
You may have heard the term “horizontal levee” used to describe some of Save The Bay’s restoration work. “Levee” evokes something high and hard, like a dike or reinforced embankment, to stop water from encroaching on land. So how can a levee be horizontal – and what is a horizontal levee? Horizontal levees are wide, gently sloping, vegetated buffers of land that prevent water from moving inland. Instead of traditional, mounded, narrow levees or hardened structures, horizontal levees are a nature-based solution to protect communities from flooding and sea level rise. Combining a gradual incline of land with tidal marsh, …