LIVING WITH THE PUERTO RICO SHORE

Living With the Puerto Rico Shore (1995, Duke University Press), part of the “Living With the Shore” book series, is a primer on coastal hazards, and “user's guide” to the Puerto Rico coastal zone, based on an appraisal of the geology, history, dynamics, and hazards of this insular coast. The book provides descriptions of the entire shoreline, notes hazards specific to each reach, gives guidelines for selecting building sites, and discusses legal aspects of coastal planning. Living With the Puerto Rico Shore is meant to to positively influence future coastal land use and planning, and to provide the reader with a handy reference to the problems facing coastal communities around Puerto Rico. Most of the problems are the result of planners and managers not understanding coastal processes nor how coastal processes manifest themselves as coastal hazards.

In no small measure, Living With the Puerto Rico Shore grew directly from the work of Jack Morelock, particularly his classic work, The Shoreline of Puerto Rico (Morelock, 1978). The Shoreline of Puerto Rico clearly presents the variety of sediment types to be found on Puerto Rico’s shore, and explained the factors controlling sediment distribution. Subsequent work by Jack defined beach sediment transport directions and highlighted critical beach erosion zones. It was thus a very small step for us to describe coastal hazards on an island-wide scale. It is not an overstatement to say our work would not have been possible, or at least would have been much more difficult, without the solid foundation provided by Jack Morelock.