A Salt Marsh Advancement Zone Assessment of Waterford, Connecticut
The Coastal Resilience Program supports Connecticut communities by modeling sea level rise, storm surge, and salt marsh advancement to guide planning and reduce risk. This report identifies future marsh migration areas in Waterford and highlights priority parcels that help sustain natural infrastructure and long term community resilience.
Subject Tags
- Climate resilience
- Coastal
- Climate adaptation
Introduction
The Coastal Resilience Program, established by The Nature Conservancy in 2006, supports decision making that reduces ecological and socio economic risk from coastal hazards. Using locally relevant models of sea level rise, storm surge, and salt marsh advancement, this report examines how habitats in Waterford, Connecticut are likely to shift over time. It identifies areas where salt marsh is expected to migrate upslope and evaluates current land use and parcel level priorities to support long term conservation. Natural infrastructure such as wetlands, floodplains, and forests plays a critical role in buffering coastal hazards, improving water quality, and sustaining habitat for wildlife. The findings help inform planning, restoration, and policy actions that protect these systems while strengthening community resilience. This work also highlights opportunities to integrate natural infrastructure into development and land management strategies to reduce risk and support sustainable coastal communities.
Citation
Pardo, S. and A. W. Whelchel. 2013. A Salt Marsh Advancement Zone Assessment of Waterford, Connecticut. The Nature Conservancy, Coastal Resilience Program. Publication Series #1-C, New Haven, CT.