COAST4US: APPLICATION OF THE COAST TOOL TO THE PORTUGUESE WEST COASTLINE

Abstract

Over the years, people have been settling in coastal areas, as they provide opportunities, both economically and in terms of well-being and leisure. However, the coastline is also exposed to serious problems of coastal erosion, particularly on urban fronts, increasing the consequences derived from adjacent phenomena such as overtopping and flooding. It is therefore essential to deepen the study of strategies for the prediction, prevention and mitigation of this phenomenon. In this sense, COAST (Coast Optimization Assessment Tool), a tool for integrated cost-benefit analysis of coastal interventions to mitigate erosion problems, was developed. The COAST4US project - Application of the COAST tool to the Portuguese coast - aims to contribute to the feasibility of applying this tool in real situations, contributing to an efficient mitigation of coastal erosion, and providing decision makers with more and better information. The project proposes to apply COAST to three stretches of coastline at high risk of coastal erosion on the Portuguese west coast: Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, and Costa de Caparica. The project is divided in several tasks, including scenario modeling, cost prediction and benefit assessment, being this work focused on benefit assessment by estimating the value of each beach, and analyzing the effectiveness of three nourishment scenarios.