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Coastal VoiceTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SHORE & BEACH PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION

INSIDE:PAGE 2: Poster

abstracts still being accepted for National Coastal Conference

PAGE 2: Last chance! Award nominations due Aug. 2

PAGE 3: Thanks to our National Coastal Conference sponsors and partners

PAGE 4: New conference track sponsorships now available

PAGE 5: ASBPA testifies on WRDA

PAGE 8: New ‘Capitol Beach’ features Rep. Garret Graves

PAGE 10: A young professional’s ASBPA story

PAGE 10: Beaches spark joy!

PAGE 11: Member dues changes coming in 2020

PAGE 12: Still time to enter the next ASBPA photo contest

PAGE 13: Caminada Headlands project combines innovation, inspiration

PAGE 18: Conferences

— August 2019 —

Upcoming deadlines: Aug. 2: Professional award nominations due Sept. 6: Student award nominations due Sept. 6: National Coastal Conference poster abstracts

due Sept. 13: Photo contest submissions due Sept. 28: Early-bird registration deadline for the

2019 National Coastal Conference

Where coasts and rivers meet, it’s time to implement changeBy DAWN YORK, National Coastal Conference co-chair, Senior Coastal Scientist with Moffatt & Nichol

With summer (and hur-ricane season!) in full swing, the 2019 ASBPA

National Coastal Conference is just around the corner. For many of us, that means fun opportunities to meet colleagues and friends alike, develop ideas, raise visibility, and get inspired. But conferences can also be intimidating and overwhelming to those of us; young professionals as well as those of us that have been around for a few years.

This year is different for me. For the past eight years, ASBPA Na-tional Conference has been a place and time to network, learn and grow professionally. This year, I have made a personal commitment to throw myself off the resiliency deep end. What can I do to help my commu-nity be better prepared for the next storm? The time is now for me to implement change.

As many of us have been impacted by hurricanes, the landfall of Hurricane Florence in 2018 was

YORK

different for me and my family. Since experiencing my first hurricane in Charlotte, NC, in 1989 (Hurricane Hugo) where my family had just moved months before from San Diego, CA, we had never thought once of evacuating and leaving our home behind. As Hurricane Florence

was barreling down on the coast of North Carolina, evacu-ation became the only option. We were one of the lucky ones. But how many more times can we be lucky? What can we do to help

those that were not so lucky? The 2019 ASBPA National

Coastal Conference co-chairs (Tim Kana and Ken Willson), with the support from floodplain and resil-iency experts (Johnny Martin, Doug Plasencia and Shannon Cunniff), agreed that we need to use the con-ference as an opportunity to bring together both coastal and inland professionals working to protect our

Coastal Voice 2

Change............................................................... Continued from page 1national coasts and rivers. The time is now for us to implement change.

With the overwhelming evidence of climate change and increasing inten-sity of storms and abundance of nui-sance flooding in inland and coastal areas, this is an opportunity for us to come together and share approaches to solutions. The 2019 ASBPA National Coastal Conference serves as the first platform for both coastal planners and inland floodplain managers to swap ideas, collaborate, make plans to share lessons learned. We’ve selected a diver-sity of topics ranging from modeling tools to regional sediment manage-ment to coastal resilience planning. The time is now for you to implement change.

I have always found the ASBPA technical conference rejuvenating. The level of professionalism and innovation is inspirational and provides energiz-ing opportunities to connect with the greater coastal scientific and engi-neering community, think about new strategies to approach our communi-ties with, contemplate the bigger pic-ture of national coastal infrastructure protection and restoration, and most importantly, establish collaborations. A good conference, like the ASBPA conference, has the capacity to bring a professional — whether a scientist, en-gineer, planner, or student, no matter their career stage — out of a slump.

Come be inspired with me. I’ll see you in October. Help me imple-ment change. v

Poster abstracts still being accepted for 2019 Coastal Conference

BRIGGS

By TIFFANY ROBERTS BRIGGS, ASBPA National Coastal Conference Poster Chair

Did you miss the deadline for abstracts for ASBPA’s National Coastal Conference, but still

want to be a part of it? Do you have new projects, research, or outcomes for work completed this summer? Do you want to ensure that you can network while disseminating important ideas? Well, we have a solution for you: Sub-mit an abstract for a poster presenta-tion.

For the second year in a row, we invite both professional and student poster abstracts until the extended deadline of Sept. 6. Each year our poster session gets bigger and bigger! The poster session is also combined with a reception, so you can do (what I would say are) two important things as once: present your conclusions while

enjoying a beer (or wine or water or whatever!).

The 2019 National Coastal Con-ference will be held Oct. 22-25 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in

Myrtle Beach, SC, with the theme of “Where Coasts & Rivers Meet.” ASBPA continues to broaden its focus across the entire physical coastal and estua-rine system. In ad-dition to our usual content of coastal science and en-gineering, policy

and management, restoration and re-silience, this year’s ASBPA conference has a dedicated call for presentations on flood risk and resource manage-ment within coastal floodplains.

Specifically, we are looking at challenges of watershed tidal inter-faces especially when considering the impacts of Sea Level Rise (SLR); we want to hear about natural resource management and restoration projects within these same zones and the spe-cific challenges attributed to working in upland and coastal lands, share experiences in dealing with issues such as king tides and the impacts on the urban flooding environment.

Abstracts for poster presentation (up to 500 words) are being accepted until Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. Submit abstracts via the online form found at http://asbpa.org/conferences/. Pre-senters are responsible for all of their expenses including travel, lodging, and registration fees. Notification of presentation status will occur by Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. The early bird registration deadline is Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. v

Nominations for all 2019 awards due Aug. 2

The ASBPA is accepting nomi-nations for the 2019 National Coastal Conference Awards,

including the Morrough P. O’Brien Award, the Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Project Award, the Bob Dean Coastal Academic Award and the ASBPA Member of the Year Award. The National Coastal Conference will be held Oct. 22-25 in Myrtle Beach, SC.

To submit your nomination, go to http://asbpa.org/2019/04/13/conference-award-form/ for online nomination. v

Coastal Voice 3Thanks to our 2019

National Coastal Conference partners

Notebook sponsor: Lanyards sponsor:

Bag sponsor:

AV sponsor:

Exhibitors:

Handbook advertiser:

Break sponsor:

Thanks to our conference sponsors

Coastal Voice 4Just in: New conference sponsorship opportunities!

Last year, the opportunity to sponsor a program track at the National Coastal Conference

was offered for the first time. It was a big success. These track sponsorships allow people to get in front of specific audiences. The six sponsorships are:

• Coastal Flooding• Wetlands, Wildlife and Ecology• Storms & Resilience• RSM, Economics & Policy• Beaches & Structures• Modeling and ToolsBenefits include name and logo

displayed on sign at the track door, ad in conference handbook, promotional handouts in conference bag, logo on ASBPA website with link to your site, and logo in “Coastal Voice.”

