Essex Estuaries - United Kingdom |
Complete description
of case study |
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CASE STUDY
Title | Essex Estuaries |
National level | United Kingdom |
Regional level | Essex (Walton-On-Naze) |
Local level | Blackwater Estuary |
ABSTRACT
The Essex Coast,
situated in the east coast of UK, is an estuarine coast with extensive
areas of fringing saltmarshes, mudflats and offshore sand banks. The coast
sediment is abundant, with a relatively small grain size. Local topography
has a marked effect on wind conditions and the Essex estuaries can be
severely affected by easterly storms, as well as the >1mm mean annual
sea level rising. There appears to be a general decline in beach levels,
attributed to the poor supply of material from the north and enclosure
and subsequent use of slatmarshes for agriculture. The coastal zone holds
agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism, harbours, industry and nature
conservation as its main economic activities. So there is an important
amount of capital at risk, majorly agricultural land. The strategy adopted
for this case was the construction of breakwaters, polders, embankments
and seawalls to protect the land from floodings. |
BASIC INFORMATION
Coastal characteristics |
|
Policy options | Managed realignment, Hold the line, Do nothing |
Socio-economic activities | Tourism, agriculture, fisheries and marine. |
Engineering techniques | Seawall, revetments, embankment, goynes, polder, nourishment |
SOURCE
Name | Alex
Midlen Maria Ferreira |
Institution |
Colchester Borough Council EUCC-The Coastal Union |
Address | PO
Box 885, Town Hall Colchester, CO1 1ZE (United Kingdom) PO Box 11232 2301 EE Leiden (The Netherlands) |
Telephone / fax | +44
1206 282 480/ +44 1206 282 711 +31 71 512 29 00/+31 71 512 40 69 |