Rising Salt Water Claiming American’s Coastal Farms

January 05, 2021

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(Our Daily Planet) Salty soil is a death sentence for crops, and for areas of coastal farmland, an increasing threat due to climate change. Known as saltwater intrusion, this occurs when storm surges or high tides overtop areas low in elevation. It also occurs when saltwater infiltrates freshwater aquifers and raises the groundwater table below the soil surface.

Due to its low elevation, land along much of the Northeast seaboard is especially at risk from saltwater intrusion. As the Baltimore Sun editorial board wrote, salt is posing a serious risk to Eastern Shore farms as even crops that have some tolerance for salinity are being impacted.

Why This Matters: Destruction of farmlands by saltwater intrusion claims the livelihood of farmers and farmworkers and impacts food supply. But, as The Sun’s board noted, it’s also the canary in the coal mine. It’s yet another “manifestation of how global warming is threatening human existence. But it’s an instructive one because, like many of the ill effects of rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, the change starts gradually, accelerates and ultimately proves irrevocable.” READ MORE

U.S. coastline to see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050 -- Report projects a century of sea level rise in 30 years (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
How Indiana’s flood map went from acclaimed to attacked (E&E News)
Many coastal residents willing to relocate in the face of sea level rise: A survey of more than 1,400 residents of flood-prone urban areas found that almost half would consider moving if flooding becomes more severe. (Yale Climate Connections)
Acceleration of U.S. Southeast and Gulf coast sea-level rise amplified by internal climate variability (Nature Communications)
Rising seas swell in southeastern U.S. — study (E&E News Climatewire)
Rapid Decadal Acceleration of Sea Level Rise along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts during 2010-2022 and Its Impact on Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge (American Meteorlogical Society)
Another house collapses into the sea as this N.C. town erodes -- Four oceanfront houses have collapsed in Rodanthe since early 2022. One county commissioner says that as seas rise and erosion continues, others will meet the same fate: “Their day is coming pretty soon.” (Washington Post)
Climate change scrambles the Florida Keys (Power Switch)
Florida tosses climate lifeline to swamped ‘Keybillies’ (E&E News Climatewire)
Flood insurance rates will soar in some areas, FEMA says (E&E News Climatewire)
As Saltwater Encroaches on Farms, Solutions Emerge From the Marshes -- In the Mid-Atlantic, sea level rise due to climate change is already changing what farmers can grow. (Civil Eats; includes VIDEO)
Sinking Coastal Lands Will Exacerbate the Flooding from Sea Level Rise in 24 US Cities, New Research Shows -- In the affected cities, as many as 500,000 people and one in every 35 properties could be impacted by the flooding, and communities of color face disproportionate effects. (Inside Climate News)
Plan on buying a home in NC soon? You’ll get more information about its flood history (The Herald)
One state’s plan to retain climate-anxious insurers: The GOP-controlled state Legislature passed a bill this week that would make it easier for insurers — many recently bankrupted by four major hurricanes — to drop their riskiest properties, write Adam Aton and Thomas Frank. (Politico's Power Switch)
Climate change and the end of American beaches (Politico's Power Switch)

Excerpt from Civil Eats: For decades, his (John Zander's) family used the marshes for muskrat trapping and duck hunting and leased the drier land to farmers who grew corn and soybeans. But as salty water from the bay began to encroach, he realized they’d have to reimagine what the land could provide.

“As far as commercial production of corn and soy, it’s probably not viable anymore,” Zander said. As a result, he’s been asking himself, “What can we grow in these really harsh conditions? How can we turn this into an advantage?”

With the help of state grant money, Zander will be planting test plots of various tidal grasses. Unlike most crops, the grasses don’t mind being submerged and can hold salt in their roots and excrete it through glands in the blades. During storms, their dense root system slows down encroaching flood water, helps the land absorb more of that water, and prevents erosion. He plans to harvest some grasses as hay for animal bedding and weed control. The rest he’ll sell as “plugs” to other farmers to plant their own field buffers and to conservation groups for wetland restoration projects.

While the markets for these grasses are barely established, it’s one potential solution to a clear problem: In the coming years, as the effects of climate change intensify, growers in this and other coastal regions will have to farm differently. What exactly that will look like is still developing and it will likely include growing new crops in new places. Zander’s crop of choice is novel because not only can he grow tidal grasses on land where saltwater is moving in, but he can then sell them to be planted in other places to rebuild wetlands and create field buffers, protecting other farm landscapes from the same fate.

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Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predict that sea levels along the East Coast will rise by about a foot over the next 30 years.

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In July, a team of researchers led by Kate Tully at the University of Maryland published a paper that mapped the extent of saltwater intrusion onto Delaware and Maryland farmland on the Delmarva Peninsula for the first time.

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According to the researchers, between 2011 and 2017 the number of visible salt patches almost doubled and about 20,000 acres of farmland turned into marsh.

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“I hunt, I trap, and I’m also a conservationist. I know the habitats. I walk the ditches. I see the changes,” Zander said.

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But instead of trying to keep the water at bay, Zander’s opted to look to the region’s agricultural past for inspiration, to an approach that works with the tidal landscape. READ MORE

Excerpt from The Herald: Home buyers in North Carolina will start receiving detailed information about a property’s flood history later this year, after the N.C. Real Estate Commission approved changes to the standard disclosure form property owners must fill out.

The changes will provide buyers with crucial information that will help them decide not only whether to move forward with a purchase but also what to do after moving into a house, said supporters of the changes. They will also help people know whether they need to carry flood insurance in order to be eligible for disaster relief.

“It definitely encourages buyers to make a better-informed decision about the purchase they’re going to make. It helps prevent the potential dream home from becoming a flooding nightmare,” Joel Scata, a senior attorney on environmental health issues at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview.

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The new questions include:

.Has the property experienced damage due to flooding, water seepage or pooled water attributable to a natural event such as heavy rainfall, coastal storm surge, tidal inundation, or river overflow?

Have you ever filed a claim for flood damage to the property with any insurance provider, including the National Flood Insurance Program?

Is there a current flood insurance policy covering the property?

Have you received assistance from FEMA, U.S. Small Business Administration, or any other federal disaster flood assistance for flood damage to the property?

Is there a flood or FEMA elevation certificate for the property?

The commission also tweaked the wording of a question about whether the property sits in a designated flood hazard zone.

WHEN WILL THE CHANGES GO INTO EFFECT?

The new disclosure form will be available on July 1.

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If someone buys a home without knowing it has been repaired using disaster relief funds and they choose not to purchase flood insurance, their claim during a future flood would be denied.

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The NRDC is giving North Carolina’s new disclosure document an “A” rating, making it the eighth state with one. That’s up from a “D” rating before. “North Carolina has really joined a growing trend among East Coast states in protecting a home buyer’s right to know a property’s flood risk,” Scata said. Other states with A ratings include: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

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Another potential addition would be questions about coastal hazards, which are included in South Carolina’s standard disclosure. In South Carolina, those extra questions ask whether the property is protected by any erosion control structures like a seawall, sandbags or a bulkhead and require sellers to provide a description of them. Another question asks whether a property has been assessed for a beach nourishment project under its current owner. READ MORE