Reflections of the Chair
I
t is no surprise to those of us who live on a barrier
island that we are surrounded by water. After all,
one of the main reasons we were attracted to Kiawah
was the natural beauty of the beach, marsh, and
maritime forest, and the wildlife that flourishes in these
dynamic environments. However, along with the beauty and
enjoyment comes the risk of storm and flooding events that
threatens our homes, infrastructure, and our way of life. The
past few years have brought us poignant reminders of these
risks with flooding and damage caused by the historic
rains of October 2015; Hurricane Matthew in
2016; and Tropical Storm Irma in 2017. As I
am writing this, Hurricane Florence is lashing
the coast of North Carolina but fortunately
seems to have spared Kiawah .
We could stick our heads in the beach
sand and hope that the past few years are just
a fluke—but we get constant reminders from
the increasing frequency of high water signs
posted along Governors Drive that something is going on
that requires our attention.
The Town of a Kiawah Island is taking a proactive
approach, and under their Environmental Committee, has
created the Sea Level Rise Subcommittee. This subcommittee
has conducted a significant and thorough piece of work
evaluating the impacts and threats to Kiawah from a rising
sea level. I encourage you to read the excellent article by Jack
Kotz in this issue and to read “The Flood Mitigation and Sea
Level Rise Adaptation Report” which can be found on the
Town’s website.
In the meantime, please consider using
salt-tolerant native plants and shrubs in your
landscaping. A visit to the Conservancy’s
Naturally Kiawah Demonstration Garden
will show you the diversity of sun- and shade-
tolerant native plants that will thrive on
Kiawah and should survive the flooding
events that are becoming more frequent. NK
Richard Ames, Chairman, Kiawah
Conservancy Board of Trustees
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