavior accordingly.

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The county should assure that the reefs are marked with plenty of clear signage to alert swimmers and boaters. With the busy nearby Navy Point boat launch, Bayou Grande will be increasingly full of boats and jet skis as the days grow warmer. The notion of the newly installed reefs being submerged under tidal flows could be a legitimate concern to motorized watercraft operators who don’t always keep a safe distance from the shoreline.  

But the lasting results of erosion protection, cleaner water, increased wildlife and a more visually beautiful shoreline will surely outweigh any inconveniences to human activity along the bayou. In other words, we’re confident people will figure it out — and they’ll appreciate it in the long run.

Cursed by decisions of the past, we are playing a sad, perpetual game of clean-up with our local waterways. The pollution of prior decades has been environmentally and economically damning. Imagine what area property values would be right now if Escambia County had the foresight 50 years ago to maintain pristine waterways.

That’s why we believe that any projects we can do to restore plants, wildlife and natural biological functions to our shorelines are crucial— not just to the environment, but to the economic future of our county. These living shorelines are smart and relatively inexpensive economic investments.

The reefs in Bayou Grande are a $180,000 project. How many other local projects do we read about that are millions over-budget with almost no visible benefit to taxpayers? Community centers. Road paving. Commerce parks and traffic studies. On all this and more, our community has wasted millions of dollars that will never return to our county and will never increase property values, job opportunities or quality of life for citizens.

Now just imagine how many water restoration projects like this could have been accomplished with the many millions of wasted, over-budget taxpayer dollars.

The neighborhood of Navy Point is one of the prize jewels of Escambia County, thanks largely to the public access along the meandering shoreline of Bayou Grande. The oyster reefs and living shoreline project promise tangible and visible benefits to the bayou and the surrounding communities for generations to come. 

Other area waterways could use more projects like this.