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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />ROO-5 <br /> <br />Dona]d E. Guy, Jr. <br />Ohio Geo]ogical Survey <br />Lake Erie Geo]ogy Group <br />]634 Sycamore Line <br />Sandusky, Ohio 44870-4132 <br />4] 9-626-4296 <br />don,guy@dnr,state.oh.us <br /> <br />COASTAL EROSION ALONG THE omo SHORE OF LAKE ERIE <br /> <br />Recession data compiled for Ohio's Coastal Management Program show the average recession rate for <br />the 422 Ian of Ohio lakeshore was 0.45 m1yr between ]973 and ]990. On a county basis average rates <br />ranged from 0.07 m1yr to ].45 m1yr, and maximum rates ranged from 1.5] m1yr to ] 7.17 m1yr. Recession <br />data compiled for a FEMA-funded study along 49.4 Ian of shore in Lake County, Ohio show the average <br />recession rate was 0.49 m1yr between ]937 and ]996 and the maximum rate was 2,65 m1yr. <br /> <br />Wave erosion and mass wasting are the principal erosion processes acting on the lake bluffs, <br />Downcutting of cohesive deposits in the nearshore zone is also an important process. During periods of <br />high lake level, like those experienced for the past three decades, erosion rates are higher. During <br />periods oflow lake level, erosion rates slow, but downcutting in the nearshore continues. <br /> <br />A ]980 compilation of buildings along the mainland shore found approximately 25 percent of the <br />lakefront homes and buildings were lakeward or within 7.6 m of the erosion reference feature, and 22 <br />percent were between 7.9 m and ]5,2 m of the erosion reference feature. In 1993, the percentages for <br />Lake County were 10 and 17 percent, respectively, <br /> <br />A few homes are lost annually to erosion, especially during high water years, In Painesville, 58 homes <br />have been lost since ]958. In 1986, 14 homes threatened by erosion in Lake County were condemned by <br />the city of Willoughby, and 10 of the property owners received settlements for their losses under the <br />Upton-Jones provision of the National Flood Insurance Program, <br /> <br />Coastal management legislation passed by the Ohio legislature in 1988 required that coastal erosion areas <br />be designated for the Ohio lakeshore. Coastal erosion areas are those areas anticipated to be lost to <br />erosion within 30 years if no further erosion control measures are implemented. Based upon recession <br />between 1973 and 1990, coastal erosion areas were designated along about 160 Ian (38 percent) of the <br />Ohio lakeshore. Approximately 2,234 parcels are effected, Designation of a coastal erosion area does <br />not preclude development, but it does require that effective erosion control measures be emplaced in <br />order to obtain a permit to build in the coastal erosion area. In addition, if a parcel lies in a coastal <br />erosion area, the owner must notifY a prospective purchaser in writing that a coastal erosion area has <br />been designated for that parcel. <br /> <br />Shore protection is expensive, averaging $1800 per meter of lake front. Several communities have used <br />their bonding authority to fund shore protection. In 1999, the Ohio Water Development Authority was <br />authorized to support low cost loans for shore protection for those properties located in a coastal erosion <br />area, <br />