The Lower Otter estuary restoration project

Managed realignment in east Devon

GCSE specifications require you to study how coastlines can be managed to respond to the threats posed by climate change. This article examines why ‘holding the line’ is no longer the most sustainable option for the estuary of the River Otter and why a ‘managed realignment scheme’ has been approved as a more viable option.

Kate Williamson

Figure 1 Ordnance Survey extract showing River Otter in east Devon

S ome experts estimate that by 2100 sea-level could increase by 1.15 metres, creating the possibility of widespread coastal flooding. As a result, UK coastlines are at the forefront of our climate emergency, and our coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to threats of sea-level rise and coastal erosion caused by climate change.

As a nation we must decide which sections of the coastline we are going to protect with costly flood defences (a response known as ‘holding the line’), and which we are going to allow the sea to flood in a managed way (known as managed realignment).