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Managing Sediments Associated with Dredging
Managing Sediments Associated with Dredging
Background: Several hundred million cubic yards of sediment are dredged from waterways, ports, and harbors each year to maintain the nation's navigation system for commercial, national defense, and recreational purposes. Sediment overloading from land and stream erosion causes significant environmental and economic challenges. In some cases, excessive sediment in rivers, reservoirs, and estuaries may contribute to high turbidity, loss of flood-carrying capacity, and sediment deposition in navigable waterways. In other cases, a shortage of sediment causes coastal erosion, streambank erosion, and wetland loss. Many water resource projects designed to remedy local sediment problems cause even larger problems at other locations in the watershed. Sediment management and planning often occurs outside the context of watershed management plans. These current-day practices often adversely affect navigation, flood and storm damage reduction efforts, and environmental quality in water resource projects. Sediment managers need to ensure that sediment management occurs in the context of watershed management, and that watershed management plans incorporate both private and federal dredging.
