Restoration Spotlight: Long Point Shoreline Resilience Project

Current conditions at Long Point from decades of erosion.

Edgewater, MD- Arundel Rivers Federation is pleased to announce that construction has started on the Long Point Shoreline Resilience Project, a large-scale coastal resilience effort at South River Farms Park, on the South River in Edgewater. The project will protect nearly 1,600 feet of shoreline along Selby Bay, helping safeguard nearby property and critical habitat from erosion and increasingly strong storm surges.

Long Point is a narrow peninsula that serves as a natural buffer for parts of the Selby Bay Community and Anne Arundel County’s South River Farms Park. In recent decades, the peninsula has been eroding at an alarming rate, more than two feet per year in some areas, exposing the surrounding community and one of the South River’s most scenic anchorages to strong winds and waves. This project is designed to halt that loss while strengthening the shoreline’s resilience for the future. 

“This project is a great example of what’s possible when communities, nonprofits, and funders partner together to deliver projects that not only restore shorelines, but also create new habitat for our oysters and fish,” said Matt Johnston, Executive Director of Arundel Rivers Federation.

Construction will include a combination of traditional stone sills, large woody debris, and oyster habitat structures – a layered, adaptive design that reduces wave energy while creating new habitat for oysters, crabs, fish, and birds. 

The project has strong community support as well as backing from Anne Arundel County, which owns South River Farm Park. Once complete, this will be the third major shoreline restoration project led by Arundel Rivers Federation on the Mayo Peninsula, reflecting a long-term commitment to resiliency along the shoreline of the South River.

“Long Point has long been eroding and exposing Selby Bay and homeowners along the Bay to more and higher waves flowing around the tip of South River Farms Park,” said community member Matt Minahan. “The community is deeply appreciative to Arundel Rivers, Anne Arundel County’s Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and funding partners for taking on this project that will stabilize the point and add oysters and other habitat to the mouth of Selby Bay.”

Designed with the future in mind, the Long Point project goes beyond shoreline stabilization. The site has been engineered to support future enhancements, including marsh creation, expanded oyster restoration, and the recovery of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Long Point is one of several South River sites where Arundel Rivers Federation, in partnership with organizations such as Chesapeake Bay Foundation, will install more than 550 oyster reef balls this year, boosting oyster restoration efforts across the river.

 "We're very excited to see this innovative project come to fruition,” said Erik Michelsen, Senior Environmental Policy Officer and Deputy Director for the Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration Department in Anne Arundel County. “When you can build a project to protect and enhance existing resources, and create the future opportunities to build more marsh by beneficially re-using future dredge material on site, that's a true win-win. Arundel Rivers Federation is building a project that should set the standard for how this work is done moving forward."

Funding for the Long Point Shoreline Resilience Project is provided by the Chesapeake Bay Trust and Anne Arundel County’s Bureau of Watershed Protection & Restoration. Project design was led by BayLand Consultants & Designers, and construction is being carried out by Pay Dirt LLC, with oyster habitat components implemented in partnership with Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

During construction, park users may notice equipment in the water and temporary changes to shoreline access near the project area. Arundel Rivers will continue to share updates with the community throughout construction.