Project Motivation
Erosion control on the bluffs of the Great Lakes, specifically those on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan, is a complicated problem to analyze and implement solutions for due to its unpredictable and oftentimes undetectable aspects. A major issue that contributes to bluff erosion is the removal of trees and other vegetation by public and private landowners to improve their views of the lake. The root system of trees and plants is vital to maintaining bluff stability, so when landowners clear the vegetation, they leave the bluff even more susceptible to erosion. The goal of this project was to analyze the bluff and vegetation characteristics of Ozaukee and Milwaukee counties in order to create a bluff stabilization and maintenance guide for landowners in these areas.
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Project Background
Both Ozaukee and Milwaukee counties on the southeastern shoreline of Wisconsin face dangerous and expensive issues concerning bluff erosion, with some areas eroding at a rate of over 1 meter per year. Coastal erosion is caused by a wide array of factors:
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The slideshow to the right shows the same property in Ozaukee County between January and March of 2006. If a bluff is not stabilized and maintained properly, large bluff failures such as this one can occur. A combination of methods can help prevent sudden and unrecoverable bluff failures. A few examples include:
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There are several signs a landowner can look for in order to determine whether or not their bluff is at risk of erosion:
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Click on the button below to access the Wisconsin Shoreline Inventory and Oblique Photo Viewer to see how the Wisconsin shorelines changed between 1976 and 2007. This tool was created in partnership between the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, the Association of State Floodplain Managers, and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. It can be used by bluff landowners to analyze the historic erosion in their area.