The Wasque Reservation sandplain curves downward to the dunes disappearing into the indigo waves of Katama Bay off Chappaquiddick. The white-crested breakers recede into fog above the ocean.
Plans to move a Chappaquiddick home threatened by erosion became more urgent this week, after last week’s nearly-three-day storm brought the coastal bank 11 feet closer to Richard and Jennifer Schifter’s Wasque Point home. But as waves continue to eat away at the waterfront property, the drama of the house move has extended into now weekly meetings at Edgartown town hall, where the house faces regulatory, logistical, and environmental concerns from town officials and neighbors.
While elaborate plans continue to unfold for moving a large Chappaquiddick house, the Edgartown conservation commission is grappling with a new issue: whether actions taken to stem the erosion can continue after the house is moved.
For months, the situation unfolding at Wasque Point where a rapidly eroding coastal bluff is swiftly approaching an 8,800-square-foot house, has captivated the Island.
Shifting sand at both Wasque and Lucy Vincent Beach has uncovered what may be parts of two shipwrecks.
Last Sunday afternoon, Andrew Orcutt of Edgartown and Albany was out walking the shoreline near Wasque and the Norton Point breach. He discovered remnants of what appeared to be a ship in the wash.
With the failure of a previous plan to try to stem the erosion that threatens a Chappaquiddick house and a severe tropical storm headed up the East Coast early next week, the Edgartown conservation commission Wednesday approved a new emergency plan of action for the property.
The Trustees of Reservations may be forced to close Wasque Reservation this summer if the erosion which has ravaged the southeastern corner of the Chappaquiddick reservation continues at the current rate, superintendent Chris Kennedy told the Edgartown conservation commission on Wednesday night.
Mr. Kennedy said there is a very real possibility that the parking lot at Wasque used by visitors for beach access will be gone by summer.
Shoreline change is a dynamic process, especially at Wasque, the southern part of Chappaquiddick, owned and managed by The Trustees of Reservations. This shoreline is very dynamic, sometimes accreting rapidly and sometimes eroding rapidly. Wasque is now eroding rapidly — parking lots have eroded away this winter, leaving an almost unrecognizable beach. What is going on? Why is it eroding so much now? There are several factors that explain this change.
