Managing Dredge Impacts by Optimizing the Use of Sand Resources
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OCS Study BOEM 2018-062 Managing Dredge Impacts by Optimizing the Use of Sand Resources US Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Headquarters This page intentionally left blank. OCS Study BOEM 2018-062 Managing Dredge Impacts by Optimizing the Use of Sand Resources December 2018 Authors: Jennifer L. Coor, Ph.D., P.G. Matthew Bates, P.E. Cate Fox-Lent Prepared under BOEM Award M15PG00033 by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center US Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Headquarters DISCLAIMER This study was funded, in part, by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Environmental Studies Program, Washington, DC, through Interagency Agreement Number M15PG00033 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM, and it has been approved for publication. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the US Government, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. REPORT AVAILABILITY To download a PDF file of this report, go to the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Data and Information Systems webpage (http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Studies- EnvData/), click on the link for the Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS), and search on 20xx-xxx. The report is also available at the National Technical Reports Library at https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/. CITATION Coor JL, Bates M, Fox-Lent C. 2017. Managing dredge impacts by optimizing the use of sand resources. Sterling (VA): U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. OCS Study BOEM 2018-062. 7 p plus appendices. Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 2 Development of Sediment Source Management Process ......................................................... 2 3 Meetings .................................................................................................................................... 2 3.1 Kickoff/Scoping Meeting ............................................................................................... 2 3.2 MCDA Planning Meeting .............................................................................................. 3 3.3 Final Meeting ................................................................................................................ 6 4 Official Correspondence ............................................................................................................ 6 5 Monthly Updates ....................................................................................................................... 7 6 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 7 7 References ................................................................................................................................ 7 Appendix A. Task 1 Deliverables .............................................................................................. A-1 A-1 Data Dictionary ......................................................................................................... A-1 A-2 Literature Review .................................................................................................... A-17 Appendix B. Task 2 Deliverables .............................................................................................. B-1 B-1 Planning Meeting Agenda ........................................................................................ B-1 B-2 Planning Meeting Handouts ..................................................................................... B-3 B-3 Planning Meeting Summary ..................................................................................... B-5 Appendix C. Task 3 Deliverables .............................................................................................. C- 1 C-1 SSST Reference Manual .......................................................................................... C-1 C-2 SSST Tutorial ......................................................................................................... C-19 Appendix D. Task 4 Deliverables .............................................................................................. D- 1 D-1 SSMP—Canaveral Shoals II .................................................................................... D-1 D-2 SSMP—Ship Shoal .................................................................................................D-27 D-3 SSMP—Manual .............................................................................................................. Appendix E. Task 5 Deliverables .............................................................................................. E-1 E-1 Monthly Reports and Updates ........................................................................................ E.2 Summary of Final Meeting .............................................................................................. List of Figures Figure 1. Initial criteria tree draft. .................................................................................................. 4 Figure 2. Updated criteria tree resulting from planning meeting. .................................................. 5 i Abbreviations and Acronyms BOEM Bureau of Ocean Energy Management CO Contracting Officer COR Contracting Officer’s Representative ERDC Engineering Research and Development Center IA interagency agreement MCDA multi-criteria decision analysis OCS outer continental shelf PI Principle Investigator SAJ South Atlantic–Jacksonville District SSM sediment source management SSMP sand source management plan SSST sand source selection tool USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ii 1 Introduction Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sand resources are finite and need to be managed carefully. The typical beach nourishment and/or coastal restoration project involves an initial large-scale construction phase followed by smaller-scale, regularly scheduled maintenance cycles. The sediment used for initial construction and subsequent maintenance is often dredged from the same sand resource area, which can equate to frequent dredging of the same or adjacent seafloor for a period of 50 years or longer. In coastal areas where sand is scarce and multiple use conflicts are common, a single sediment source could also be used by multiple stakeholders for the construction of several adjacent beach fill or coastal restoration projects. Large volumes of sand may also be needed to recover from severe storms such as Hurricane Sandy. These circumstances can lead to rapid resource depletion and the need to identify, characterize, and delineate additional sediment sources. Different types of sand bodies are dredged to different cut depths over various footprints. In many instances, the approach to managing dredging intensity (location, duration, and frequency) is not systematically planned, so transport distance and dredge productivity are the primary determinants of where dredging occurs. Fill performance, funding availability, environmental construction windows, and dredge plant availability typically drive when and where dredging occurs. This current approach is not conducive to long-term, responsible, and sustainable resource management. Dredging can have direct and indirect effects on physical, biological, and archaeological resources (Nairn et al., 2004). Each dredging event diminishes not only the availability of sand resources, but also lowers the profile of the sand resource, which can potentially cause physical effects such as changes in local and residual hydrodynamics, substrate composition, and morphologic response of the sand body. These interrelated effects, which can be magnified during multiple dredging events, could disturb the ecosystem function of sensitive biological habitats and resources in the vicinity of the sediment source. Such physical changes could also cause unanticipated indirect impacts on archaeological resources that are otherwise protected by exclusion zones. The management of OCS sand resources is often a multifaceted challenge to balance various engineering and design requirements, economic and environmental considerations, and stakeholder needs. OCS management strategy would likely benefit from advanced planning using a systematic framework incorporating long-term project design, engineering, and economic requirements while considering sand resource availability and environmental impact-minimizing techniques. The goal of the present project is to develop a reproducible planning process to optimize the utilization of repetitive-use sediment sources. The process will use multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to evaluate and quantify technical, environmental, economic, and societal factors in context with potential management and monitoring measures. The planning process will use an efficient computer-based MCDA tool to facilitate sediment source management (SSM). The MCDA tool will assist in the development of SSM plans (SSMPs) by quantifying or ranking the various evaluation factors. The tool will accept input data, 1 when applicable, in formats used by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management