Project Description:
Land use alterations and nonpoint source pollution to contributing watersheds is a principal cause of marine shoreline habitat degradation. In Washington, shoreline use and development is regulated by the state's Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) which is implemented primarily through locally adopted plans and regulations. If local planners are equipped with the means to acquire and use scientifically based assessments to assist them in most beneficially locating low impact development preservation, restoration and enhancement activities, these plans can address the cumulative effects of growth.
Crucial to the development of effective local plans that protect shorelines and water quality is an inventory and assessment of critical physical processes, biological features, and land use alterations. However, many local land use planners are overwhelmed by the sheer mass of information available and confounded by the inconsistent formats and spatial scales of the data. In surveys conducted by the Washington Department of Ecology's (Ecology) and the Coastal Training Program (CTP), the highest priority topic was clarification of what data to use in preparing assessments and how to extract and synthesize relevant information for shoreline planning. Many efforts within the state have focused on riverine and watershed assessment methods, however the assessment of land use and non-point source pollution impacts on marine shoreline function remains a challenge.
The overall goal of this decision support system is to provide guidance on how to prepare effective costal shoreline assessments for planners updating their local Shoreline Master Programs and Comprehensive Plans. The decision support system:
- describes the use and limitations of currently available and relevant data, information and costal shoreline assessment methods
- provides links to necessary data and technical reports
- explains how to interpret and use existing information effectively
- offers illustrated case examples of coastal shoreline assessments
This decision support system will be helpful for managers in developing shoreline inventories that identify baseline conditions, prioritize problems and target sensitive shorelines for monitoring and other management activities, including creation of shoreline buffers, and habitat restoration, and assessment of biotic integrity/ecosystem health.
Objectives:
1) Identify existing information and assessment methods
This project provides an evaluation of existing data sources, ecosystem modeling efforts, and analysis reports related to assessment of nonpoint source pollution and shoreline habitat degradation. While much of this information has been developed for purposes other than shoreline planning, in many cases excellent assessments can be prepared if the relevant information is extracted and appropriately synthesized.
2) Guidance
In an effort to address requirements of Washington's Shoreline Management Act, this project provides guidance for conducting costal shoreline assessments by evaluating and integrating appropriate data sources and assessment techniques. The project includes checklists of preferred data sources, and explores the various methods of how to overlay data at appropriate scales. In addition, it describes how specific characteristics of physical, biological and land use modifications must be considered as well as the placement of these features in relation to one another and within the landscape. The guidance also details how necessary information can be extracted from reports and modeling outputs and be appropriately mapped. Finally, the guidance will also provide specific recommendations for how relevant information can be used to inform development of local shoreline management plans and regulations. These are illustrated with maps and images of representative marine shoreline sites in Washington.