The State of Maine's Beaches in 2009 - Geology

Stephen Dickson and Peter Slovinsky are ready to do a presentation called Resilient Beaches: Recovery from the 2007 Patriot's Day Storm.

The Maine Geological Survey's annual State of Maine's Beaches report this year focuses on the 2007 Patriot's Day Storm. The report presents different letter grades to summarize different beaches depending on how they've recovered. Beaches that have done well but will not be examined in detail during the talk are: Higgins: B. Goochs: B. Laudholm: B. Ogunquit: B. Long Sands: B.

It has taken a couple years for these beaches to recover, and that's OK. The report is available here on a CD and will be posted on the Maine Geological Survey web site later this summer.

Peter takes over, and complains that Stephen stole his whole introduction! In 2009, he looked at 14 beaches to test the recovery after the storm. Peter discusses the Emory Profiling Method to see the change in elevation and make beach profiles. He looked especially at berm and dune height.

There has been a lot of data, and he thinks that "snapshots in time" is the best way to show it. So, we'll look at April/May of 2006-2009. 2006 is being used as a pre-storm baseline, and 2007 is used as an immediate post-storm baseline. Letter grades are given to beaches based on their recovery in 2008 and 2009. A and B is what they were shooting for, Cs were "cautiously pleased." Most of the beaches have 2, 3 or 4 profiles taken on a monthly basis.

Willard Beach. A-. Very good recovery after some of the worst erosion at any beach from the storm. Lost between 30 and 40 feet of dune! A chart put on the screen shows that Willard Beach has recovered steadily after the storm. In another section of the beach, a rockier section, recovery has been slower, but is still occurring. Peter thinks that local management has been very responsible for this. MGS summer interns have taken GIS data on vegetation changes on the shorelines each year. Overall, recovery has been very good. Dune recovery has been even better, sometimes over 21 feet of seaward growth.

Scarborough Beach. C+. This beach was hit hard. Some of the exact profiling locations were lost during the storm and estimated, so some data may not be exact. For one spot on the beach, the 2009 line is lower than previous levels, which could have been caused by other storms in 2009. We must keep our eye on this beach.

Western Beach. B. A dramatic loss here from 2006 to 2007. There has been some recovery in on section, but not as much as he'd like. In another area, though, recovery has been great. The dunes have actually grown in height. A similar study as done at Willard Beach has shown some sections are losing sand that is piling up in other sections, causing a lot of growth on the point of Western Beach.

East Grand Beach. B. Not a whole lot of loss here, but some sections are recovering slowly. On the other hand, one section of East Grand has gained well, almost to 2006 levels.

Ferry Beach. C-. One section of this beach got an F. There was a dramatic loss of beach, that continues to erode at all sites. Peter is very concerned about this beach, but is hopeful that the time will help. Oddly, a section of the beach just south from the section that received an F recovered very well, getting an A. This section was helped by human addition of sand to the dune, and is a positive sign for recovery.

Goose Rocks Beach. B-. This beach is heavily influenced by the nearby rivers. The recovery will continue to change a lot, mostly due to continued channel movement. Other areas are less influenced by rivers and haven't recovered very well.

Drakes Island Beach. B-. Waves have pushed sand down the beach, and southern ends of the beach have recovered very well. The story up the beach, though, is different. This section got a D, with erosion continuing in 2008 and 2009.

Wells Beach. A. This beach has fared very well. Some areas have increased over their 2006 levels, others gained sand and elevation from the Patriot's Day Storm.

Overall, the grade for the State is a B/B-. Peter is happy with this. The Patriot's Day Storm was a huge event, and the fact that we've come this far is encouraging. He cautions that the data may be affected by other spring storms in 2008 and 2009 right before the collection of data. Overall, armored beaches (Goochs, Wells) have fared well getting back to their pre-storm starting elevations. Similarly, there have been good recoveries at beaches where people have come in and planted vegetation, planted snow fences, and taken other beach management measures. Only time will tell if our beaches will recover in time for another big storm event.

Question: Going back to the overall report card, the questioner has had a hard time getting sand back to the beaches. It's an enormous task for local beaches groups to get permits to fix beaches and/or work on them. MGS is more than happy to work with communities to work on plans for their beaches. Moving sand does require permits from the Department of Environmental Protection, but Peter isn't really qualified to speak on that process, he says.

Question: Are any islands included in the beach studies? No.

Question: Laudholm Beach does not have a seawall, Wells beach does. Do seawalls cause erosion or help recovery? Peter was surprised to see armored beaches do so well. He thinks that it has a lot to do with the specific geography of the beaches and how the sand and sediment travels when it enters the water. What about the other beaches with seawalls? Peter says that Goose Rocks has some seawalls, Goochs is all seawalls. Some do and some don't.

Question: One thing about Laudholm, river mouths can affect the position of sand. A lot of the sand from Laudholm has gone to Crescent Beach across the Little River inlet.