Talk on Sea Level Rise and Marshes

Siletz Bay during most recent King Tide series.\Photo by Bob Loewen.

Fran Recht, habitat program manager for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, will speak on “The Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Oregon’s Tidal Marshes” at the next meeting of the MidCoast Watersheds Council, Thursday, Dec.7, at 6:30 p.m. in the Newport Visual Arts Center (777 N.W. Beach Dr.).  The event is free and open to the public.

She will describe analyses done under contract to the MidCoast Watersheds Council by Laura Brophy and Michael Ewald of the Estuary Technical Group at the Institute of Applied Ecology in Corvallis.  The project assessed the extent of inundation that would occur in Oregon’s estuaries under five different sea level rise scenarios.  Maps and graphs of local estuaries will help to clarify areas of vulnerability and where and to what extent tidal marshes will survive.  The question of whether marshes will be able to migrate upslope as sea level rises, or will be pinched off against armored infrastructure, will be a key planning consideration on the Oregon coast.

Fran Recht is a resident of Depoe Bay and a founding board member of the MidCoast Watersheds Council.  She is also a former Oregon shores president and conservation director.

CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer will share the bill with Recht.  Fawn will describe how to participate in the King Tide Project, which documents the highest reach of the highest tides of the year as a preview of sea level rise, and explain the value of the information gathered through the project.