Beaches

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Salish Sea References

• Watershed Characterization Mapper
• The Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
• PRISM Project Search
• Washington Coastal Atlas
• WDFW's Salmonscape Map

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Beaches dominate much of Puget Sound’s shoreline. They are characterized by the active transport of sediment by wave action. They can be divided into those associated with coastal bluffs, where the coastline has retreated landward, and those associated with barrier beaches, where sediment has been deposited seaward of the original coastline. Barriers are numerous and include spits, tombolos, cuspate forelands and a variety of other forms. Most Puget Sound beaches (other than the pocket beaches along rocky coasts) exhibit net longshore transport of sediment and the development of discrete littoral drift cells, within which sources and sinks for sediment and a direction of net transport can be defined. (from Shipman 2008)

Beaches are organized into sites based on the extent littoral drift cells. The 2500 miles of Puget Sound shoreline has been divided into 744 distinct littoral cells where the presence of bluff-backed beach indicates the likely presence of sediment input and transport along retreating coastal bluffs (Cereghino et al 2012).

Littoral drift cells are units of beach that include a source of sediment, conveyance of sediment along the shoreline, and a sink for sediment, either at a convergence zone where two drift cells merge, or offshore below the depth of wave action. Shipman 2008 differentiates between beach systems with littoral drift, and pocket beaches where sediment is relatively contained.

Notes

• 2023 - WDFW has published a Beach Strategies Data Hub.
• Shoreline Monitoring Database is standardizing protocols and engaging community in monitoring beaches. They observed that landslides on beaches provide connectivity between uplands and beaches for wildlife.
• A variety of Nearshore Salmon Recovery Planning efforts have considered salmon use of beaches.
• The ShoreZone Geodatabase provides a range of information about beach conditions beyond that provided by the PSNERP geodatabase including biological data.
• George Kaminsky at Washington State Department of Ecology is completing innovative boat-based LIDAR mapping of Salish Sea shorelines as part of a Mapping Bluff and Beach Change effort. Repeat surveys allow for Quantifying Sediment Supply from bluffs. As part of another project, the lidar data are being used to Evaluate Puget Sound Bluffs and Beaches for Restoration.
• The US Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over beach modification, and regulates construction below ordinary high water in Puget Sound. NOAA has recommended regulation from Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT).
• The Shoreline Master Program managed by WDOE requires jurisdictions to develop shoreline management plans that include protection and restoration strategies, and mandates "no net loss of shoreline ecological functions".
• There are limited data to describe natural rates of bluff erosion, and the relationship between sediment supply and beach structure. The Measuring Coastal Bluff Recession Rates Throughout the Puget Sound Region effort by Coastal Geologic Services uses the aerial photograph record to estimate beach recession rate.
• Megan Dethier is noteworthy as a long time regional research scientist that has been studying Effects of bulkhead removal on beaches and their biota and Dethier 1990 remains a seminal work in linking beach structure to biotic communities, and is used in the ShoreZone Geodatabase.
• The ESRP program provides grants for beach protection and restoration.
• Marine Resource Committees provide a unique advisory function on coastal issues to Northern Puget Sound Counties, with support from the Northwest Straits Commission.

Beach Topics

The following pages summarize topics associated with beaches. A topic page encompasses a body of knowledge and referenced several efforts and documents.

Core Beach Topics:

• Eelgrass

Other Beach topics:

• Alternative Shoreline Armoring
• Beach ecosystem assessment
• Beach Food Webs and Biodiversity
• Beach Forage Fish Spawning
• Beach Nourishment
• Beach Sediment Dynamics
• Beach Shellfish Production
• Beach social dynamics
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Grade
• Eelgrass Restoration
• Feeder Bluffs
• Managed Retreat
• Nearshore Salmon Recovery Planning
• Non-natal Nearshore Rearing of Salmon
• Olympia Oyster Restoration
• Pacific Herring

Beach Sites and Places

The following sites are in beaches:

Beach Restoration Efforts Anna Smith Park Bulkhead Removal Edgewater Beach Bulkhead Removal Ediz Hook Restoration Feeder Bluff Outreach and Armor Removal (Island and Jefferson counties) Kilisut Restoration Kitsap County Regional Shoreline Restoration Project Northwest Maritime Center Dock Olympic Sculpture Park Restoration Shoreline Monitoring Toolbox

Other Beach Efforts Beach Strategies for Nearshore Restoration and Protection in Puget Sound Bulkhead Removal Feasibility for Localized Restoration Clallam County Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Estimation of Typical High Intertidal Beach-Face Slope in Puget Sound Evaluating Puget Sound Beach Services for Protection and Restoration Feeder Bluff Mapping Impacts of Shoreline Armoring Integrated Nearshore Priorities Project Intertidal Biotic Community Monitoring Jefferson County Eelgrass Protection Mapping Bluffs and Beaches to Quantify Sediment Supply Mapping Bluffs and Beaches to Quantify Sediment Supply 2021 Maximizing Benefits of Shoreline Armor Removal Measuring Coastal Bluff Recession Rates Throughout the Puget Sound Region Nearshore Strategies Analysis Nisqually To Point Defiance Nearshore Restoration Assessment Prioritizing Beach Restoration and Protection Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System (PS-CoSMoS) Puget Sound Ecosystem Portfolio Model Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project Puget Sound Nearshore Habitat Conservation Calculator Shore Friendly Program Snohomish Railroad Grade Beach Nourishment Social Marketing to Reduce Shoreline Armoring Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network

Beach Products

The following Product pages are categorized with Beach.

