This project lays the foundations for planning basin-scale sediment management and understanding of Lake Michigan’s nearshore physical processes. It focuses on the 6.5 miles of Illinois Beach State Park shoreline with a goal to protect the park's dunes, wetlands, and nearshore aquatic habitats from erosion. Partners will work toward long-term resilience strategies aimed at mitigating coastal erosion of critically unique habitats and protection of shoreline sites vulnerable to lake level changes and storms.
Partners will collect and process geospatial data to show erosion rates for beach and nearshore areas—as well as the ecosystem value of various habitats within the park—through a five-year monitoring effort, pre– and post–shoreline protection implementation. By pairing these data with information on processes such as lake level fluctuations and storms, managers will be able to identify locations and nearshore restoration strategies within the park for habitat protection. Deliverables include a refined sediment budget for the area and compilation of high-resolution datasets. Existing project data is available through the Illinois State Geological Survey offsite link.
Funding:
FY2023: $600,000
FY2022: $600,000
FY2020: $500,000
FY2017: $485,000
Contact: Brandon.Krumwiede@noaa.gov
Partners: Illinois Coastal Management Program, Prairie Research Institute, Illinois State Geological Survey, Stantec, Woolpert, Michigan State University, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory