The Coastal States Organization represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories & Commonwealths on ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resource issues.
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Spotlight on Coastal Management
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Providing coastal hazards planning guidance for coastal communities in Indiana
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Indiana’s Lake Michigan Coastal Program
is providing financial and technical assistance to local communities to manage coastal hazards in a changing climate.
While adaptation measures are becoming increasingly necessary for existing structures and developed areas, early planning in areas of new development or redevelopment can minimize potential future damage to life and property along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Coastal and shoreline structure planning and zoning decisions are made at the local level and vary between municipalities. Broad in scope, Coastal Hazards Planning Guidance for Indiana Coastal Communities provides information for local governments about coastal hazards and planning techniques to help officials make informed coastal hazard planning and mitigation decisions. The document introduces coastal hazard concepts, provides information about planning underway in Indiana shoreline communities, and presents coastal hazards model ordinance provisions.
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Late Winter waves roll on Lake Michigan at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk in Portage, Indiana.
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A Trump Administration proposal to remove certain functions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from the Department of Defense umbrella drew praise last week from Louisiana Republican Congressman Garret Graves.
Among other recommendations, the White House proposal also:
- Consolidates DOI hazardous cleanup into EPA superfund program;
- Moves the Corps CW out of DOD splitting navigation to DOT and everything else to DOI;
- Sells TVA power transmission assets;
- Spins-off the St Lawrence Seaway from DOT;
- Moves NMFS to USFW;
- Transitions Federal Government to electronic platform – consistent with Graves’ CASES legislation.
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Public Review Period Open for CBRS Units in Four States Affected by Hurricane Sandy
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 120-day public comment period on draft revised boundaries for 148 units of the CBRS (112 existing units and 36 proposed new units) in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. This project makes significant progress towards fulfilling a statutory requirement to modernize the entire set of CBRS maps. The proposed revisions are based on objective mapping criteria and are designed to fix technical mapping errors and add qualifying areas to the CBRS.
The comment period will close on July 10, 2018.
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EPA has updated their Coral Reef site
– including providing Spanish versions of each page.
EPA has also released the
Guidelines for Measuring Changes in Seawater pH and Associated Carbonate Chemistry in Coastal Environments of the Eastern United States
that can be found
here
.
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In the States and Regions
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West Coast & Pacific Islands
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State adopts plan for evaluating new ocean projects
Washington has adopted a new tool to help make coordinated, science-based decisions about new projects and uses that may be proposed for the Pacific Ocean that are adjacent to the state coastline.
The Washington departments of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources (DNR) jointly developed a marine spatial plan after a six-year planning process. The plan sets a framework for evaluating new projects and uses proposed in an ocean area nearly 6,000 square nautical miles in size between Cape Flattery and Cape Disappointment.
Read more.
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JAXPORT project proposal shows 24 : 1 return on investment.
For every $1 invested in deepening, $24 will be returned to the economy, Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) said in their latest announcement named ‘Harbor Deepening Facts’.
According to the official statement, JAXPORT currently supports more than 130,000 jobs throughout the region and creates $26 billion in economic impact every year.
Read more.
Bills protecting Delaware coast from drilling move forward
Two bills to protect Delaware waters from offshore drilling passed the state Senate June 21 and now await action in the House.
Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, is the prime sponsor of a bill that prohibits drilling for oil and natural gas in Delaware's coastal zone and territorial waters – an area defined as 3 nautical miles off the Delaware coast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The bill also prevents the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control from issuing any permits for development of offshore drilling infrastructure either for Delaware waters or waters outside of state territory.
Read more.
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Nursery For Giant Manta Rays Discovered In Gulf Of Mexico
Sometimes it takes an outsider to notice that something that seems commonplace is actually spectacular.
That's what happened at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, when Josh Stewart took his first dive into the protected waters and identified what has now become the first recognized nursery ground for giant oceanic manta rays.
Read more.
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Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study Aims To Pinpoint High-Risk Areas
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is conducting a Great Lakes Coastal Flood study that will be used to update flood maps for coastal communities and define areas most at risk of flooding.
It's is part of a national initiative to update flood maps and show areas prone to flood damage.
Read more.
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Trump rescinds Obama-era ocean policy
In another strike at his predecessor’s legacy, and one that could have long-term consequences for New England, President Trump this week rescinded an executive order by President Obama that established the first national ocean policy, which made protecting coastal waters and the Great Lakes a priority.
Trump said his executive order would cut bureaucracy and benefit business, while environmental advocates denounced his decision, saying it strongly favors commercial interests over conservation.
Read more.
The global flood protection savings provided by coral reefs
Michael Beck, of The Nature Conservancy, and colleagues published their study on the flood protection provided by coral reefs. The study showed that without reefs, flood damages would increase 91% (or $US 272 billion) for 100-year storm events. Access the Nature study here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04568-z
Almost $118 billion worth of US homes threatened by rising sea levels: Report
A report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists has found that nearly 311,000 coastal homes, worth $117.5 billion, are at risk of chronic flooding due to sea-level rise over the next 30 years.
Read more.
Senate Unanimously Passes Hirono Resolution Honoring Coral Reef Task Force
The U.S. Senate passed Senator Mazie K. Hirono’s bipartisan resolution celebrating the 20thanniversary of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, which brings together stakeholders from Hawaii and other coastal states and territories as well as twelve Federal agencies to build partnerships and support for coral reef conservation.
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The State of Sea Grant 2018 Biennial Report to Congress
The NOAA Digital Coast: Turning Coastal Data and Tools into Actionable Information by Josh Murphy, Doug Marcy, and Nate Herold of NOAA.
Tuesday, July 31, 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC
NOAA’s Digital Coast is a website and partnership that provides public access to coastal data, tools, training, and resources in order to meet the unique needs of coastal communities. Coastal resource managers can access collections of high quality, authoritative geospatial data (e.g., topography, coastal land cover change, socioeconomic information), tools, and trainings to address coastal and ocean management challenges. More than just a website, the Digital Coast provides the framework and information needed to save organizations time and money and allows groups that might not otherwise work together to join forces. Content on the Digital Coast comes from many sources, all of which are vetted by NOAA. This webinar will provide an overview of the Digital Coast and demonstrate two geospatial tools that turn data into actionable information: 1) Sea Level Rise Viewer (
https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slr
), which visualizes coastal flooding scenarios and social vulnerability due to sea level rise; and 2) Land Cover Atlas (
https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/lca
)
, an online data viewer that provides user-friendly access to coastal land cover and land cover change information developed through NOAA’s Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP). Visit NOAA’s Digital Coast at
https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast
. Webinar hosted by the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).
Register for the webinar at
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WzBSJVBbRlSezGWIljjqDQ
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Add Your Name In Support of National Ocean Sciences Board
Ocean education needs greater attention in the U.S. The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a long-standing program providing high school students with high quality educational experiences and building a community—already tens of thousands strong—of STEM trained, ocean literate, and thoughtful future leaders in our nation’s workforce. The letter linked below urges the federal government to renew its support for ocean education and, in particular, the NOSB. Without sustained federal funding, the NOSB will likely soon come to an end. Please help us demonstrate the ocean science and education community’s support for this program and the need for federal action by signing on to the letter.
Sign on here!
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August 6 - 9, 2018
September 17 -19, 2018
October 15 - 19, 2018
- Coastal States Organization Annual Meeting, Providence, Rhode Island
October 30 - Nov 2 , 2018
December 8 - 13, 2018
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9th National Summit on Coastal and Estuarine Restoration and Management
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Register now and be a part of the largest gathering of the coastal restoration and management community!
All attendees, including program participants, sponsors, and exhibitors, must register
online
. Registration fees are as follows: Early Bird (available through October 12) - $495, Full Rate - $595, On-site - $625, Student - $275, One-day - $290.
Summit Fast Facts
When:
December 8-13, 2018 - put it on your calendar and get your travel paperwork submitted!
Where:
Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. See the
Travel and Hotel Information
for additional information on rates, reservations, travel, and more.
What will happen:
oral presentations, posters, networking, field sessions, workshops, and the list goes on...
Cost:
Early bird $495 until October 12, 2018
Ways to be involved:
presenter, exhibitor, sponsor, attendee, volunteer, advertiser...and more!
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The views expressed in articles referenced here are those of the authors and do not represent or reflect the views of CSO.
If you have a news item or job posting to include in future CSO Newsletters, please send an email to:
gwilliams@coastalstates.org with a subject line: "Newsletter Content". Please include the information to be considered in the body of the email.
Please note: CSO reserves final decision regarding published newsletter content and may not use all information submitted.
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Coastal States Organization | 444 North Capitol St. NW, Suite 638, Washington, DC 20001 | 202-508-3860 | cso@coastalstates.org | www.coastalstates.org
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