To choose your track and register, go to http://www.cvent.com/d/86qvgn and choose sponsorships. The oppor-tunities will be outlined.

For a full list of sponsorships and availability, go to http://asbpa.org/wpv2/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/062619sponsorship.pdf v

Registration and sponsorship opportunities are open for the 2019 ASBPA National Coastal

Conference in Myrtle Beach Oct. 22-25. The program is also online. For more information, go to http://asbpa.org/conferences/. To register, go to http://www.cvent.com/d/86qvgn. v

By TONY PRATT, ASBPA President

I had a 10-day vaca-tion on the west coast recently and

got a chance to enjoy the special beauty there. We traveled from the Columbia River to San Francisco, putting a little over 1,200 miles on the rental car. Shown are a single photo from each state we visited and

include Cape Disappointment in Washington just north of the Columbia River entrance (top), Otter Point in Oregon near Gold City (below), and Jug Handle State Park in California near Mendocino (above). I encourage you to get out there and visit our American coasts. There is so much to see and I am ever more proud of what we all work for at ASBPA in caring for the American coast. v

Visit America’s

coasts

Coastal Voice 5WASHINGTON REPORT

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Summit............................................................... Continued from page 1

ASBPA testifies on WRDA

On July 10, ASBPA Executive Director Derek Brockbank testified before the House

Transportation & Infrastructure com-mittee (T&I) in the hearing “Water Resources Development Acts: Status of Implementation and Addressing Future Needs.”

ASBPA called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to manage the coastline to support four intercon-nected values:

• Protection from coastal storms, hazards and sea level rise, and as buffer to sensitive estuarine ecosystems;

• Ecologically valuable habitat for birds, turtles, fish and other coastal plants and wildlife;

• Economic vitality though tourism, shipping, fishing and other industries;

• Recreation for tens (if not hun-dreds) of millions of Americans who visit the beach in greater numbers than all our national parks combined.

To do this, ASBPA asked Con-gress to advance:

• Regional Sediment Manage-ment (RSM) and the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (BUDM);

• A modification of the Corps’ Benefit-Cost-Ratio (BCR) process;

• Natural Infrastructure.The testimony in full is below:

America’s engineered shorelineAmerica has an engineered

shoreline. The most iconic beaches in the country have all been restored, renourished, and re-engineered to mimic natural systems. The beaches of the Jersey Shore, Virginia Beach, Miami Beach, Galveston, Malibu, Santa Monica, and Waikiki are part of our national coastal infrastructure that has been engineered with nature as a guide. Coney Island was the first significantly engineered beach, renour-

ished back in 1923. Today, nearly every beach on

the East and Gulf Coast, and many on the West and Great Lakes coasts, have been engineered. Increasingly, even our estuarine and back-bay shorelines are engineered, either by “armoring” with bulkheads and riprap, or with more natural solutions such as resto-ration and living shorelines. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), authorized by and acting under policy established in Water Resource De-velopment Acts (WRDAs), has been building natural infrastructure and en-gineering with nature for a long time. And the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) has been working with USACE for nearly a hundred years.

ASBPA is an organization of beach and coastal practitioners. We are the communities, industries, and academics who build, maintain, man-age and research our nation’s beaches and shorelines. We are geologists, engineers, town managers, elected of-ficials, professors, students and coastal advocates. Our mission is to merge science and policy to protect, restore and enhance the U.S. coastline; we were founded in 1926 and have been

advocating for a healthy coastline ever since. ASBPA believes a healthy coastline, whether restored or natural, provides four interconnected values to coastal communities specifically and to the nation more broadly:

a) Protection from coastal storms, hazards and sea level rise, and as buffer to sensitive estuarine ecosys-tems;

b) Ecologically valuable habitat for birds, turtles, fish and other coastal plants and wildlife;

c)Economic vitality though tourism, shipping, fishing and other industries;

d) Recreation for tens (if not hundreds) of millions of Americans who visit the beach in greater numbers than all our national parks combined.

ASBPA would like to see these values maximized in USACE’s man-agement of our nation’s shoreline. Doing so will take USACE using the full authorities provided to them, and Congress authorizing and encourag-ing USACE to use a multi-benefit approach to coastal management and project development.

WRDAIn the last two WRDAs, Congress

has included a number of provisions that allows or directs USACE to man-age the US coastline to achieve these multiple benefits. The three areas dis-cussed here are: 1) Regional Sediment Management(RSM) and the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material(BUDM)

2) Modification of the Benefit-Cost-Ratio(BCR)

3) Natural Infrastructure.

Regional Sediment Management and the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material

Regional Sediment Management (RSM)is a comprehensive approach to planning and integrating riverine and coastal projects with the core principle that sediment is a finite resource not to

ASBPA Executive Director Derek Brockbank briefing the T&I Committee.

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WRDA........................................................................................................ Continued from page 5be wasted. RSM seeks to move sedi-ment from where it is not wanted to where it is wanted, rather the simply removing sediment from the littoral system. RSM can reduce overall costs through cross-business line plan-ning and budgeting. Beneficial Use of Dredged Material(BUDM) is one aspect of RSM, in which sediment dredged for navigation purposes is used to benefit a restoration and/or flood risk reduction project. Ultimate-ly, ASBPA believes that USACE needs to evolve its budgeting and planning operations to reflect RSM principles so that 100% of uncontami-nated dredged sediment is used beneficially.

On aver-age, USACE dredges about 214 million cu-bic yards of sedi-ment per year from navigation channels nation-wide. Of that, 82 million cubic yards (or 38%) is used beneficially on beaches, in wetlands, and in nearshore water each year.1 This is a good first step, but in an era of sediment shortage — less sediment is reaching the coast than ever before due to dams, hardened riverbanks and cliff faces, and straightened channels — and rising seas, anything less than 100% beneficial usage is not enough.

One good example of RSM in practice is at the mouth of Columbia River in Oregon, where the USACE Portland District is working with part-ners to develop a network of nearshore placement sites for dredged sediment. The goal is to keep material in the litto-ral zone so that it feeds the beaches of Oregon and Washington through natu-ral coastal processes. Placing 500,000 cubic yards of sediment in a nearshore

site, with no more than five centime-ters of accumulation on the seabed per disposal, has yielded $200,000 in cost savings to date, helped naturally main-tain an eroding coastline, and yielded no crab mortalities (the primary environmental concern with nearshore placement in this region).

In another example of RSM, near St. Augustine, FL, the Jacksonville District has combined multiple

federal projects so that timing of dredging and placement is aligned. They have also instituted inlet bypass-ing, so less sand accumulates in the St.

Augustine Inlet and instead is distributed to a down drift shoaling area that distributes sand to eroding beaches. This resulted in a $2 million cost savings from re-duced dredging and associated environmental

mitigation efforts and by combining permits.

