Regional Sediment Management Facilitation of Sustainable Beaches

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Regional Sediment Management Facilitation of
Sustainable Beaches
Sustainable Beaches Summit, Mar. 04 Sandestin, FL
Lynn R. Martin USACE, Institute for Water
Resources 703-428-8065 lynn.r.martin_at_usace.army.mi
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Overview

• Sustainability
• Emphasis on system approaches
• ecosystem - watershed - regional sediment
  systems
• as means to foster sustainability in resource
  development and management
• Regional Sediment Management (RSM) - concept,
  Corps authorities policy

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Sustainable Beaches

• What are we sustaining?
• The beach itself?
• Economic prosperity? Foreign tourism?
• Environmental health or quality?
• Social equity?
• Quality of life?
• The mix of services beaches provide?
• Storm protection, recreation, habitat,
• Who decides?

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Sustainability
Perspectives on Sustainability

• The ability of a system to withstand disturbance
  while maintaining satisfactory production.
• Ecosystem productivity, stability, resilience
• Requires recognition of the interdependence of
  society and the environment.
• Must reconcile societys development goals with
  the planets limits over the long term. NRC
• Strive to achieve environmentally sustainable
  improvements in human well-being. NRC

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Perspectives on Sustainability
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Hannover Principles by William McDonough
(Excerpt from 9)
Perspectives on Sustainability

• Recognize interdependence. The elements of human
  design interact with and depend upon the natural
  world, with broad and diverse implications at
  every scale.
• Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not
  burden future generations with requirements for
  maintenance of vigilant administration of
  potential danger due to the careless creation of
  products, processes or standards.
• Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and
  optimize the full life-cycle of products and
  processes, to approach the state of natural
  systems, in which there is no waste.
• Understand the limitations of design. No human
  creation lasts forever and design does not solve
  all problems. Those who create and plan should
  practice humility in the face of nature. Treat
  nature as a model and mentor, not and
  inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
• Seek constant improvement by the sharing of
  knowledge. Encourage direct and open
  communication between colleagues, patrons,
  manufacturers and users to link long term
  sustainable considerations with ethical
  responsibility, and re-establish the integral
  relationship between natural processes and human
  activity.

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Sustainability Theme 1 Balance
Several common themes in Sustainability
Discussions
Working to address inter-connected and competing
demands on resources
http//www.udel.edu/CMS/csmp/globaloceans/index.ht
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Sustainability Theme 2 Legacy
Thinking about the longer term consequences of
proposed policies and actions.
http//www.getf.org/mill
ennium/dep.html
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Sustainability Theme 3 Interconnectedness of
System Components

• Physical Systems
• Ecological Systems
• Governmental/Institutional Systems
• national, state local - different roles, address
  different public needs, and have different
  perspectives
• Interest Sectors and Related Objectives
• e.g. at coast recreation, tourism,
  infrastructure, fisheries, oil and gas
  development, marine mammal protection, port
  development,
• Local actions in System or Regional Context

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Stakeholders have Expressed Increasing Demands
for

• Integrated problem solving
• System approaches addressing interrelated
  components processes of
• Natural systems (e.g. hydrologic, sediment,
  ecological)
• Institutional entities Agencies levels of
  government, public, private
• Cross functional areas in Corps new projects,
  water control management, OM, Natural Resources
  mgt, Regulatory,
• Consideration of Sustainability
• Longer term consequences of decisions actions
• Weighing economic, environmental, social
  benefits costs in alternatives
• Alternative trade-off considerations

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• Watershed Approaches
• Integrated, comprehensive examination of needs
  opportunities
• Collaboratively identify and address problems
  and solutions across agencies other stakeholders

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Regional Sediment Management (RSM) Approach

• Integrated management of littoral, estuarine and
  riverine sediments
• To achieve balanced and sustainable solutions to
  sediment related needs and opportunities
• Recognizing the regional sediment system
• Sources, sinks, timing, direction, quantity,
  quality, influencing factors
• Making local project decisions context of
  sediment system and long range implications

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RSM

• Recognizes
• Sand as a Resource
• Integral to economic and environmental vitality
• Consider the multiple inter-related resource
  needs and opportunities
• Many federal non-federal sand management
  activities have the potential to affect sediment
  systems - Coordination and leveraging are key
• Corps programs activities
• Programs of other agencies
• Activities across levels of government
• Fosters greater effectiveness and efficiency and
  consideration of a broader range of potential
  benefits, over longer term and in system context.

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Sediment Management Activities

• Actions that affect the transport, erosion,
  removal, and deposition of sediment in a region.
  e.g.
• Dredging and placement
• Building structures that divert or trap sediment
• Erosion protection structures or methods for
  riverbanks, shorelines, sea beds, and channel
  bottoms
• Habitat stabilization and restoration
• Sand and gravel mining for construction or other
  purposes

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What is the Region?

• First defined in terms of the sediment regime
• Encompassed by the sediment cell or system
• Includes the sediment sources, sinks and
  influencing features
• Consider the area over which management actions
  will have impact
• Within the time frame of interest
• With regard to plan objectives or management
  issues
• Then, overlay geopolitical, regulatory and
  management jurisdictions.

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Regional Sediment Management
Sediment-shed
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Regional Sediment Management
Management Actions
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Civil Works Authorities Policies that
Facilitate RSM
- No one specific RSM Authority or Policy - Seek
opportunities to implement, leverage, and prevent
programs from working at cross purposes
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Authorities SupportingWatershed, Comprehensive
and System Approaches
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Authorities Specific to Projects, Sand, or
Dredged Material Management
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Policy and Guidance that Support Watershed,
Comprehensive Approaches, and System
Considerations

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Sustainable beaches need
Input to Clean Beaches Council

• Information to understand and predict the
  regional sediment system
• New Institutional frameworks for
• developing shared visions
• developing alternatives and ranking what is
  important
• taking action

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