Next Steps in a Beneficial Use Program (2016)

Under the auspices of the Lower Columbia Solutions Group (LCSG), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and other federal agencies, state and local government representatives, crabbing and fishing interests and conservation groups have been cooperatively planning and monitoring nearshore beneficial use placement of sediment from the mouth of the Columbia River (MCR). Approved in 2011, the Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) Regional Sediment Management Plan (RSMP) has been guiding the beneficial use placement of sediment at nearshore or on-shore beneficial use disposal sites in Oregon and Washington that are intended to provide sustainable long-term alternatives to deep water sediment disposal, and be adaptively managed to avoid and minimize adverse environmental, resource and safety effects.

After several years of placement and monitoring at the South Jetty Site in the nearshore area south of the MCR South Jetty, it was time to determine the next steps in a beneficial use program at the MCR.

In May 2016, the Group met to discuss the following topics:

How has the program worked and what have we learned generally? Have the program objectives been met?
How much of the deposited sand has stayed in the nearshore? For how long? Has it had an impact on shoreline erosion?
How do we apply what we’ve learned to moving forward? What does moving forward look like? Where?
What additional information and financial resources are needed to move forward?
What does an adaptive management approach entail? How is it implemented?