Willapa Erosion Control Action Now (WECAN)
Supporting ongoing erosion control and shoreline recovery projects along the northern
shore of Willapa Bay in Pacific County, Washington.
WECAN and Willapa Bay Erosion Mitigation Efforts in the Media
The coastal resilience efforts undertaken by WECAN members have been featured in the news on many occasions. The articles listed below are several examples.
- American Shore & Beach Preservation Association, May 24, 2024: “ASBPA Announces 2024 Best Restored Beaches”
- The New York Times, Nov 2, 2022: “Here is where the U.S. is testing a new response to rising seas”
- The Guardian, Oct 8, 2022: “The experiment that may have saved a Washington town from falling into the ocean.”
- The Seattle Times, Feb 23, 2020: “Washaway Beach: How a community stood together and refused to be swept out to sea”
- Pacific Northwest Magazine, Feb 23, 2020: “Backstory: Using artistic silhouettes to help keep Washaway Beach from washing away even more”
- Chinook Observer, Apr 20, 2019: “Pacific County community rallies to save beach”
- The North Coast News, Jan 10th, 2019: “Rock cobble beach at North Cove working as planned, so far”
- The Daily World, Jan 18th, 2019: “Rocking and roiling”
- NBC News, Nov 24, 2018: ‘”Washaway Beach,’ fastest-eroding place on the West Coast, cobbles together a solution”
- The Washington Coastal Economist, May 16, 2017: “North Cove: The erosion of a coastal community”
Imagery & Video
MyCoast Washington Beach Photo Database
Connie Allen, a resident of North Cove, partnered with MyCoast Washington to organize an initiatiative that would use photos to document changing beach conditions and the performance of the North Cove dynamic revetments over time.
To do this, a local sheet metal worker donated his time to create several sheet metal cutout silhouettes. These silhouettes feature local North Cove residents as models. Each metal silhouette has an opening designed in it so that anyone walking by can take cellphone photos from the exact same angle. The photographer then uploads the photo to MyCoast Washington, which houses a database of these shots at different times of year and in varying weather conditions.
Currently, one silhouette is placed at the end of Seamobile Road in North Cove, facing west. The other is placed nearby at the end of Old SR 105, facing east. Over 300 photos have been uploaded for each viewpoint.
Old SR 105
The Old SR 105 metal silhouette in September 2021.
Seamobile Road
The metal cutout silhouette at the end of Seamobile Road in February 2021. Photo by Connie Allen.
Image Gallery
Use the right and left arrows on the image to scroll.
Images courtesy of WECAN members, including Chelsea Martin, John Shaw, Bobbak Talebi, David Cottrell.
Dynamic Revetment Video Footage of North Cove
Videos courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology Coastal Analysis & Monitoring Program and Tyler Cowdrey, Evergreen State College
Note: The first video is not “pre-revetment” – initial efforts to stabilize the shoreline had begun at this time.
Photos of North Cove Shoreline Change: 1999 to 2017
Google Earth imagery. Compilation courtesy of George Kaminsky, Department of Ecology Coastal Monitoring & Analysis Program
1999
2005
2006
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017