WRDA 2016 authorized a pilot program for BUDM (Sec. 1122), that was expanded in WRDA 2018 (Sec. 1216). Sec. 1122 was slow to get go-ing: implementation guidance took a year to finalize, and after 90+ projects were submitted for the initial 10 pilot projects, project selection took nearly another year. But the projects are now underway. One project, Deer Island Lagoon in MS, has been completed, and USACE has estimated the re-maining nine will be in construction by FY2022, assuming current dredge timelines hold and construction fund-ing is available.2

Local communities have widely supported the 1122 program. Wash-ington State Department of Ecology

(WADEC), the local sponsor for the “Grays Harbor South Jetty Placement” project, used this process to convene key stakeholders to plan for the ben-eficial use of dredge sediment to help protect shipping channel jetties, coastal beaches and nearshore habitats from erosion while avoiding and minimiz-ing adverse impacts to environmen-tal resources, and navigation safety. Through the development of the Grays Harbor project, WADEC identified additional opportunities for beneficial use in other parts of Washington, and developed a strategy to achieve econo-mies of scale through coordination with local partners across the state — reducing the cost sharing challenges that many communities face.

Although the Grays Harbor project is not impacting the Town of Ocean Shores, WA, Mayor Crystal Dingler has credited the 1122 pro-cess with helping her community by providing “invaluable informa-tion concerning our ongoing erosion problems. This continued engagement in our community process to address emergencies and support long-term strategies are critical to helping our community make resilient investments for our future. Without such data and assistance, we are operating blind.”3

USACE has not publicly deter-mined when or how the additional ten projects authorized in WRDA 2018 Sec. 1216will be selected, but USACE and congressional appropriations com-mittees have each indicated they would like to see the successful completion of the first ten pilot projects before constructing the next 10.

What else is neededThe pilot project is an important

step in directing USACE districts to think more broadly about how they can use dredged sediment and how they can work with local project spon-sors. But this sort of approach must be

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WRDA........................................................................................................ Continued from page 6systemic across USACE projects, not limited to a handful of pilot projects, or within districts that seek innovative approaches.

One way to do this is to change the understanding of the Federal Standard. As part of USACE determi-nation of the “least cost alternative” for the disposal of dredged material, the USACE should include the economic evaluation of the sand, including ecosystem restoration benefits, storm damage reduction benefits, and other economic values and long-term costs. Additionally, reconfiguring USACE’s budgeting so that projects are not budgeted exclusively as navigation or flood risk management will allow for easier development of projects that efficiently manage sediment and can support both navigation and flood risk reduction.

Benefit-cost ratioBenefit-cost ratios (BCRs) for

water resource infrastructure projects ensure the federal taxpayer is only pay-ing for projects that provide positive economic benefits — when benefits outweigh costs. However, as currently implemented, USACE BCRs have two fundamental flaws:

a) BCRs are only calculated using the economically verifiable benefits of a project’s primary purpose; and

b) Projects in wealthier com-munities inevitably get prioritized over projects in poorer communities, since the economic benefit of risk reduction is greater for valuable property than inexpensive property.

Using only the economically veri-fiable benefits of a project’s primary purpose sounds sensible, but it means projects are designed to maximize just a single benefit, rather than balanc-ing multiple benefits. A project that is intended to reduce flood risk, such as a beach and dune system, might also have tremendous value as habitat

and in supporting a tourism-based economy. But in designing a project authorized as a “flood risk reduc-tion” or “coastal storm risk reduction,” USACE will only calculate the benefits derived from reducing flood risk, so the project will not be designed to support habitat or the econ-omy. Furthermore, a project that does have multiple benefits must compete for federal dollars with no advantage against projects that have a single benefit.

In the case of beaches, the eco-nomic value and even the direct return on investment via tax revenue can be remarkably high. Economist Dr. James Houston has cal-culated that beach travel and tourism generates $285 billion to the national economy and $23 billion in federal tax revenue annually.4 Additionally, beach tourism supports 2.5 million jobs directly and 4.4 million jobs including direct, indirect, and induced impacts.5

While USACE is not an eco-nomic development agency, and not in business to generate revenue for the U.S. Treasury, these economic figures ought to be considered when deciding which flood risk management projects to prioritize. Second, prioritizing flood risk management projects based on calculation of avoided economic dam-age means projects in areas of a high concentration of wealth have a higher BCR than less wealthy or less densely populated areas.

This may be a sensible market-based decision-making tool, but it ex-acerbates the problem of lower income communities living in flood-vulnerable areas without federal support in reduc-ing risk. It also perpetuates a cycle of development in flood-vulnerable areas

to increase the economic benefits de-rived from risk reduction measures.

A more sensible BCR or deci-sion-making tool would account for the societal value created by reducing risk to low-income communities as

well as valuing open space or other flood mitigation measures that are currently dis-incentivized by the BCR. WRDA 2018 authorized two stud-ies to look at USACE budgeting practices, a National Academy of Science (NAS) study on USACE budget-ing (Sec. 1103) and a General Account-ability Office (GAO) study on Benefit-

Cost Analysis Reforms (Sec. 1204). To ASBPA’s knowledge Sec. 1103 has not been funded nor begun, while Sec. 1204 is currently under way. Both of these studies will help reform USACE’s BCR process and should be completed as soon as possible.

What else is neededWhile studies are helpful in

clarifying specific challenges to current policy or operating procedure, as well as recommending potential solutions or steps for improvement, they don’t actually change anything. USACE’s BCR for flood risk management proj-ects is an archaic tool that needs to be modernized. Congress needs to direct the USACE to update its BCR process — either to consider the full array of benefits, or to develop a new meth-odology for prioritization that incor-porates a project’s secondary benefits. While this will support better projects whose primary purpose is flood risk management, it will also support better navigation projects that have multiple benefits (such as important BUDM

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Awards....................................................................................................... Continued from page 5

WRDA................................................... Continued from page 6

placement sites, or ecological value in clearing channels).

Natural InfrastructureWide beaches, high dunes, and

verdant wetlands, reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds are essential to the 40% of American who live along the coast. Properly maintained, this natural in-frastructure can improve communities’ resilience and is itself resilient. Dunes and marshes can adapt to rising seas, and reefs and coastal forests regener-ate after storm damage. The same can’t be said for “grey” (concrete and steel based) infrastructure.

USACE has been building beach-es and dunes for flood risk reduction for nearly a century and restoring aquatic ecosystems for more than half a century. It should be looking at how to fully integrate these missions in combination with its mandate to maintain coastal navigation. By doing so, USACE can more effectively restore and rebuild our nation’s natural infra-structure, in collaboration with other federal, state and tribal agencies.

USACE has many authoriza-tions to use natural infrastructure solutions and to consider natural and nature based features in place of more traditional grey infrastructure. Recent WRDAs have clarified and built upon previous authorizations:

WRDA 2016, Sec. 1154 au-thorized collaborative regional as-sessments on coastal resilience that prioritized natural infrastructure;

WRDA 2016, Sec. 1184 required “natural features” to be considered in feasibility studies;

WRDA 2018, Sec. 1149 specifi-cally allowed “natural and nature based features” to be included in aquatic ecosystem and flood risk management projects;

WRDA 2016 & 2018 authorized regional coastal resilience studies in the South Atlantic, Great Lakes, and

coastal Texas that included natural infrastructure solutions.

