Milford's Sea Rising And Razing

Complaints have been coming in from residents living on the waterfront in Milford. The section in question is the area in the vicinity of Silver Sands State Park. The complaints we have received are what to do about shoreline erosion, invasive plant life intrusion, and flooding.

These problems, may be natural, or consequential to Solar and or Global warming. The erosion and coastal problems plaguing New England are well documented. The root cause of these issues are expected to occur in the near future. "Al Gore" has said that as "Glaciers continue to melt sea levels will rise." We, living on the Long Island Sound are no exception to this inconvenient fact.

How long, or to what extent the damage of arctic ice caps melting will have here in CT is unknown. Scientists can say with absolute certainty however, that the sea levels are higher today than they were just 30 years ago. Those living along the water should be aware that the thousands of square miles of water from melted ice has to go somewhere. It just may be your back yard if you live at or below sea level.

The only practical defence to the swell of the sound is eventually going to be what was done in New Orleans. Once the problem becomes so evident that it can no longer be ignored, FEMA, CT or some Federal agency will commission and or fund the Army Corp of Engineers to build Levy's, sea barriers and/or construct higher ground. Some cases may be so difficult that the property may not be salvageable at all.

Flood gates may have to be considered in places, along with pumping stations to rapidly remove water concentrations. System failures should be taken into consideration and back up systems need to be built. Should the problem of flooding be left completely unchecked, the eventual course of nature in its natural meandering of rivers will result in damage caused by natural water erosion. This will be most serious after our first hurricane or basic weather anomaly.

Erosion and water damage cannot be taken lightly and must swiftly be dealt with. Not doing so can have drastic and catastrophic consequences to people and real estate. It is my understanding that a committee has been formed to address these problems. I wish this committee much success in building the required infrastructure to control water damage that may be imminent. Please consider the urgency of this matter with an increased risk of imminent natural disasters.

Above photo of storm surge in East Lyme Connecticut.