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About the National Dredging Team: Conferences and Workshops
About NDT
National Dredging Team Charter (PDF) (5 pp, 336K, About PDF)
1994 Interagency Workgroup Report (PDF) (41 pp, 184K, About PDF)
National Dredging Team (NDT) conferences and workshops provide a forum to exchange best practices and lessons learned, and may focus on specific topics or broad planning efforts. Conferences and workshops also provide an opportunity for expanding the navigational dredging discussion to include the diverse group of partners and stakeholders involved. This broadened discussion helps the NDT to facilitate communication, coordination, and resolution of national dredging issues.
Conferences and Workshops
- Managing Sediments in the Watershed: Bringing Dredged Material and Watershed Managers Together
- Dredged Material Management: Issues and Needed Actions for the Next Decade
- Dredged Material Management and State Coastal Management Programs
Conference on Managing Sediments in the Watershed: Bringing Dredged Material and Watershed Managers Together
Portland, Oregon
August 2006
The NDT and Subcommittee on Integrated Management of Ocean Resources (SIMOR) brought together over 200 watershed planners, dredged material/sediment managers, and other participants, for a Conference on Managing Sediments in the Watershed. This conference provided a diverse array of stakeholders, who share a concern for sediment and water resource management, a unique opportunity to meet and coordinate.
The NDT and SIMOR held this conference to:
- Promote better communication among dredged material and watershed,
- Identify steps to include dredged material and sediment management in watershed plans, and
- Identify steps to include a broader watershed perspective in dredged material management planning.
In addition, conference participants were able to identify:
- Current responsibilities and interests in dredged material management in the watershed,
- Existing and potential areas of technical and planning intersection, and
- Gaps in knowledge or management of sediment in the watershed.
The Agenda (PDF) (6 pp, 28K, About PDF) and SIMOR Report provide overviews of the conference.
Dredged Material Management: Issues and Needed Actions for the Next Decade
Jacksonville, Florida
January 2001
In 2001, the NDT sponsored a workshop in Jacksonville, Florida, on "Dredged Material Management: Issues and Needed Actions for the Next Decade". The workshop was organized around the following four themes:
- Beneficial Use of Dredged Material,
- Sediment Management,
- Emerging Issues, and
- Strengthening Regional Dredging Teams (RDTs).
Nearly 250 participants, including government agencies, private industry, environmental interests, and the general public, attended the workshop. The workshop was designed to facilitate communications among stakeholders, to build partnerships for improved effectiveness in dredged material management, and to exchange information about scientific and programmatic dredging issues. The workshop also provided a forum to revisit the 1994 Interagency Report (41 pp, 184K, About PDF) recommendations and to propose actions needed for the next decade.
As a result of the workshop, the NDT developed the Action Agenda for the Next Decade (Action Agenda). The 2003 Action Agenda consists of 22 general and specific recommendations to address issues impacting dredging projects for the first decade of the new millennium. Important issues included beneficial use of dredged material, sediment management, emerging issues, and strengthening RDTs. Implementation of the Action Agenda, through existing regulations and agency framework, helps in maintaining a timely, efficient, and predictable review process for dredging projects.
The 2003 Action Agenda (PDF) (87 pp, 2431K, About PDF) provides an overview of the workshop.
Dredged Material Management and State Coastal Management Programs
New Orleans, Louisiana
January 1999
In 1999, the NDT and the Coastal States Organization sponsored a workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the intersection of federal navigation dredging projects and state coastal management programs. The participants discussed a wide range of dredged material management topics and issues, including:
- Using the regulatory process to facilitate beneficial use of dredged material,
- Improving intergovernmental coordination and project planning,
- Increasing funding for beneficial use of dredged material,
- Increasing scientific knowledge and public awareness about beneficial use of dredged material, and
- Understanding and using the federal budget process.
During the workshop, the participants developed recommendations for improving intergovernmental processes related to dredged material management in the coastal zone. These recommendations became the basis of the following three major actions.
- All concerned parties would continue their efforts to improve interagency coordination and develop long-term planning processes at local and regional levels,
- Federal agencies would work to ensure that the national programs are harmonized and that appropriate guidance and policies are developed for implementation at local and regional levels, and
- The NDT would develop an action plan, extracting key recommendations from the workshop and specifying ways federal agencies can make improvements in this important area.
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA)
Proceedings Report (PDF) (47 pp, 701K, About PDF) provides an overview of this workshop.