None of these were wholly new authorities requiring action from USACE, so implementation has been mixed. Districts that use “natural” so-lutions have more leeway to do so, but ASBPA hasn’t seen a notable increase in use of natural infrastructure since 2016. ASBPA considers comprehensive coastal resilience studies to be invalu-able and is pleased that the South At-lantic Coastal Study has been funded and is underway, and disappointed that the Great Lakes Coastal Resilience

study has not received approval to be-gin as anew start and is still on hold.

What else is neededRather than simply encourag-

ing USACE to use or consider natural infrastructure in place of hard, grey infrastructure, Congress should set policy on decision-making that will result in natural infrastructure be-ing the preferred alternative due to its multi-benefit approach. This means requiring an RSM approach to manag-ing coastal navigation and restoration

‘The Capitol Beach’ talks with Rep. Graves

On the latest episode of “The Capitol Beach,” Derek Brock-bank interviews Representa-

tive Garret Graves. Rep. Graves has a long history working for coastal resto-ration and resilience, most notably in leading Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and cur-rently as a Member of Congress.

On the podcast, he talks about new laws that allow FEMA money to be spent on Army Corps projects, why investing in resilience should be done before a storm, and how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is improving and where he’d like to see the Corps go. He also shares why he wanted Cajuns listed as an endangered species and how the Olympic Peninsula in Wash-

ington State is like the Coastal Louisi-ana wetlands.

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves repre-sents Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District in the House of Representa-tives. Rep. Graves was Chair of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restora-tion Author-ity, where he oversaw response to the BP oil spill and led the develop-ment of the state’s 50-year $50 billion coastal master plan.

As Congressman, he has served as Chair of the Water Resources and the Environment subcommittee for Transportation & Infrastructure, and was instrumental in the development, passage and enactment of a range of policy wins on rivers, levees, flood protection, coastal issues and Corps of Engineers reforms. He is currently the Ranking Member on the Select Com-mittee on the Climate Crisis.

You can subscribe to the Ameri-can Shoreline Podcast Network. Avail-able on Apple, Google, and Spotify. v

GRAVES

Coastal Voice 9WRDA........................................................................................................ Continued from page 6.

1) Federal coastal navigation projects were inventoried to examine the extent to which RSM goals have been implemented across USACE at the project level. This study examined USACE navigation projects that beneficially reuse sediments dredged from Operations & Maintenance (O&M) projects nationwide. These data were derived from a comprehensive analysis of nearly 20 years of USACE dredging data at both the national and district level. The data have been quality checked, updated, and revised over the last five years through extensive interviews of USACE staff at the District, Division and HQ levels. USACE RSM, 2019. USACE Navigation Sediment Placement: An RSM Program Database (1998-present), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers RSM Program, https://gim2.aptim.com/rsm, accessed July 2, 2019.

projects while beneficially using all uncontaminated dredged sediment; and reforming the BCR so that the full scope of benefits of natural in-frastructure are included in project consideration. Additionally, USACE’s regulatory requirements should ensure natural solutions are as easy to permit as hard infrastructure.

For example, USACE took a good step in creating a nationwide permit for living shorelines, but USACE could look at regulatory hurdles to natural infrastructure and ensure permitting is not easier for a comparable gray infra-structure project.

‘Revolutionize’ USACE? Many of the challenges the US-

ACE has in modernizing to meet the needs of the 21st century — the ability to adaptively manage projects in the

face of climate impacts, expe-diting project delivery, being reactive to the high and lows as well as delays in funding by the Admin-istration and Congress — is not something Congress can

directly fix. These challenges are proce-dural and cultural that will take years, if not decades, to fully address. ASBPA has been pleased with General Todd Semonite’s call to “revolutionize” US-ACE, as well as Director of Civil Works James Dalton’s efforts at implementing procedures to allow USACE to oper-ate as a risk-informed, not risk-averse institution.

But after Gen. Semonite and Mr. Dalton leave, these efforts will need to continue. It is incumbent on Congress,

and the Transportation & Infrastruc-ture (T&I) Committee specifically, to provide oversight to ensure these pro-cedural and cultural changes continue. USACE is an essential agency as our nation faces the biggest coastal threats in history, and it needs to be operating efficiently and effectively.

As the T&I Committee re-views the success of recent WRDAs and develops policies for a 2020 WRDA, ASBPA encourages the committee to consider how USACE is able to advance coastal projects that have multiple benefits. USACE has been building beaches for 100 years and wetlands for 50 years, so the concept of restoring natural infra-structure with flood risk reduction, ecological, economic and recreation benefits is not new. But the next step is for USACE to maximize each of these values for individual projects and within coastal systems. This will take systemic changes to increase the ben-eficial use of dredged material, budget-ing changes to ensure the full value of

sediment is calculated and all benefits are included in a BCR, and ongoing oversight to ensure procedural and cultural changes at USACE proceed.

Finally, the needs of our na-tion’s coastline are too enormous to be solved with policy changes and autho-rized projects in WRDA alone. Our country must make a major invest-

ment in infrastructure that includes dedicated support for coastal resilience and for waterways. From sediment management to preparing for storms and rising seas, the challenges of our coast-lines and our waterways are

linked and must be solved together. The policy solutions described here — including RSM, BCR reform and natural infrastructure — all address these challenges. But to be successful these need significant federal funding and need to be part of a national infra-structure investment program. ASBPA looks forward to working with the T&I Committee to address these challenges in WRDA and in infrastructure legisla-tion. v

2) FY19 appropriations included an$8.5million increase to CAP204(BUDM)to $10 million with report language, “the Corps is directed to fund these pilots, if otherwise competitive, under the CAP Section 204 line item and the applicable additional funding line items in this account.”FY20 Energy & Water appropriations passed by the House includes $7.5 million for “BUDM Pilot Program” as well as $20 million for CAP204 (BUDM).

3) Interview with Bobbak Talebi, Senior Coastal Planner, Shorelands & Environmental Assistance Program, Washington State Department of Ecology, July 2, 2019.

4) Houston, J.R. 2018.“The economic value of America’s beaches —a 2018 update.” Shore & Beach, 86 (2), 3-13.

5) Ibid.

SEMONITE

Coastal Voice 1 0A young professional’s ASBPA story By MARIAH McBRIDE

When Mariah McBride was completing her undergradu-ate degree at Texas A&M

University at Galveston, she made it her mission to get a scientific article published by a reputable journal before graduation. One of her professors recommended submitting her article to ASBPA’s Shore & Beach. McBride is very happy that she followed through with this recommendation!

