4.1 NAVIGATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS 



Most navigation dredging in marine basins that accompany OCS-related 

 community development is required by the expansion of recreational boating. 

 A large increase in population will cause an increase in boating activity 

 which requires navigational improvement. Exactly how much increased boat 

 traffic and marina development, and therefore channel dredging, might be 

 required is difficult to predict. The major potential adverse environmental 

 effects of dredging on coastal water systems are: increased turbidity; 

 sediment buildup; reduction of oxygen content; disruption and removal of 

 productive estuarine bottom and the life it contains; creation of stagnant 

 deepwater areas; disruption of estuarine circulation; increased upstream 

 intrusion of salt water and sediments; obliteration of wetlands; and 

 degradation of oyster beds, coastal regions and other vital areas. These 

 problems can be avoided for the most part through careful planning and 

 attention to the natural processes at work in coastal ecosystems and to the 

 probable effects of dredging. 



4.2 PIERS 



An increase in piers and docks along navigable waterways may result 

 from the recreational boating demand accompanying increases in population. 

 These piers and docks are built to provide berthing for new pleasure craft 

 docked at marinas or at individual homesites. Uncontrolled proliferation 

 of piers and docks can lead to blockage of circulation, loss of vital areas, 

 accelerated pollution, and a general reduction of carrying capacity. 

 Properly guided, there can be a substantial increase of such facilities 

 without major adverse ecological effects. 



4.3 BULKHEADS 



An increase in housing, commercial development, or other community 

 growth in coastal areas in response to OCS facilities may cause an increase 

 in bul kneading of property. Bulkheads are built to protect shorelines 

 (usually of protected waters) from erosion, to serve aesthetic purposes, to 

 provide boat-docking convenience, or to hold fill materials deposited for 

 the conversion of low-lying land, wetlands, or water areas to real estate 

 of greater value. 



Major environmental objections to bulkheading arise from the loss of 

 coastal marsh (often from dredge filling behind the bulkhead) and other 

 vital habitat areas, the reduction in size of water bodies, the accompany- 

 ing water pollution, and the interruption of the movement of fresh water 

 into the estuary. 



In conformance with recent federal and state regulatory guidelines, 

 bulkheads are typically approved for protection of unvegetated, eroding 

 shorelines within estuaries. Bulkheads designed to permit expansion of 

 real estate acreage by filling shorelines or to provide dock frontage for 

 boats are discouraged. 



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