The N.C. Division of Coastal Management has finalized a project to create the first ever continuous digital map of more than 12,000 miles of estuarine shoreline in North Carolina.

Through a partnership between the NCDCM and East Carolina University, the project identified the mileage of shoreline types such as a marsh or a swamp forest and the number of shoreline structures such as piers and bulkheads along estuarine waterways.

Using the most recently available aerial photography for each county, the estuarine shoreline for all 20 coastal counties has been digitized and is now available to view on the state Division of Coastal Management’s website. 

The maps can be used by DCM, local governments and researchers to assess changes in shorelines and structures, study where and why shorelines are eroding, monitor future changes, and better understand development trends along our estuarine shorelines.

In 2011 the Division of Coastal Management completed its update of the long-term average annual erosion rates used in determining the ocean hazard setback factors initially established by the CRC under the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) in 1979. The long-term average annual erosion rates have been updated periodically since 1980, with the last update report completed in 2003.

The Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) seeks to amend its administrative rules 15A NCAC 7H .0304(1)(a) governing oceanfront development setbacks. The current statute contains the oceanfront erosion rates that were made effective in 2004. The proposed rule change would update these rates using new data. Please bear in mind that all of the Oceanfront construction setbacks are based on long-term average annual erosion rates and determine the extent of the Ocean Erodible Area of Environmental Concern (OEA).  Click here for more information on the proposed rules.