Following McBride’s publica-tion in Shore & Beach, she secured her spot on the program as a presenter at the 2018 ASBPA conference held in Galveston, TX. While mingling with field professionals at the conference, McBride met the founder of Coastal Science & Engineering, Dr. Tim Kana, who inquired about her Sargassum research. This conversation with Dr. Kana lasted only two minutes; never-theless, McBride soon found that these

two minutes completely changed her professional path.

Once the conference concluded, McBride connected with several acquaintances from the conference, including Dr. Kana. After realizing that her research credentials and skill set would be an asset to several of the company’s active projects, Dr. Kana and his associates invited McBride to work as an intern for Coastal Science & Engineering after graduating from Texas A&M.

McBride has now transitioned into an engineer in training for Coastal Science and Engineering and has committed herself to a long-lasting relationship with the company. Mc-Bride’s story exemplifies the power of networking for young profession-als through interactions that are only made possible by ASBPA! v

The Student/New Professional Committee submits a monthly column that either high-lights research or experience of ASPBA’s students and new professionals. If you are a student or new professional and would like to contribute to the monthly student/new professional column, please con-tact Corey Aitkin coreyaitken115@gmail.com . If you are seasoned professional and would like to connect with any of the monthly writers, please contact Eve Eise-mann Eve.R.Eisemann@usace.army.mil.

Mariah McBride

Beaches spark joy!By KATE GOODERAM, ASBPA Managing Director

Whether you’ve seen her Netflix Series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” or read

her best-seller, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” Marie Kondo is everywhere. While her focus is on organizing your home, her basic ques-tion “Does this spark joy?” fits into other parts of our lives as well.

Through local, state and federal funding, the U.S. spends hundreds of millions of dollars are restoring beach-es and shorelines. Of course there are

the environmen-tal, recreational, economic and resiliency ben-efits. But the best benefit is that restored beaches and shorelines is that they spark joy.

Go to a beach on a Sat-urday afternoon and watch all the joy! Look at the kids romping in the water, the babies being introduced to the beach for the first

time, the kids on their boogie boards, the adults strolling the beach — and you get the idea. The best restored shorelines also spark joy. Often it is the kayakers who appreciate it most.

Even the memories spark joy. When I think back to my childhood when I played on the beach at Madeira Beach, the memory sparks joy. For those with children, you think about how many fun times you had as a fam-ily at the beach. Maybe you remember those romantic walks.

So, healthy beaches and shore-lines are good for the reasons we in-clude in permit and grant applications. But just as important is the spiritual benefit of sparking joy. Go and find some joy! v

MANAGING REPORT

GOODERHAM

Coastal Voice 1 1

Texas ASBPA Chapter meeting Aug. 15

Mark your calendar for the next Texas ASBPA Chap-ter luncheon meeting on

Aug. 15, 2019, at the Galveston Island Convention Center, Ballroom C. We originally had Aug. 22 as the meeting date, but the new U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Galveston District, Colonel Tim Vail will be available to address the group on Aug. 15 so we changed the meeting day. We tie this meeting to coincide with the Galveston District “Partnering and Collaborating” meet-ing the day before.

The Texas chapter held its fifth symposium at the Harte Research Institute in Corpus Christi, “Healthy Texas Shorelines.” The newsletter contains all the abstracts that were presented at the meeting on April 16 as well as a review of the Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay Field Trip the day before conducted by Dr. Mark Besonen and Randy Bissel. To access the newsletter, go to http://www.texasasbpa.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019May_TSBPA-Summer-Newsletter.pdf v

Member dues changes coming in 2020By KATE GOODERHAM, ASBPA Managing Director

Last month Gordon Thomson, ASBPA’s Vice President for Membership, announced that

membership for individuals will in-crease to $120 (from the current $100) effective in 2020. In addition, a new category of government membership (over 250,000 population) was added, at an annual rate of $1,500 for up to five members. There has not been an increase in ASBPA membership fees since 2004, while the members’ return on investment has increased exponen-tially:

• Our annual conference has gone from an all-plenary event that lost money with barely 100 attend-ing to a six or seven concurrent session conference with 50 posters and more than 400 attendees.

• We have a successful annual policy conference in Washington, DC, that includes advoca-cy visits to federal agencies and offices.

• We have offered annual Best Restored Beach awards since 2004, and just added a Best Restored Shores award this year.

• We have partnered with the Coastal Zone Foundation to develop a Certified Coastal Practitioner pro-gram, which graduated its first two professionals last year.

• ASBPA chapters have in-creased from three chapters to eight – including a student chapter.

• Financial awards and mini-internships for students are available.

• Committees are robust and meet monthly. The board is strong and involved and meets twice a year. The Executive Committee is effective.

• We have a strategic plan to guide the association now and into the

future. • In 2004, ASBPA was in debt;

today it has health reserves that allow the association to weather any eco-nomic crises.

• Shore & Beach is published regularly and has strong content and special issues. In fact, the content of-fered in Shore & Beach has doubled since 2004, with 144 pages published that year compared with 284 published in 2017.

• Shore & Beach also now has a digital presence, with current issues available online and efforts being pur-sued to expand digital access to past issues.

• “Coastal Voice” is published 11 times a year including an annual

report. • We have an

active social media program, and our website traffic climbs every year.

• We are partnering with numerous organiza-tions including the

Coastal States Organization• We have a strong presence

on Capitol Hill and are in demand for testimony and briefing Congressional staff.

• Staffing has increased from a business manager, a production manager, a lobbyist and a webmaster to having an executive director, manag-ing directors, webmaster, production manager, managing editor and science director.

Even though we have broadening the financial base for the association and continue to expand our reach and opportunities, ASBPA’s real strength continues to be its diverse and passion-ate membership. We work to earn your continued support, and promise to keep growing the association to be an even more effective voice for America’s coast. v

Coastal Voice 1 2

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The editors of Shore & Beach an-nounce the ASBPA’s 12th annual photography competition. The

purpose of the contest is to highlight the beauty and natural wonders of America’s magnificent coasts as part of celebrating more than 80 years of con-tinuous publication of Shore & Beach.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE: The competition is open to all except ASBPA consultants and/or their im-mediate families (children, spouses, parents).

SUBJECT MATTER AND RULES: Any photographs depicting the coastal zone are appropriate. These include, but are not limited to beaches, bluffs, marinas, wetlands, marine life, recreational facilities, and engineered projects as long as they include the setting in which they were built (i.e. no portraits of dredges or your favorite armor unit). Manipulated photographs (colorized, posterized, solarized, etc.) are also welcome if the photographer briefly describes the changes or pro-cedure. The original base photograph must have been taken by the submitter. Submissions must be made in one of the geographic categories listed below. Winning photographs may be used as cover art on Shore & Beach. Therefore, VERTICAL-format photographs are highly preferred. Horizontal photo-graphs can be submitted, too, but if a horizontal format photograph is a winner in one of the categories below, the editors of ASBPA may have to crop some of the scene, at their sole discre-tion, to fit on the cover of Shore & Beach. Photographs must have been taken since 1 January 2018. Photo-graphs can be full-color, black and white, sepia, or colorized.

