Deal Island Peninsula Project

A partnership to support communities and coastal environments in the midst of change. 

About the Project

The Deal Island Peninsula area is prone to a number of key issues that are of interest to the Deal Island Peninsula project. These include flooding, erosion, storm impacts, marsh migration and socio-demographic changes, each which create a number of vulnerabilities that the project seeks to address through collaborative learning and adaptation planning. The project is a collaboration between a diverse group of stakeholders representing over 30 partner organizations and institutions at local, state, and regional levels.  The project is coordinated by the University of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.  Ultimately, the project seeks to strengthen the ability of local communities and marshes to successfully adapt to changing conditions.  Complete information can be found at www.dealislandpeninsula.org

Approach

The approach for this project had dual objectives.  The first objective was to do a study of the extensive salt marshes on the Peninsula and determine if a specific restoration technique is appropriate to aid salt marshes in their ability to keep pace and adapt to rising sea level and subsidence that is occurring on the lower Eastern Shore.  This was done through a series of monitoring activities that determine marsh health and through trying the restoration technique at 6 different locations. 

The second objective was to build a network of community members, local and state government staff, scientists and other community partners to merge local and regional expertise, knowledge and resources to reduce the risk of the community to flood impacts both now and into the future.  To do this an Integrated Coastal Resilience Assessment was conducted to quantify what's vulnerable and why.  The information collected was then used to develop strategies for how to address those vulnerabilities. 

Activities

• Development of Flood Vulnerability Maps
• Community Workshops for Stakeholder Network
• Community Conversations about specific topics
• Risk Assessment Survey

Partners

University of Maryland
Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Maryland Sea Grant Extension
Community Members and Organizations on the Deal Island Peninsula
Somerset County Government