Mathews County’s recently completed Shoreline Management Plan was the topic of discussion last Thursday during a meeting at Mathews Memorial Library.

John Shaw, Mathews County planning and zoning director, and Scott Hardaway of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Shoreline Studies Program gave a slide show and discussed the plan, then directed residents to maps that indicate areas with erosion problems and to charts that provide information on suggested remedies.

Shaw explained that the plan divides the county’s 300 miles of shoreline into three reaches, or continuous stretches, the first of which begins on the Piankatank River at the county line and runs East to Hill’s Bay at Cherry Point. The second reach runs from Cherry Point to New Point, including Milford Haven, and the third reach runs from New Point to the county line on the Mobjack Bay. Each reach includes tributaries, as well.

Hardaway and his collaborators, Donna Milligan and Marcia Berman, used funding from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Grant to map these reaches, identify erosion issues, create a photographic record, and develop strategies for solving erosion problems. They ignored property ownership or boundaries, said Hardaway, and instead concentrated on the best method for dealing with an entire stretch of shoreline. He said property owners will have to decide for themselves whether the shoreline protection methods suggested are feasible for them, given their circumstances and budget.

Ignoring property lines led to a striking plan for Gwynn’s Island—a series of breakwaters along the entire bay shoreline. At a possible cost of $12 million, Hardaway said the plan would work "over the long haul," but without funding, residents might ultimately have to solve their problems on a lot-by-lot basis.

Along with each suggested erosion control strategy is a cost-per-linear-foot estimate for the method suggested to deal with the problem. Those suggested methods range from simply managing the marsh in creeks and streams, at a cost of less than $50 per linear foot, to installing breakwaters and beach fill along the bay, where long reaches allow wind and wave energy to build destructive force, at a cost of $500 to $1,000 per linear foot.

The plan is available to view at the library and at the office of planning and zoning in the county’s administration building on Brickbat Road. In addition, residents may request a CD with the information on it or view it at the county website, www.co.mathews.va.us, under the Planning, Zoning and Wetlands link; or on the VIMS website at www.vims.edu/physical/research/shoreline/Publications-ShoreMgt.htm.

For more information, call planning and zooming at 725-4034.