Impacts of the December 2013 storm surge on the North Norfolk Coast

The 2013 December North Sea storm caused "the biggest UK storm surge for 60 years" (UK Environment Agency). From the 5th to 7th of December, tides along parts of the North Norfolk coast reached higher levels than the devastating floods of 1953. This coastline is a mosaic of natural and semi-natural habitats and farmland. These coastal habitats are socially and economically important, supporting significant wildlife populations, protecting the coastline against erosion and widely used for recreation. The threat from climate change to these habitats has been globally recognised and understanding the processes that shape these habitats is a major priority for maintaining the services they provide to wildlife and society. Damage to flood defences was much lower in 2013 than in 1953, and loss of life due to flooding was avoided; but there was still extensive change to the coastline, damage to seawalls, and flooding of areas that are nominally designated as "hold the line". The work proposed in this project will assess the short term effects of the surge, and provide the basis for assessing its longer term impacts. The work will also provide proof of concept for an approach which we believe will enable the cost effective mapping of the impacts of extreme events like this. This represents a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to collect data and improve our understanding of the impacts of severe episodic natural events and how these are perceived and responded to.Due to their rarity, our understanding of the impacts of severe events such as the December 2013 storm surge is poor, so it is essential that such events are included in our investigation of future changes to coastal habitats and in the development of appropriate response strategies.
It is currently unclear what effects the storm surge has had and will have on North Norfolk coastal habitats and the vital services they provide. This project will address this gap in knowledge by investigating flooding and salinization impacts upon: vegetation, soil organisms, carbon and nitrogen cycles as well as the responses of society. This will allow an assessment of impacts of the flood to be made. Sampling is proposed as soon as is practicably possible and at successive time points into the future. By collecting time series data it will be possible to assess resilience of the coastal zone to flooding and salt water ingress. The proposed research will consider contrasting habitats and soil types across a gradient of impact and will provide insight into particular vulnerabilities of the coast.
The research will be undertaken on the North Norfolk coast between Brancaster and Salthouse, at sites well known to the project team and where monitoring and historical baseline data already exist. This coastline provides a diverse range of habitat types and a variety of contrasting soil types.
To be able to properly manage and protect our important coastal habitats, it is essential that we investigate the consequences of severe episodic events such as the December 2013 storm surge. There is a challenge in translating scientific knowledge into real-world decision-making. This project will also, therefore, engage with local communities and coastal managers in North Norfolk, as well as link to parallel work investigating social and policy responses to flooding and accelerated erosion associated with the same episodic event in urban and rural areas on the East coast of Norfolk and Suffolk. Such an approach is required to improve the functionality and applicability of our research findings for managing our natural environment, both in response to severe episodic events and in response to long term adaptation needs.

Non Academic Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries will include stakeholders involved in management of intertidal habitats at the project field sites, such as government agencies, local government, landowners and site managers (e.g. EA, Natural England, Norfolk Coast Partnership, RSPB, National Trust, Norfolk Wildlife Trust). By undertaking information exchange and participation throughout the project, we will produce relevant, targeted information for local and regional managers. This will be facilitated by the development of existing and new contacts with the bodies responsible for management of the project's field sites. We have already started to engage with these groups via phone calls and face-to-face meetings and there is a general agreement on the importance of taking advantage of this once in a lifetime research opportunity. This interaction will be strengthened through invitation to stakeholders and the public to take part in interviews, focus groups and a stakeholder workshop in work package 4 (WP4) to examine and discuss responses to coastal change. The workshop in particular will be designed in consultation with stakeholders with a view to facilitating exchange of information, knowledge and understanding between the project research team, stakeholders and partners. Specific issues relating to the effects of the surge on the coast, adaptation and policy development will be discussed.
The project outputs have important implications for those involved in shoreline and conservation management of the sites under National and EU legislation (e.g. the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, Water Framework and Habitats Directives) in the medium term in relation to international conservation obligations and environmental quality targets.
At a wider level, stakeholders involved in shoreline management in the UK and abroad will benefit from the project deliverables as findings will be relevant to the management of other estuarine sites. Project outputs will provide better quality data to inform policy development within future Shoreline Management Plans, Integrated Coastal Management and Flood Risk Management Strategies for managers in local government and relevant government agencies.
Beneficiaries within Education
The project is of high value in secondary and higher education. The project deals with aspects relating to climate change, coastal erosion and biodiversity, so is an excellent example of integrating academic research into an applied context; providing resources relevant to a broad portfolio of academic disciplines and school subject curricula (e.g. Biology, Geography etc.). Providing education to future decision-makers on potential impacts of severe episodic events is vital, illustrating why and how we need to protect our environment and help them explore a range of responses.
Public outreach
Members of the public such as individuals living locally or visiting the area and local community group members will benefit from participation in focus groups and a small-scale survey as part of WP4. Project results will be disseminated to participants in the research and wider society through the project website and publicity materials. Benefits will include an increased awareness of research and decision making processes related to coastal change and the opportunity participants to engage with decision making through the research and dissemination process.
Local and national societies provide an avenue of dissemination to interested members of the public. Presentations will be given to local groups, such as The Geological Society of Norfolk, RSPB and National Trust. Open lectures on the project, designed to appeal to members of the public, will be targeted to these interest groups. This is essential to improve public awareness of, and engagement with the latest scientific research and the challenges posed by future threats to our environment to adaptation responses, coastal decision making and management.