Willapa Erosion Control Action Now (WECAN)

About WECAN and the Willapa Bay Erosion Issue

About WECAN

Willapa Erosion Control Action Now (WECAN) is an ongoing community initiative aimed at mitigating erosion along the northern shores of Willapa Bay in Pacific County, Washington. Particularly severe storms that hit the area during the El Niño winter of 2015, and studies of the area by Pacific County, the Washington Department of Ecology, and the US Army Corps of Engineers resulted in updated erosion projections for the shoreline. In response, Chairwoman Charlene Nelson of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, Pacific County Commissioner Lisa Ayers, and David Cottrell, the commissioner of Pacific County Drainage District No. 1, established WECAN as a forum for activism around the ongoing erosion issue. 

Through WECAN’s sponsored gatherings, the collective capacity of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, community stakeholders, and local, state, and federal agencies are together tackling a problem that has impacted the area for decades. 

Geographic Context and History of the Problem

Over the course of the last century, extensive erosion along the northern shore of Willapa Bay has erased much of the community of North Cove. As of 2015, approximately 640 of North Cove’s original 766 parcels had been lost. Erosion has also impacted Grayland, Tokeland, the Shoalwater Bay Tribe, and other communities around the bay. Parts of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge have also disappeared.

The reasons for this are complex. The volume of water that exits the mouth of Willapa Bay between high and low tide (known as the tidal prism) is estimated at more than 10 billion cubic feet, making the bay one of the largest inlets on the coast of the continental United States. This large tidal range combines with offshore wave action, nearshore currents, and strong seasonal storm surges to collectively transport millions of cubic yards of sediment on this predominantly sandy coastline. The extensive network of dams along the Columbia River may also be contributing to the problem by reducing the sediment load that reaches the Washington coast. 

Unlike the neighboring estuaries of Grays Harbor and the mouth of the Columbia River, which are protected by jetties that are miles long, Willapa Bay is a natural inlet. Although the natural dynamics contribute to making Willapa Bay among the largest and richest estuary systems on Washington’s Pacific Coast, the north shore of the bay has been experiencing decades of flooding, storm surges, and the fastest rates of eroding shoreline on the entire United States west coast – averaging 100 feet per year over the past century in some places. The erosion occurring along a broad section of the shore in the community of North Cove earned it the infamous moniker, “Washaway Beach.”

The ongoing erosion has had devastating consequences for lands of cultural and historical significance, the local economy, recreation and public access, endangered species, important natural habitat, and critical infrastructure. This includes a key section of State Road 105, which is the region’s primary transportation and utility corridor. View the time lapse below to see the impacts on the community of North Cove since 1984 and the increasing vulnerability of State Road 105.

Google Earth Time Lapse of North Cove 1984-2013.

Compilation courtesy of George Kaminsky, WA Department of Ecology Coastal Monitoring & Analysis Program