DNREC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District are splitting the cost to launch a new study for the Delaware Inland Bays.
The study, titled the Delaware Inland Bays and Delaware Bay Coast Coastal Storm Risk Management Study, officially launched in late November, and will continue into 2025.
The study will look at technically feasible, economically justified, and environmentally acceptable options to manage the risk to Delaware’s coast from climate change.
DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin says the Corps has a lot of experience in working on the challenges the Inland Bays faces.
“They’re in a position in which working with us and all the experience and knowledge that we have of the Inland Bays, to really look at what are those challenges moving forward, and what may be some of the practices that we may be able to put in place to mitigate the impacts from climate change,” said Garvin. “We know that we beat Mother Nature, but we certainly can try to slow her down a little bit.”
Delaware is the lowest-lying state in the nation, and is already seeing daily flooding in areas like Bowers Beach.
Garvin adds the impact of climate change on the Inland Bays is understated, with the focus often put on the impact of increasingly more frequent and intense storms coming to the Atlantic coastline.
“But the inland bays are also seeing an impact, and people aren’t paying as much attention to that. When we get sunny day flooding it’s coming from the inland bays, it’s not coming from a storm that’s come through,” Garvin explained. “So we really need to get a handle on what steps we may be able to take to mitigate and adapt to what those impacts are to try to protect our coastline for as long as we can.”
This study will include the 77 square miles of the Delaware Inland Bays and the 145 square miles of the Delaware Bay coastline.
Funding for the construction of risk management solutions will be determined as the study progresses.
And a public meeting will be held within the first few months of the study to present its scope and get feedback from stakeholders, the public, and other agencies.
