The Urban Ocean: A New Imperative
For Coastal Resource Management
Dr. Ronald C. Baird
Director,
NOAA National Sea Grant College Program
Plenary Session
Ocean Research Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii
February 18, 2004
Place-Based Approaches
Key Words
Urban —
Characteristics
of cities
Imperative —
Impossible to
avoid
Just The Facts
Day-To-Day Investments
Purpose:
Enhance Resource
Management Performance
Spatial Attributes And…
Species
Distributions
Rapid Population Growth
Spatial Distribution
Visible light from space shows
net of urbanized land in the
North America
Urbanization and Innovation
The Past
“The Past Ain’t What It Was”
Environmental Consequences of
Urbanization
•
Environmental Consequences of
Urbanization
Water
Sanitation
Clean Air
Urbanization…
The most dramatic and dynamic
engine of human alteration to
ecosystems
Urban Growth by 2050
• Increase from 50-80%
of human population
• Four billion more
people
Trends
• One quarter all land in
U.S. converted from rural
to urban in last 15 years
(size of Ohio)
• 68 million acres
developed by 2025
(size of Wyoming)
Ohio
Rate of Land Development &
Population Growth
Developed Land
Population
Pew Oceans Commission
The Draw
•
Coastal Regions Are Growing
• Home to 54% of U.S.
population and rising
• 14 of 20 largest cities are
coastal
• U.S. growing
at 3 million
per year
By 2025, the nation’s top 20 oceanic and
Great Lakes coastal metropolitan regions
are likely to increase their ‘urban
footprints’ by 46 percent
The
is Ticking
5 Yrs. =
15 M people
13 M acres
Indirect Repercussions
Socio-Economic Impacts
• Fragmented governance
• Enviro. concerns low priority
• Differing standards
compliance/enforcement
• Diverse, hard-to-reach audiences
Urbanization and Coastal Resource
Health
Population Density
• Concentration of ecosystem
goods & services
• Population density & growth rate
• Inputs from land, sea & air
converge
• Consequences:
Impacts of natural
hazards, coastal erosion
HABS, hypoxia, invasive
species, fish kills,
disease/contamination
Habitats, biodiversity, fish
yields & size
Dr. Tom Malone, Horn Point Laboratory
Urbanization and Coastal
Resource Health
• > 60% of coastal rivers
and bays are degraded
by nutrient runoff
Nitrogen Export
NRC
Urbanization and Coastal
Resource Health
Wastewater Effluents
2.3 Trillion Gallons
Per Day
• 51% of assessed estuaries were
impaired
• 78% of assessed Great Lakes shoreline
miles were impaired
• 58,500 acres per year of wetlands lost
Urbanization and Coastal
Resource Health
• > 20,000 acres of coastal habitat
disappear each year
Urbanization and Coastal
Resource Health
• Every 8 months an amount of oil
equivalent to the Exxon Valdez spill enters
coastal waters via runoff
Government of Alaska
Urbanization and Coastal
Resource Health
The number of miles Americans have driven
annually over the past 20 years has
increased at four times the rate of
population growth. Suburban
development patterns have contributed
to this trend.
Pew Oceans Commission
Urbanization and Coastal
Resource Health
Take Home Messages
1. Increases in human aggregation &
intensity of activity are inevitable
2. Must be dealt with in an ecological
context and sustainability framework
3. Solutions dependent on science
4. Avoidance not an option
Take Home Messages
5. Thresholds, stock collapses & regime shifts are
realities.
More rapid & effective
management responses are
paramount
The Good News
•Resilience
•Mitigation and
Regulation
Streams with and without riparian buffers
•Research/literature and
University Investment
Cod Recovery Plan Common Fisheries Policy:
European Commission
The Bad News
Time
Complexity
Resources
Fragmentation
Ecosystem-Based Management
A NOAA Sea Grant
Priority
NOAA Sea Grant Rationale
• Human ecology — urban aggregations
• Unique urban ecological issues
• Focus on critical problems & mitigation/prevention
— now
• Priority to mgmt. practices & best technologies
• Scenarios and models utilized in planning
• Good holistic indicators and monitoring
NOAA Sea Grant Rationale
• Outreach is critical
• Focus on understanding human-dominated
ecosystems (risks/cost-benefit)
• Partnerships are critical (public/private,
local/regional)
• Place-based, management-critical solutions
NOAA Sea Grant
Theme Areas
“The Urban Coast”
Four Areas
1. Solving uniquely urban dilemmas
2. Reducing non-point source pollution
3. Enhancing port and harbor operations
4. Improving coastal resource
management practice
“Coastal Communities”
Three Areas
1. Educating land-use planners
2. Stimulating integrated coastal
management
3. Developing decision-support systems
useful to planners/regulators
Reducing Non-Point Source
Pollution
• Storm Water Retention/Zoning Ordinances
• Toxic Chemicals/Urban Runoff
• Non-Point Source Education For Municipal
Officials (NEMO)
• Molecular Probes For Detecting Harmful
Microbes In Sea Water
Ports and Harbor Operations
• Two National Ports Specialists
Appointed
• EPA Partnership—NY/NJ
Harbor Estuary Program
• Marina and Recreational
Boating Management
Guidelines
• Boston Harbor Cleanup
Ports & Harbors
Specialist, Jim
Kruse
Managing Coastal Resources
• Beach Management
• Sea Level Rise and Impacts of Climate
Change
• Brown Fields and Neighborhood
Community Partnerships and Urban
Renewal
• Circulation, Nutrients and Contamination
Models for Municipal/State Regulators
• Urban Watersheds/
Impervious Surfaces
Near Term
Building Leadership
Demonstrable Results
Impacts
Objective
NOW
We Must:
•Build/Reshape
Institutions
•Study Our Complex,
Evolving Cities
Ecosystems are highly
complex, dynamic and
often fragile
Evolving Entities:
Chesapeake Bay
1960
1980
2000
Parting Words…
“Good judgment comes from experience
and a lot of that comes from bad
judgment.”
- Will Rogers
Parting Words…
“…Déjà Vu All Over Again.”
- Yogi Berra
It’s Not Too Late
Hanauma Bay, Hawaii
Thank You