CATEGORIES:• U.S. East Coast• U.S. Gulf of Mexico Coast• Caribbean (Puerto Rico, U.S.

Virgin Islands)

• U.S. Pacific Coast and Alaska

• U.S. Great Lakes• Pacific (Hawai-

ian Islands, Guam, etc.)SUBMISSION:

Participants are to send electronic files in JPEG, TIFF or BMP format to the following e-mail ad-dress: contest@ASBPA.org. Please send: The full-size JPEG file as created in your camera (note, minimum camera resolution of 3 megapixels to allow for sufficient printing quality for cover art) or a reduced-size file (800×600 pixels minimum). Winners will have to send the full-size file later. Each participant may submit up to five (5) photographs total. Photographers may submit all entries in a single category or select different categories as long as the total does not exceed five photographs. Do not submit RAW files because there are too many manufacturer-specific formats. Convert RAW files to JPEG or TIFF files. Also, please do not submit prints or transparencies of any size. ASBPA simply does not have the facilities to properly scan materials and handle the logistics of physical submis-sions. In the text of the email, please include the following information: 1) Your name; 2) Physical address; 3) Email address; 4) Occupation and place of employment; 5) Photograph title or description; 6) Date taken; 7) Category (see list above); 8) Indicate if submission is full-size original or reduced size file for contest purpose; 9) Other notes if necessary (what is hap-pening if it is an unusual scene, why you took the photograph, etc.).

WHEN: Deadline for submit-ting entries is 11:59 p.m. EDT on 13 September 2019.

PRIZES: Winner in each catego-ry will have his (her) name and photo-

graph printed in either Shore & Beach or the “Coastal Voice” e-newsletter, or both. A Grand Prize winner will be selected from among the category winners to have his or her photograph printed on the cover of Shore & Beach and receive a one-year annual mem-bership renewal to ASBPA. Other entries of outstanding merit may be printed in “Coastal Voice,” Shore & Beach, or on the ASBPA website. (Note: The editors may contact you for more information).

THE FINE PRINT: LEGAL CONDITIONS:

By entering the contest, photographers agree to the following entry rules and conditions. Your entry in the contest constitutes your agreement to allow your photographs and your name, occupa-tion, city and state of residence to be published as a selected award winner in Shore & Beach, used on websites owned by the ASBPA or otherwise displayed or published in association with ASBPA and its activities. The American Shore & Beach Preserva-tion Association retains permission in perpetuity for future use of the photographs in any and all ASBPA publications, materials, or activities. Your entry in the contest also constitutes your agreement that your name, likeness, city, and winning photograph(s) may be used by ASBPA for promotional and publication purposes without compensation. Participant warrants that his or her entry materials are original, do not infringe on any third party’s rights, and that the par-ticipant has obtained any and all necessary permis-sions and releases from any third party if such third party appears in the photograph. Permission may not be needed for persons depicted in photographs taken in public settings such as crowded beaches where the purpose of the photograph is to show the overall setting or the environment. ASBPA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entry, and/or to not name winners in any category where photos of sufficient quality or quantity have not been received.

Announcing ASBPA’s 12th annual photography contest

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“The increased protection this (project) provides to our port facility is already paying dividends. Word has gotten out about the huge improvements the state has made here, and the commitment to our security is sparking serious discussions with a number of companies interested in moving to our facility or expanding their investment here. We’re talking about many millions of dollars in economic development” — Chet Chiasson, Executive Director, Greater Lafourche Port Commission

“Today, Caminada stands as the largest and most significant restoration project in the history of Louisiana and NFWF.” — Jeff Trandahl, Executive Director, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

“This is the largest single ecosystem restoration the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has ever undertaken, and the results are outstanding. This sets the stage for even larger projects further inland as we restore our land and marshes that are vital to the protection of our homes, families, business, infrastructure, and our very way of life.” — Gov. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana

Best Restored Beach:

Caminada Headlands project combines innovation, inspiration

By MICHAEL POFF, PE, Coastal Engineering Consultants Inc.and BRAD MILLER, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

The Caminada Headland Res-toration Project is the largest coastal restoration project that

has been completed in Louisiana by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), restoring 1,059.4 acres of beach and dune habitat. Construction included the placement of over 8.8 million cubic yards of sand from the Ship Shoal Borrow Area offshore, which ranged from 24 to 37 nautical miles from the project site. Innovative measures were taken to protect beach-nesting and migratory bird populations during construction of the project.

The Bayou Lafourche barrier island complex lies approximately 47 miles west of the mouth of the Missis-sippi River and about 50 miles south of

New Orleans. The Caminada Headland spans the shoreline between Belle Pass and Caminada Pass and is adjacent to Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s largest oil and gas drilling services facility. Port Fourchon currently services over 90% of the Gulf of Mexico’s deep water oil production and over 400 large sup-ply vessels traverse the port’s channels each day. The Caminada Headland project provides storm protection to Port Fourchon, which plays a strategic role in supporting production of ap-proximately 18% of the country’s entire oil supply.

Across coastal Louisiana, over 1,880 square miles has been lost since the 1930s, and it is anticipated that an additional 1,750 square miles would be lost if immediate actions are not taken. The Caminada Headland and Louisi-ana’s barrier islands are all vulnerable to this catastrophic land loss crisis. To address the significant land loss occur-ring along the Caminada Headland,

The Caminada Headland, with a dredge in Bayou Lafourche pumping sediment from a scow to a pipeline along the Gulf shoreline with Port Fourchon in the background.

Coastal Voice 1 4Caminada..................................................................................................... Continued from page 13the CPRA is restoring beach and dune habitat by transporting sand from Ship Shoal, a sand bar located approximate-ly 30 nautical miles away. A technical feat, this is the first project in Louisi-ana to dredge sand from an offshore shoal in the Gulf of Mexico to restore habitat on a barrier shoreline.

The Caminada Headland Resto-ration Project is a component of the LCA Barataria Basin Barrier Shoreline Restoration Feasibility Study which was authorized in 2012 by the Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The CPRA utilized funds from the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, State Surplus, and the Na-tional Fish and Wildlife Fund’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which resulted from settlements from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, to de-sign, permit and construct the project, which was completed in 2016.

Construction took place in two Increments. Increment One (the western side) commenced in June 2013 and was completed in January 2015; Increment Two (the eastern side) com-menced in May 2015 and was complet-ed in November 2016. Two methods of sediment excavation and delivery were utilized to place sand from the Ship Shoal borrow area on the Headland. The first method utilized a cutterhead dredge loading scows with sand to transport the sediment to the Head-land, then an unloader re-suspended the sediment and pumped it to the fill template. The second method em-ployed two hopper dredges to exca-vate the sediment, sail to a nearshore pump-out area near the Headland, and then pump the sediment to the fill template.

The project’s primary environ-mental benefit is the restoration of over 1,050 acres of beach and dune habitat. The fill template consisted of a beach and dune platform constructed to elevations of +5.5 and + 8.0 feet

Above: Project location map. Below: Caminada Headland Increment I pre/post-construction.

