Increased Utilization of Storm Surge Barriers: A Research Agenda on Estuary Impacts

Abstract

Increasing coastal flood risk worldwide is driving greater interest in the construction of storm surge barriers for coastal flood risk reduction. Storm surge barriers or tide gates cross an estuary's entrance and include gated areas that are closed only during coastal floods (e.g., Figure 1). Surge barriers can effectively minimize flooding, property damage, and loss of life during large storms, and can be a relatively cost-effective approach to mitigate coastal flood hazards (e.g., Deltacommissie, 2009;NRC, 2014). More surge barrier projects were completed worldwide in the 2010s than any prior decade, including flood risk reduction projects for St. Petersburg (Russia) and New Orleans (Mooyaart & Jonkman, 2017). The MOSE Barrier project is nearly completed and mostly operational on the Venice Lagoon, Italy (Mel et al., 2021).

Blue Carbon assessment in the salt marshes of the Venice Lagoon: dimensions, variability and influence of storm-surge regulation.

“…As a part of a comprehensive strategy to achieve emission reduction targets, our projection supports the usefulness of including blue C ecosystems in climate policies, starting from the local and regional scale. Moreover, our results reveal that flood regulation through storm-surge barriers in the Venice Lagoon will crucially decrease marsh C sequestration potential, reinforcing the need for integrated coastal management policies to enhance salt-marsh resilience and to pursue the preservation of related ecosystem services, including C accumulation (28).…”

“…Human activities directly and indirectly interfere with marsh dynamics through land use changes and alterations of nutrient inputs, sediment dynamics and subsidence rates (21,26). Moreover, to reduce flooding risk, coastal communities are increasingly adopting coastal flooding protection infrastructures (27,28), which, however, may change sediment transport in coastal wetlands and reduce salt-marsh sediment supply, thus further questioning their future (29). For example, the sediment supply to the salt marshes in the Venice Lagoon (Italy) was shown to be importantly reduced by the operation of the recently-activated storm-surge barrier, known as the Mo.S.E.…”

“…The adoption of storm-surge barriers to provide coastal flood protection is becoming increasingly common (27,28) due to the growing density of human populations and socioeconomic activities in coastal zones, which are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Important examples are found in the river Scheldt Estuary (the Netherlands), St. Petersburg (Russia), the River Thames (United Kingdom), New Orleans (United States) and Venice (Italy), and others are being proposed or planned, such as those in Galveston Bay (United States) (28). However, the possible impacts of flood regulation strategies on C sequestration in coastal environments have not been explored (30) and should be considered a global concern.…”

A spatiotemporal analysis of compound typhoon storm surge disasters in China

“…Similarly, some successful experiences and cases abroad can also bring some inspiration to the domestic decision-making support. Such as the "Delta Barrier" project, the "Sand Engine" project and the "adaptation tipping point" concept in Holland (Ju et al, 2019), the gated storm surge barriers in the US (Orton et al, 2023), and Japan's coastal defense and over-design strategies for stormwater levels (Kawai, 2019).…”

Effects of Storm Surge Barrier Closures on Estuary Saltwater Intrusion and Stratification

“…Moreover, SLR can cause increased frequency of surge barrier closures and closure duration to prevent flooding, which will intensify the gate closure impacts (Chen et al., 2020). Already this has occurred with some constructed surge barriers (e.g., Thames Barrier in Britain, Lavery & Donovan, 2005; New Bedford Barrier in Massachusetts, Orton et al., 2023; Stamford barrier in Connecticut, USACE, 2021b). However, there have been no prior academic studies focused on modeling surge barrier closure effects.…”