Living Shoreline Design Guidelines for Shore Protection in Virginia’s Estuarine Environments

The design and construction of tidal wetlands can often be a perplexing, mystifying process.Many of the techniques are solely the domain of practicing professionals which leaves many individuals and organizations at a loss when contemplating a project.This paper attempts to present practical guidelines that can be used by the lay person as well as restoration practitioners for the successful construction of tidal wetlands.These include screening criteria for site selection that will help avoid inherent problems with a particular site and design criteria to guide the development of wetland hydrology and the successful establishment of wetland vegetation. Commonwealth Agencies include: VA Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) -A regulatory agency responsible for administration of the Wetlands, Coastal Primary Sand Dunes and Beaches Act and Submerged Lands Act . Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance -A local government oversight agency for administration of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) -An advisory agency responsible for providing independent, objective scientific evaluations and guidelines, and decision support tools.VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) An advisory agency responsible for providing information about protected species, anadromous fish and other wildlife resources of concern.