ImprovingGeorgia’s TidalMarsh Protection
David Kyler, Center for a Sustainable Coast (Updated May 2026)
What’s at Stake
Georgia’s valuable and naturally productive tidal marshes are only partially protected by the state’s Coastal Marshlands Protection Act. Marshes provide various services important to Georgians, including water filtration, protection of property from flooding, and fishery habitat. These benefits are estimated to be worth $21,500 an acre annually, equivalent to $8.6 billion a year across all of Georgia’s 400,000 acres of marsh.
The health of marshes is under threat from several trends that are not addressed by the Marsh Act. First, improperly regulated coastal development contributes to erosion of upland areas. Drainage ditches and tidal creeks carry eroded sediments into marshes where they damage marsh vegetation.
Second, rising sea level and extreme weather trends linked to climate change impose unprecedented stresses that will reduce the area and productivity of tidal marshes. As sea elevation rises, the ocean’s edge of Georgia’s marsh will move westward, but the landward boundary is constrained by highways, buildings, and other hard structures. Unless landward constraints are removed or open areas allowing marsh migration are provided, marshlands will be lost.
Likewise, with extended periods of drought caused by weather extremes, tidal marshes are being deprived of freshwater flowing downstream. These freshwaters are essential to the proper salinity balance in inter-tidal areas. Such destructive impacts are worsened by extensive ditching of timberlands throughout the coastal plain of Georgia. This ditching alters the natural landscape's hydrology by rapidly flushing freshwater downstream, severely compromising the ability of marshes to sustain proper salinity.
Challenges
Any attempts to improve protection of coastal marshes are likely to be opposed by developers and other proponents of economic growth because such efforts will be seen as restricting the profitability of more intensive land-use. Mis-perceived and exaggerated claims about the economic benefits of development continue to be used in justifying opposition to regulatory protection of marshes and other wetlands. In reality, the economic benefits of marshes far exceed any limitations on profit. These tradeoffs are a question of long-term public benefit versus short-term private gain. Good public policy must accurately reflect long-term benefits and costs.
Next Steps
- Explore legislative options for improving marsh protection along all upland areas throughout the coast. In any proposed buffers, prohibit development (except for hardship cases) and ensure minimized disturbance of natural vegetation.
- Use existing state programs to create targeted incentives for property owners that will allow recovery of freshwater wetlands functions in forested areas. Incentives could be in the form of tax credits, tax deferrals, and/or technical assistance in land management.
- Adopt a comprehensive state plan to accommodate marsh migration. The plan would be implemented through tax incentives for property owners and specific criteria for state projects/permits related to transportation and energy infrastructure.
- Propose language for revising the legal definition of the westerly jurisdiction of the Marsh Act so that it is determined by tidal reach instead of geographically fixed land features.
Fast Facts
- Georgia’s valuable and naturally productive tidal marshes are only partially protected by the state’s Coastal Marshlands Protection Act.
- Services provide by marshes are estimated to be worth more than $21,000 an acre annually, equivalent to $8.6 billion a year for Georgia’s 400,000 acres of marsh.
- Improperly regulated coastal development contributes to erosion of upland areas. Drainage ditches and tidal creeks carry eroded sediments into marshes where they damage marsh vegetation and consequently harm critical wildlife habitat.
- Rising sea level and extreme weather trends linked to climate change impose severe stresses that will cause costly loss of Georgia’s tidal marshes and their benefits.