Salem
Recent Coastal Resilience Projects
Winter Island Park Pathway and Bank Restoration (FY27-28 – CZM Funding)
Want to learn more about the project?
Explore the Winter Island Park StoryMap and pamphlet to learn more about the Park, the challenges it faces, the community input that shaped the project, and the vision for its future.
Winter Island Park is one of Salem’s most distinctive coastal landscapes, but years of erosion and heavy pedestrian use have taken a toll on its coastal banks and pathways. The design phase of the Winter Island Park Pathway and Bank Restoration Project is now complete, and the City of Salem has been approved for funding to move forward with implementation.
Community input played an important role in the design process. Through public engagement, community members shared how they use and experience the Park, and that input was incorporated into the final design. The project uses nature-based solutions to stabilize the shoreline, improve pedestrian access and public safety, restore native vegetation, and protect the Park’s historic and archaeological resources.
Implementation will stabilize approximately 690 linear feet of critically eroding shoreline, including sections of Waikiki Beach, Fort Pickering, and the parking lot edge. The project will remove invasive vegetation and install fiber lift arrays and native vegetation to provide storm damage protection and erosion control while supporting ecological restoration of the coastal bank.
Resilient Together: Collins Cove Park Neighborhood (FY25-26 – CZM Funding)
Take a Closer Look
Explore the completed project, concept designs, and community engagement results in the StoryMap to learn more about the vision for a more resilient Collins Cove.
As climate change brings more frequent coastal storms, heavier rainfall, and rising sea levels, neighborhoods like Collins Cove face increasing risks from flooding. The Resilient Together: Collins Cove Park Neighborhood project brought together residents, the City of Salem, Salem Sound Coastwatch, and technical experts to envision a more resilient future for this waterfront community.
Building on the Collins Cove to Willows Resilience Study (MVP Action Grant FY23), the project developed preliminary designs and nature-based solutions to reduce inland and coastal flood risk while enhancing Collins Cove Park as a vibrant public space. Through a robust community engagement process—including public meetings, neighborhood walks, surveys, public input, and conversations with residents—the project documented local experiences with flooding and incorporated community priorities into the planning process.
The resulting concept plan includes recommendations for green infrastructure, improved stormwater management, restored natural features, enhanced public spaces, and other strategies that will help the neighborhood adapt to sea level rise and more frequent storm events.
What’s Next
The planning phase is complete, and Salem Sound Coastwatch and the City of Salem are exploring funding opportunities and partnerships to help advance the project’s recommendations. We look forward to continuing to work with the community as opportunities for implementation emerge.
Preserving History: Assessments and Climate Adaptations at the House of the Seven Gables
(FY23-FY24 CZM Coastal Resilience Funding)
Salem Sound Coastwatch is working with The Gables, Union Studios, Collins Engineers, and Horsley Witten Group to gather site data, assess buildings and site, conduct short-term and near-term maintenance modifications and recommend longer-term adaptation strategies. Peer-to-peer and public outreach is once again an important aspect of this project. Lessons learned will be shared at the Preservation in a Changing Climate Conference.
Preservation in a Changing Climate Conference
Salem Sound Coastwatch, the City of Salem and the Salem Preservation Partners hold annual conferences in September at the Peabody Essex Museum to raise awareness of climate change impacts on historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods and share adaptation strategies.
Collins Cove to Willows Resilience Study (FY23 – MVP funding)
Salem Sound Coastwatch is working with City of Salem and AECOM to assess vulnerability and risk to coastal and inland flooding in the study area that focuses on city-owned property including roadway/right-of-way infrastructure, linear parks/bike paths, Collins Cove Park, Collins Cove Beach, Memorial Park, Salem Willows Park, and Winter Island Park. A coastal flood and stormwater simulation model has been developed with community input, storm observations on December 23, 2022, city infrastructure, and predictive models of future sea level rise and increased storms. A Resilient Coastal Parks Toolkit is being developed along with potential adaptation strategies to lessen flooding and improve emergency access during storm events.
The first Public Community Meeting was held in person on November 29th, 2022, and two more have been held since. Click on the video to the left to view the most recent meeting.
Resilient Together: The Point – Preservemos El Punto, ¡Todos juntos!
(2022 – ongoing CZM Coastal Resilience funding)
A deep dive model of the Point neighborhood’s current and future climate risks continues with robust multilingual community outreach and engagement process. The goal is to better understand the climate risks and possible adaptation and mitigation solutions for this neighborhood, which includes Palmer Cove and the South River. Neighborhood input is valued to help guide considerations and solutions to address shoreline defense and heat.
Setting the Stage for Actions - Salem
Salem Sound Coastwatch has worked with the City of Salem on the following climate assessments:
Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan (2014) – completed by CDM Smith with SSCW staff serving on the City’s working group.
Salem Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Report and MVP Risk Matrix (2020) –completed by Salem’s MVP core team with guidance from SSCW staff, identifies Salem’s top four climate-related hazards of concern, the City’s existing and future strengthens and vulnerabilities amid prioritizes actions.
Mapping Future Flooding Risks for Salem (10/26/2020)
Salem Sound Coastwatch with the Salem Maritime Historic Site National Park Service sponsorship asked Woods Hole Group to explain the Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) for Salem. Detailed coastal flood modeling and mapping under changing climatic conditions (present, 2030, 2050, 2070) were commissioned by the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management for all coastal communities. Learn how the risk probability maps were created and how to interpret them.
Seven areas in Salem have been identified as high risk for increased flooding based on sea level rise and storms predictions:
Derby Wharf - Resiliency on Salem's Maritime Waterfront (9/9/2021)
Paul DePrey, National Park Service Superintendent of Salem Maritime & Saugus Iron Works National Historic Sites, shared the history of Derby Wharf, its degradation from coastal storms, and plans for rebuilding the wharf to prolong its existence given increasing storms and sea level rise.
Superintendent Paul DePrey of the National Park Service Salem Maritime National Historic Site shares Derby Wharf’s history and how it can be protected and rehabilitated given the current and future climate threats of sea level rise and storms.
History of Collins Cove: 1700’s to Present
To understand where we are now and how the future will affect us, it is often important to understand the geology and past landscape transformations. This recorded presentation by Sally McMurry (02/01/23) gives a shoreline change and historical tour with maps and photos exploring Collins Cove role in Salem’s development, which includes fishing, tanneries, rope walks, freight train, poor farm, and now recreation.
