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Managing Sediments Associated with Dredging: Managing Sediments in the Watershed
Managing Sediments Associated with Dredging
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Coordination among dredged material managers and watershed managers is important. Sediment and dredged material management planning often occurs outside the context of watershed management plans, many resource projects are designed to remedy local sediment problems and may potentially result in larger problems some distance from the project. Additionally, watershed management planning may not incorporate dredged material and sediment system considerations, such as competing demands for sediment, or potential beneficial uses of dredged material opportunities. This can result in missed opportunities to improve navigation, flood and storm reduction efforts, and environmental quality in water resource projects; it may also result in a loss of beneficial use opportunities.
Coordinated planning is beneficial for dredged material managers and watershed managers. Although planning often occurs separately, sediment management and watershed management planning share similar goals. Both seek to control upstream erosion and pollution to:
- Improve downstream water quality,
- Reduce the need for dredging, and
- Improve downstream sediment quality.
Coordinating watershed and sediment/dredged material management can also result in economic and ecological benefits. Improved coordination may:
- Decrease the need for dredging and dredged material disposal sites,
- Increase leveraging of funds and cross-program sharing of technical and regulatory capabilities,
- Improve efficiency permitting for dredging projects,
- Potentially help reduce contaminants entering the system, as well as reduce soil loss and waterbody siltation, and
- Can result in increased beneficial uses of dredged material and increased protection of natural resources.
Recognizing that sediment is a resource can also benefit both sediment and watershed managers. For example, beneficial use of dredged material for wetland restoration or shore protection helps preserve aquatic resources, can reduce the amount of sediment removed from a system, and can reduce the amount of material that requires disposal.
