Design and Development of Biological and Physical Monitoring Protocols for Environmentally Sound Management of Federal Outer Continental Shelf Sand Borrow Areas

摘要

Submerged shoals located in Federal waters may represent long-term sources of clean sand for planned or emergency beach and coastal restoration projects. Borrow sites that are to be used repeatedly may require biological and physical monitoring to provide information that would be used to ensure that adverse impacts to the marine and coastal environments do not occur. In April 2000, the MMS awarded a contract to design/develop biological/physical monitoring templates to ensure that adverse impacts do not occur in areas where the long-term use of sand from offshore borrow sites is anticipated. The effort, completed in October 2001, contains detailed descriptions of biological and physical monitoring methods which can be implemented in the event that a monitoring effort is anticipated. A planned study, to be initiated in Fiscal Year 2002, will test out several of the protocols at Sandbridge Shoal, offshore Sandbridge Beach, Virginia.