Ipswich, MA Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 3.3 miles northeast of Ipswich, MA?
USGS's shoreline-change data puts this stretch, 3.3 miles northeast of Ipswich, MA, at 0.26 feet of erosion a year on average, a long-term rate for this specific ~3.5-mile section, not one storm's damage. At that rate, the shoreline has lost roughly 2.6 feet over the last decade.
What this reading actually covers
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Ipswich, MA, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 42.71, -70.78. The survey behind it runs to 2007-2009, in USGS's New England / Mid-Atlantic assessment, using the LRR method. Shoreline surveys aren't repeated every year, so this is the most recent long-term measurement USGS has published for this coast, not a live reading.
What 0.26 ft/yr means over time
Run 3.3 miles northeast of Ipswich, MA's 0.26 ft/yr rate forward 25 years and it implies about 7 feet of further retreat, assuming nothing changes, which is exactly the assumption a seawall or nourishment project exists to break.
How solid is this number
Averaging 59 separate transects produced this segment's rate, with 97% individually reading as erosion, rather than relying on any single survey line. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.13 ft/yr either side. This segment ranks 432 of 1211 measured US coastal segments, ordered from fastest erosion to fastest growth. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2010-1119. For scale: Montauk, NY, 129 miles away, ranks 415 of 1211 nationally for erosion, 0.28 ft/yr, 1.1x this stretch's rate. 2.7 miles away, Rowley, MA is the nearest other measured stretch: also no significant trend.
One address near Ipswich: the Coastal Change Hazards Portal zooms past this stretch to the underlying map.