  Documents

Beechie et al 2017 salmon habitat status monitoring  •  Berry et al 2001 shorezone users manual  •  Breems & Goodman 2009 wood waste assessment and remediation  •  Brennan et al 2003 nearshore salmon central puget sound  •  Carls et al 1999 herring PAH exposure effects  •  Cereghino 2010 beach ecosystem restoration programs  •  Cereghino 2014 DRAFT Integrated Nearshore Assessment  •  Cereghino 2014 DRAFT nimble spatial reassessment  •  Cereghino et al 2022 beach nourishment science sprint  •  Detheir et al 2020 snohomish railroad grade nourishment  •  Dethier 1990 puget sound shoreline classification  •  Dethier et al 2016 impacts of armoring  •  Dethier et al 2020 snohomish beach nourishment monitoring report  •  Drummond et al 2018 Poster edgewater bulkhead removal and boat lidar  •  Ehinger et al 2015 DRAFT beach habitat value  •  Ehinger et al 2015 nearshore habitat value HEA.pdf  •  Finlayson 2005 lowland puget sound topobathymetry  •  Finlayson 2006 geomorphology of puget sound beaches  •  Fresh 2006 juvenile salmon in nearshore  •  Fresh et al 2004 guidance restoration protection  •  Fresh et al 2006 sinclair inlet salmon use  •  Friends of San Juans 2004 forage fish restoration and protection  •  Friends of the San Juans 2014 armoring impacts and sea level rise  •  Galster & Schwartz 1990 ediz hook case study erosion and mitigation  •  Gelfenbaum et al 2006 nearshore research strategy  •  Gerstel et al 2012 kitsap sediment supply poster  •  Gerstel et al 2012 kitsap shoreline sediment source analysis  •  Goetz et al 2004 PSNERP restoration principles  •  Gustafson et al 2006 cherry point herring status  •  Guttman 2009 backshore vegetation  •  Harper & Ward 2001 beach spawning fish and shorezone types  •  Hayes et al 2011 bulltrout use in skagit bay  •  Henderson et al 2018 Poster boat lidar shoreline inventory  •  Johannessen & MacLennen 2007 beaches and bluffs white paper  •  Johannessen & Waggoner 2008 lummi shore road monitoring  •  Johannessen et al 2014 marine shoreline design guidance  •  Kramer et al 2010 shoreline no net loss framework  •  Kramer et al 2010 using PSNERP for SMPs  •  Krueger et al 2010 sea level rise on forage fish spawning  •  Lambert & Chamberlin 2023 beach nourishment science synthesis  •  Lambert & Chamberlin 2023 non-natal rearing  •  Lanksbury et al 2017 mussel monitoring survey 2015-2016  •  MacDonald et al 2013 elwha nearshore workshop proceedings  •  MacLennan et al 2017 beach strategies phase one summary  •  MacLennan et al 2017 north sound feeder bluff armor removal study  •  NOSC 2005 intertidal forage fish spawning sites Jefferson Kitsap Mason counties  •  Norris & Fraser 2009 eelgrass near port angeles  •  Pentilla 2007 forage fish marine puget sound  •  Penttila 2001 shading and surf smelt egg survival.pdf  •  Quinn et al 2012 surf smelt spawning camano island  •  Raymond et al 2022 heat wave and shellfish  •  Redmond et al 2005 nearshore salmon recovery plan  •  Reeves et al 2002 shorezone and beach spawning fish presentation  •  Rossenkotter et al 2007 nearshore salmon recovery gap analysis  •  Ruggiero et al 2013 coastal shoreline change  •  Schlenger et al 2011 PSNERP strategic needs assessment  •  Shipman 2008 puget sound landform  •  Small, D., P. Smith, I. Keren, T. Quinn, P. Schlenger 2024 Fine scale movement of juvenile salmon to inform tidal fish passage restoration in Puget Sound  •  Stick et al 2014 herring stock status 2012  •  Toft & Heerhartz 2015 juvenile salmon movement and shoreline armoring  •  Tuohy et al. 2018 chum non-natal habitat use.pdf  •  Vines et al 2000 creosote and herring spawn  •  WDNR 2013 piling and creosote removal BMP.pdf  •  Wait et al 2007 west whidbey nearshore fish use.pdf  •  Weiner et al 2018 Poster high resolution mapping puget sound shoreline.pdf  •  Weiner et al 2018 mapping bluffs and beaches  •  Whitman & Hawkins 2014 armoring impacts of forage fish.pdf  •  Whitman et al 2012 san juan salmon recovery planning.pdf  •  Zu Ermgassen et al 2016 oyster restoration objectives for ecosystem services.pdf

  Websites & Datasets

David W Jamison's Puget Sound Sea Life  •  Earth Views Puget Sound  •  Nearshore Data Exchange  •  Shoreline Monitoring Database  •  Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network Resource Library

  Graphics

facts or skills acquired by a person through experience or education.

particles of clay, silt, sand, gravel, or cobble, transported by water, are called sediment.

the work that waves can do, sorting and transporting sediment or eroding bluffs

where beach sediment flowing in from two directions accumulates, frequently forming barrier beaches

a unit of government with specific authorities, or the area in which those authorities can be legally exercised