NAVD88 respectively. The project spanned more than 13 miles of coastal shoreline and restored gulf intertidal, supratidal, and dune habitats. Sand fencing was installed along the entire dune feature and the dune was planted with native vegetation. As a result, the project restored the geomorphic and ecological form and function of this critical barrier shoreline.

CPRA worked cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Interior through the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) to acquire a lease to mine sand on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Ship Shoal has been estimated to contain 900 million cubic yards of sand, and thus been designated by BOEM as a

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Coastal Voice 1 5Caminada..................................................................................................... Continued from page 14Significant Outer Continental Shelf Sediment Resource. With limited nearshore sand resources available for future barrier island restoration proj-ects in Louisiana, the dredging of sand from the OCS to restore the Caminada Headland provided a tangible proof of concept.

Obstacles overcomeThreatened and endangered

species: Unique environmental chal-lenges addressed by this project were the creation of critical habitat for protected bird species (threatened, endangered, and migratory) with sand from an offshore borrow area that is also critical habitat for protected turtle species (threatened and endangered). Significant care was taken to employ reasonable and prudent measures dur-ing construction to protect the species. Tremendous outreach by the project team reduced the potential for conflict among the client, construction con-tractor and natural resource agencies, to achieve consensus, and result in suc-cessful implementation.

During construction, the Cami-nada Headland Project overcame numerous challenges that led to a suc-cessful completion. One significant in-novation in coastal Louisiana resulted from the fact that the Caminada Head-land has historically been a produc-tive nesting area for several species of birds and the necessity to mitigate any adverse impacts during construction. Since construction spanned multiple nesting seasons, Least Terns and Wil-son’s Plover would arrive at the project area in the spring and begin showing displays of nesting potential.

During construction of the project, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice approved an alternative method of abatement by creating windrows within the fill template in advance of the active fill discharge area during the nesting season. This abatement

Above: Scour fill area. Below: Elmer’s public access and parking.

measure consisted of creating ridges and valleys out of in-situ sediment that were tightly spaced and promoted an unfavorable nesting area. This method of abatement proved to be the most effective of all measures attempted and no nests were discovered in the areas where windrows were employed.

As part of the construction, when hopper dredges were utilized, the contractor was required to use reloca-tion trawling to reduce the impact on sea turtles. During Increment One relocation trawling efforts consisting of 111 days of trawling with 157 sea

turtles being captured and successfully relocated. This number exceeded the relation biennial take limit of 76 turtles established by the 2005 Biological Opinion (BO) issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

As relocations efforts approached the biennial take limit, BOEM in ac-cordance with the BO coordinated with NMFS on numerous occasions as an analysis of the situation was conducted. The analysis revealed a minimal risk of impact to the species through trawling activities and poten-

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Caminada..................................................................................................... Continued from page 15tial benefit through reduced entrain-ment risk and the potential to advance the scientific understanding of sea turtle species. NMFS recommended continuation of construction subject to the condition that trawling continue in conjunction with hopper dredging along with complying with all other BO requirements for sea turtle protec-tion and reporting.

In addition, on the second in-crement of the Caminada Headland project, the project team collaborated with the USGS who placed geolocators on relocated turtles. During Incre-ment Two another 40 sea turtles were successfully relocated. The informa-tion from this study of turtles on Ship Shoal helped provide new informa-tion on turtle ecology, particular male turtles. Sea turtles that were tagged as part of the USGS study associated with the Caminada Headland project can be tracked online at the follow-ing website: http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=1205.

Oil and gas infrastructure: The Caminada Headland Project Area is crossed by numerous, active oil and gas pipelines, including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Pipeline. The project team coordinated location and protec-tive measures with multiple oil and gas pipeline companies in an effort to protect the existing infrastructure. Further, the areas that hopper dredges and scow barges traversed from the

Windrows within the project area to deter nesting.

borrow area at Ship Shoal to the pump out areas include significant, active oil and gas facilities all requiring services primarily from Port Fourchon. The construction contractor, WMI, worked diligently and cooperatively with these interests to ensure safety of their em-ployees in an area that has significant maritime traffic and to avoid impact-ing existing oil and gas infrastructure.

Storm impacts: Tropical Storm Karen made landfall near the project area on Oct. 5, 2013. On Oct. 3, WMI began relocating all the equipment from the borrow area and the Lower Belle Pass Pump-Out Area inland along Bayou Lafourche and within Port Fourchon. WMI remobilized all equipment after the passage of the storm and was operational on Oct. 8. A new pre-construction survey was conducted and an analysis was per-formed to determine the impacts to the project and if a redesign of the fill template was required. The analysis determined that the impacts were min-imal compared to past documented storm impacts with only an estimated volume loss of 80,700 cubic yards, thus a redesign was not conducted.

Monitoring system protection: As a component of project monitor-ing, the CPRA funded the Caminada Moreau Subsidence Study (SMCS) for the purposes of subsidence monitoring of the Caminada Headland during and subsequent to fill placement activates. Ten deep-rod monuments were in-

stalled prior to the construction activi-ties of this Project. The SMCS monu-ments are very sensitive and WMI was required to protect the stations from the erosional effects of the slurry discharge and did so by constructing a berm around the SMCS areas. Check surveys were conducted daily by WMI when fill activities were within 500 feet of the stations and weekly during all other times to verify that no damage to the SMCS stations occurred during construction.

Belle Pass jetty extension: Prior to mobilization and excavation of the Lower Belle Pass Pump-Out Area by WMI the USACE notified CPRA on March 26, 2013, that they were propos-ing a northern extension of the eastern jetties at Belle Pass. The project team formulated options and provided the USACE with the associated cost that could be incurred by the project due to delays or changes in construction methods for each option. One of the options recommended was for the US-ACE to postpone their jetty extension project until completion of construc-tion for the project. The project would thus incur no increase in cost as op-posed to the other proposed options.

