STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING REGIONAL SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT PLANS
ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST
Susan M. Ming1
California’s beaches and coastal areas provide a valuable habitat resource for a wide
variety of marine life and endangered species. It is clearly understood that there is a
strong interdependency between coastal sediments and the wide array of today’s
coastal resource issues. In the past, coastal resource issues within the State of California
have either been addressed and/or compartmentalized at site or project specific levels.
Recreation, public and aquatic ecosystem health, coastal habitat, water quality,
navigation safety, storm damage reduction, shoreline protection, sand rights and
economic vitality are prime examples of areas of public interest directly impacted by the
transport and distribution of coastal sediments. State and Federal agencies are now
looking for an efficient blend of scientific evidence and public policy to facilitate regional
inter-agency cooperative initiatives to protect, enhance and restore California’s
important coastal resources through a system-wide sediment management approach.
The California Coastal Sediment Management Workgroup (CSMW) is a collaborative
effort by federal, state, and local agencies and NGOs working to address California’s
coastal sediment management issues through Regional Sediment Management (RSM).
CSMW advocates solving coastal erosion problems through beneficial reuse of sediment
and restoration or augmentation of natural processes, and is pursuing a related series of
efforts within their Sediment Management Plan (SMP). A major SMP thrust is funding
regional entities to sponsor development of Coastal RSM Plans (CRSMPs) focused on
sediment management issues of import to that region (littoral cell or larger political
boundary). Each CRSMP has or will identify Beach Erosion Concern Areas and potential
sediment sources for beneficial reuse, and develop an associated management plan to
best utilize RSM principles within that region. Three initial CRSMPs have been
developed and adopted by the Plan Sponsors, and more are forthcoming. CSMW
developed general guidance for the Coastal RSM Plan program in order to provide
consistency across regions throughout coastal California. However, Plan development is
geared towards the needs of each Region. Participation by local and regional
governments as well as NGO stakeholders and creation or utilization of existing
governance structure covering the Plan’s area is essential in order to build consensus
needed for effective implementation.
In addition, this system based approach encourages the linking of different Corps Water
Resource missions and business lines, i.e., navigation, flood control, environmental
restoration and shore protection to achieve greater overall operational and fiscal
efficiencies within the water and sediment shed.
1.
Civil Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, 915 Wilshire Blvd, Los
Angeles, CA 90017. Susan.M.Ming@usace.army.mil 213.452.3789
Speaker Bio:
Susan (Susie) M. Ming, P.E., PMP
Ms. Susie Ming holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Lehigh University in PA and a Master of
Engineering in Ocean and Coastal Engineering from Steven’s Institute of Technology.
Susie joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District in 2000 and is
currently the Team Leader for the Coastal Section responsible for the project
management of coastal studies and projects. Susie is a registered Professional Civil
Engineer in the State of California and the State of New York.