Increase in population density of coastal areas has brought increased demand for water related activities and uses of harbors and shoreline areas; changes in attitudes of society, evolutionary processes in gbusiness and industry, and the effects of nature have had a dramatic affect on shoreline use and harbor areas; these changes have led to user conflicts and water quality degradation

e.g. Narragansett Bay

Named one of the 10 most endangered places in America by Scenic America

One of a few estuaries in the country that is still relatively free from heavy industry

Bay supports a thriving and diverse ecosystem of aquatic life, shore birds, plants, and marine animals; support a small but significant commerical fishing industry

Tourism adds over $2 B annually to the local economy
 

Narragansett Bay Coastal Management Program

RI has empowered the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) to enact regulations and planning programs designed to preactively stimulate coastal communities to develop comprehensive municipal harbor management plans (HMPs)

Purpose of HMPs

Provide a comprehensive and continuous evaluation of municipal harbor management activities
Provide for a detailed assessment of current and/or proposed municipal harbor mangement programs, ordinances or Regulations to ensure compliance with applicable regulatory and management requirements of RI
Delegate the primary management authority and respoonsibilities of consistent local harbor management programs to the municipalities; each municipality will then have:
Provide a long range vision for controlled growth and development of harbor and shoreline areas
integrated closely with a community's comprehensive land use plan and zoning regulations
A sound HMP allow a community to guide expansion of waterfront development, marinas, mooring fields and other recreational boating activities

HMP Process
Successful harbor plans hav haad the most participation from the widest spectrum of the general public; consider as many interests as possilbe when drafting the plan - will then represent the needs of the community it is designed to serve

Issues addressed by a HMP
Shortage of public and private marina space and boat launching areas
Need or potential need to dredge or redredge navigation channels and marinas
Encroachments within federally maintained navigation channels
Need for more efficient utilization of mooring space within anchorage areas, for more mooring space, and allocate moorings fairly for private and commercial use
Need to provide safe harbor and shore access for transient vessels
Need for improved and expanded public recreational facilities and opportunities
Need to protect unique wildlife areas; shore and water habitats
Desire to improve and protect commerical and recreational shellfishing
Potential for expansion of existing, or development of new, water dependent uses along the developed urban waterfronts
Need to provide approopriate restrictions on water uses and users in order to minimize conflicts between competing activities
Need to coordination of harbor information and management activities among agencies, commissions, and departments on the state, federal and local levels
Prevention or restoration of periodic or long term water quality problems related to recreational boating

Required elements of a HMP
Ensure public access
Ensure water quality
Develop a municipal mooring management plan
Storm preparedness strategies

Selected issues
Raw sewage discharge
Problem: most immediate environmental threat to the health of the Bay is the annual discharge of about 2.2. B gallons of untreaed sewage into waterways in the upper bay area after  heavy rainfalls; aging combined sanitary and stormwater sewage system (combined sewer overflows - CSO) cannot handle severe wet-weather events; due to dangerously high bacteria levels, leads to the closure of:
beaches
shellfishing beds
Solution: collection during the heavy rain event and then pump to a treatment plant after the storm

Restoring natural habitats
300 years of industrial development; much of the damage cannot correct itself naturally
Solution: proactive approach to restore salt marshes, eelgrass beds, fish runs, etc.; an information system must be created to help make decisions about habitat restoration

Dredging
Defination: dredging is the process of removing material (sediment, debris, and organic matter) from the bottom of the water body in order to make it deeper allowing for the commerical and recreational water traffic such as oil tankers, cargo ships, tour boats, ferries, and larger power or sailboats

Problem: Providence River channel leading to the Port of Providence has not be dredged in 25 years
Estuary is filling with the continuous delivery of sediment from the watershed; many harbors, channels and rivers would eventually fill in if dredging were not performed
Threatens safe navigation for boaters and straining the economic viability of marinas
over 25 facilities need to dredge a total of over a M cubic yards of sediment
Port of Providence is the entry point for 98% of RI's fuel supply; portions of the channel are so shallow that large Vessels must offload their cargo onto barges in the middle of the Bay
Shallow channels may cause oils spill accidents; e.g. North Cape oil spill
Without access to the port, fuel oil prices will increase
Providence River dredging project: a 17 mile navigation channel connects Providence Harbor to deep water near Prudence Island; the ACOE has developed a plan to restore the channel from 30 ft to its authorized depth of 40 ft
never-ending saga of studies accessing dredging
Issue: disposal of dredge spoils; RI is the only state in S. NE to not have a permanently designated disposal site; Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has contracted Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) conduct an assessment to select a permanent offshore disposal site; in the past, dredged materials were dumped somewhere close to the harbor such as wetlands, marshes or deeper locations in the estuary
Sediment accumulation in the upper reaches of Narragansett Bay may be contaminated with heavy metals and toxic compounds; pose a health risk when dredged up from the bottomcontaminated spoils require special disposal methods - capping with clean sediment to isolate the contaminated sediment from the surrounding sea life and water
Save the Bay is advocating prevention of in-bay disposal and the exploration of beneficial use of dredge materials; the development of environmental laws (e.g. CWA, RI Coastal Zone Management Act) have led to restrictions on where dredged materials can be dumped - this has also led to the development of innovative solutions:
Beneficial use: valued instead of simply thrown away; e.g.
construction materials; e.g. cinder blocks, cement structures (used in highway construction projects in NY/NJ)
Beach nourishment; e.g. Block Island's Old Harbor - sediment is deposited offshore and mixed with sand to renourish State Beach
Landfill cover/capping
Brownfields redevelopment - reclamation of contaminated, former industrial sites
Dredging between the hurricane barrier to just south of Rumstick Neck is scheduled to begin in Nov 02 and be completed in Aug 04;
Flounder spawning ground: winter flounder have had a difficult time recovering in Narragansett Bay
After considering possible impacts on fisheries if dumped in-bay or on shore, spoils will be dumped 10 miles south of Pt Judith, a flounder migratory area; RI governor's office has awarded URI scientist a grant to conduct baseline studies of the upper Bay prior to and during dredging; dredging will be avoided in the upper reaches of the river during the spawning season
Block Island residents worried that they will be impacted by the sediment dumping; may see an increase in turbidity during a Nor'ester storm

Port development - Quonset Point-Davisville
In response to growing international trade
Quonset Davisville is used to import automobiles and seafood; commercial container shipping in the region is expected to double by 2010; current port proposals seek to take advantage of this increased traffic

Expansion issues:
Proposal to deepen to 50 feet - threaten to alter circulation patterns and disrupt migrating routes for lobsters and fish; Vessels create new pathways for non-native species to invade the Bay, threatening the survival of native species and the Bay's ecosystem as a whole
Expansion of the port would increase truck traffic by about 1,600 truck per day
Require use of significant acres of land
Suggested solution:
Analysis of the major environmental impact (environmental impact statement - EIS); governor recently received a $1.5 M from the state legislature to conduct the study; if impacts prohibit port development, other uses should be explored
e.g. create a smaller, less intrusive port or light industrial/commercial park that more closely matches local needs and economics

Tourists & tourism providers; consumers
Seafood industry (restaurants & suppliers)
Scientists and policy makers