After coordination with the USACE it was determined that the USACE would postpone their jetty project if CPRA would have the con-struction contractor place fill material north of the existing jetty in an area

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Project team:Owner: Coastal Protection and Restoration AuthorityConsulting Team:• Coastal Engineering Consultants,

Inc.: Prime Engineering Consultant, Coastal Engineer, Geology, and Construction Administration

• EMC Surveying: Bathymetric and Topographic Surveying

• Picciola & Associates, Inc.: Bathymetric and Topographic Surveying

• Geoengineers Inc.: Geotechnical Engineering

• Ocean Surveys, Inc.: Geophysical and Geotechnical Investigations

• R.C. Goodwin and Associates, Inc.: Archaeological Investigations

• Coastal Technology Corporation: Peer Review and Resident Inspection

• GEC Inc.: Permitting and Environmental Assessment

• Aero Data Corporation: Aerial Photography

• Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program: Bird Monitoring

Contractors:• Weeks Marine Inc.: Prime Contractor• The Dutra Group: Hopper Dredging

Subcontractor (Increment 2) • T. Baker Smith: Surveying (Increment

1)• Hydroterra Technologies, LLC:

Surveying (Increment 2)• Mitch’s Landscaping & Lawn

Company: Sand Fencing (Increment 1)

• Soil Erosion Services: Sand Fencing (Increment 2)

• Coastwise Consulting, Inc: Turtle Trawling and Relocation (Increment 1)

• East Coast Observers, Inc: Bird Abatement, Turtle Trawling & Relocation (Increment 2)

• Research Environmental & Management Support: Marine Species Observer

• Norman Wildlife Consulting: Bird Abatement Services (Increment 1)

• Soil Erosion Services: Prime Vegetative Planting Contractor (Increment 1)

• RES: Prime Vegetative Planting Contractor (Increment 2)

experiencing heavy erosion which came to be referred to as the “scour fill area.” The purpose of this fill mate-rial would be to bolster the area and to possibly prevent any overwashing and gapping of the Caminada Head-land at the terminus of the jetty in the event of a major storm. All agreed that this would reach the temporary objectives for both projects. A permit modification was applied for to add this additional material in the scour fill area. Coordination with USFWS was conducted to determine construction procedures to minimize disturbance of a rookery in the nearby area.

Elmer’s Island public access and parking enhancements: Working with LDWF, CPRA developed a plan to construct pedestrian access corridors with sand fencing to direct the public along set areas to protect the dune veg-etation from repeated foot traffic and add additional gravel to the length of the access road from LA Highway 1 to the parking area. These elements were constructed as the final element of the Project to minimize public access restriction especially during the gravel road repairs.

Success of the project ☑ Safely dredged and placed

over 8.8 million cubic yards on the Headland, adding new sediment to the barrier island chain from outside of the active littoral system.

Caminada............................................................. Continued from page 16 ☑ 1,059.4 acres of habitat

restored which provides habitat for migratory, threatened, and endangered species.

☑ Successfully employed reason-able and prudent measures, including robust monitoring and abatement tactics, to protect migratory, threat-ened, and endangered species during construction.

☑ Dredged and placed sediment to create a “Scour Fill Area” adjacent to the existing jetties along Bayou La-fourche.

☑ Installed over 13 miles of sand fence to promote deposition of wind-blown sand to create dune features and conserve sediment placed on the Headland.

☑ Planted 195,778 native plants on the dune to accelerate colonization of vegetation on the dune to conserve sediment.

Outreach and educationExtensive stakeholder coordina-

tion was conducted by CPRA and the project team during the planning, de-sign, and construction increments. The planning of this project started back in 2005 as a component of a larger feasibility study that was a joint effort between the State of Louisiana and the USACE. Dozens of meetings were held to solicit input from the diverse inter-est groups, landowners, stakeholders,

Sand fence capturing wind-blown sand along the Caminada Headland.

Coastal Voice 1 8CONFERENCES Aug. 8-10: Young Coastal Sci-entists and Engineers Conference – Americas will be held at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. Informa-tion at ycseca.wordpress.com Sept. 18-20: Florida Shore & Beach Preservation Association (FSB-PA) Annual Conference, Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa, Hutchison Island, FL. Details at www.fsbpa.com. Oct. 22-25: ASBPA’s National Coastal Conference. Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel, Myrtle Beach, SC. Details available in May at www.asbpa.org. Nov. 12-13: NCBIWA Annual Conference at the Holiday Inn Resort in Wrightsville Beach, NC. Details at http://www.ncbiwa.org/events. Feb. 5-7, 2020: FSBPA National Conference on Beach Preservation Technology, Hyatt Regency Sarasota, Sarasota, FL. Details at fsbpa.com. March 24-26, 2020: ASBPA Coastal Summit, ASAE Conference Center, Washington, DC. Details to come. v

Nominations for ASBPA board open

President Tony Pratt appointed Gary Jones as chair of the Nominat-ing Committee with Reuben Trevino, Tiffany Roberts Briggs and Lee Weis-har as members. They will prepare a slate of directors to be voted on at the annual meeting on October 23 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Nomi-nations from outside the Nominating Committee must be submitted to the Committee no less 60 days (Aug. 23) in advance of the board meeting with recommending signatures of no less than 10 active members and the prior consent of the person nominated. Those interested in being consid-ered by the Nominating Committee should contact Gary Jones at gjones@bh.lacounty.gov. v

Check our website for all the latest information about the National Coastal Conference

this fall and make your travel plans be-fore the hotel deadline on Sept. 28. It’s not too late to submit a poster abstract — they will be accepted until Sept. 6. Click on the link at the conference page to access the form to submit.

For members, a reminder that we now publish a digital edition of our journal, Shore & Beach. See the publi-cations page for the link and to read all the abstracts from our latest issue.

As always, the latest beach news and updates are linked from the home page and news archive. Follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook to stay up to date with all of the latest news and happenings. — Beth Sciau-done, Ph.D., ASBPA webmaster v

Photo........................... Continued from page 12ASBPA reserves the right to alter the photographs submitted as it sees fit. By entering, participants release and hold harmless the ASBPA and its officers, contractors, , attorneys, agents and representatives from any and all liability for any injuries, loss, claim, action, demand or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the contest or any prize won, any use of the entry materials by ASBPA. ASBPA is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of submissions to the ASBPA, including but not limited to any misprints or typographical errors. ASBPA reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, extend or suspend the contest. ASBPA will not share or sell your personal information to any party, and winners’ full addresses will not be printed. All decisions by the ASBPA judges will be final and binding. ASBPA edi-tors and officers will serve as a review committee. v

WWW.ASBPA.ORG

natural resource agencies, and public. The extensive outreach program was paramount in achieving success.

Given the high profile of this sig-nificant restoration project, the CPRA has hosted dozens of reporters from news organizations who have reported on the project in media outlets rang-ing from the New York Times to the Houma Courier. In addition, recent field trips to the project area to dem-onstrate success of Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts have included Con-gressional delegations and staff from the U.S. Department of Interior.

On March 21, 2017, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edward along with all project partners participated in a ribbon cutting celebrating completion of the largest restoration project ever constructed by CPRA.

As part of construction, inter-pretive signage for the project was developed and placed in public areas at Elmer’s Island and the Port Fourchon Boat Launch. The signage interprets

Caminada...................... Continued from page 17

the geology of the Caminada Head-land, provides information on the wildlife that use the habitats during their life cycle, and significant details regarding the effort to restore critical habitats. v

Kate Chopin, who wrote the clas-sic American novel “The Awak-

ening” in 1899, was known to have been a visitor to Cheniere Caminada and Grand Isle. The importance of the imagery of the natural environ-ment at Cheniere Caminada and Grand Isle is present throughout the novel and the sea operates as a significant natural image, wielding power over the main character Edna as a catalyst for her awakening. A quote from “The Awakening”:

“The voice of the sea is se-ductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell… The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close, embrace.”