Welcome to the State of California
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Welcome to CSMWs website! Our collaborative taskforce of state, federal and local/regional entities, concerned about adverse impacts of coastal erosion on our coastal habitats, is working to implement Regional Sediment Management (RSM) in order to augment or restore natural processes. Our urbanizing society has significantly changed natural sediment supply and transport patterns, and some coastal areas (e.g., beaches) are eroding while others (e.g., wetlands, ports & harbors) are being deluged with excess sediment. Facilitating beneficial reuse of excess clean sediment from inundated locations at areas experiencing severe erosion is the substance of RSM.

Sediment is an integral component of the coastal ecosystem, representing a public good that must be managed to provide for quality of life, natural resource protection, and economic sustainability. Sediment imbalances resulting from alteration of the natural environment therefore threaten the viability of the public good and require management to restore the natural balance. Coordinated beneficial reuse of sediment resources within a regional context helps to restore natural processes and simultaneously address sediment imbalances.

CSMW is developing a coastal "Sediment Master Plan" (SMP) to guide political, regulatory, environmental, educational and process-related efforts anticipated when implementing RSM. The physical setting for coastal sediment imbalance problems and CSMWs vision for the "road to solutions" are discussed in the overview, "Why a SMP is needed". The SMP Baseline Report 2006 describes the initial SMP development process, planned future activities, and CSMW priorities. The SMP Status Report 2008 provides a progress reporting of CSMW and SMP activities to date. The SMP envisions three types of products produced during Plan development- informational reports, computer-based tools, and RSM strategies/Plans.

Currently, CSMWs main thrust for SMP development is preparation of regionally-based RSM strategy plans. We are working with various regional entities to implement RSM within their jurisdictional area through Coastal RSM Plans. These Plans specify how governance, outreach and technical approaches can support beneficial reuse of sediment resources within and throughout that region without causing environmental degradation or public nuisance. CSMW has historically focused on the development of informational documents and computer-based tools to assist coastal managers obtain and utilize the information they need to provide sound decision-making. Links to these tools and documents lie within the column to your right and/or on our Library page.

Information on the various coastal sediment-related programs of CSMW member agencies is available, as are CSMW meeting minutes since 2003. Our outreach program has included workshops, development of and mailings to our Public Outreach Contact List, and is part of each Coastal RSM Plan development. Comments received to date from our public outreach activities can be viewed by workshop/region location.

We encourage you to contact us. Please direct technical issues to the CSMW Project Manager. Policy or procedure related questions can be directed to the CSMW co-chairs. A questionnaire may assist in identifying your concerns. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please fill out the New Contact form.




Last modified: 02/10/2012

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