Monday, July 13, 2015

The "Living Shoreline" ribbon cutting tomorrow at Bryant Park (and no, the issue of sea level rise never came up)

Click on the image to enlarge:
Visit the Michael Singer website for more on this project. Here is an excerpt:
The sculpted mangrove planters being fabricated and installed in Lake Worth, Florida will be the first true Proof of Concept for the Living Shorelines Initiative. This first Living Shoreline is comprised of 11 sculptural elements designed to retain soils to support the growth of mangroves and emergent grasses, create shelter and passage for fish, and establish oyster reef habitat within the Lake Worth Lagoon (see the project details here). This first Living Shoreline is being funded by Palm Beach County and the National Endowment for the Arts. ERM will conduct post-installation surveys to study local aquatic ecosystem changes over time. The long-term plan is to study this prototype project and advance the design of the sculptural elements for different sites in order to create economically viable and environmentally effective reproducible model(s) for all of South Florida.
Image from the Michael Singer website.
To date there has been no comment from Lake Worth Commissioner McVoy on proceeding with this project due to his expressed concerns over Sea Level Rise and Climate Change. However, when a comment is issued will post an update for readers. Maybe he'll express his concerns tomorrow at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He has expressed concern before over the spartina grass being used instead of mangroves. Stay tuned.