future. Natural land and seascapes, the wetlands 

 that serve as breeding grounds for fish, and the 

 beaches are being eroded both by nature and man. 

 It is necessary to predict more precisely the 

 consequences of nature's actions and man's; to do 

 this, substantial strides in basic science are re- 

 quired. 



Keeping coasts and harbors in repair and 

 developing them is an unending challenge. Approx- 

 imately two-thirds of our coastline is considered 

 poorly protected or endangered,' despite the fact 

 that the Nation has invested substantial sums of 

 money in their upkeep. 



The Corps of Engineers has developed 500 

 cormnercial harbors with depths up to 45 feet, 250 

 for small craft, and has improved 23,000 miles of 

 intracoastal and inland waterways. Since 1946, the 

 Corps has undertaken more than 100 projects 



Figure 7. Texas coast hurricane surge model. 

 Hydraulic model constructed to a scale of 

 1:100 vertically and 1:3,000 horizontally is 

 being used to determine the most suitable 

 plan for hurricane surge protection for the 

 Texas coast. Tides and tidal currents are re- 

 produced in model by tide generator located 

 in Gulf of Mexico portion of model. Hurri- 

 cane surges are reproduced by horizontal 

 displacement surge generator. (Army Corps 

 of Engineers photo) 



designed to stop beach erosion at a total cost of 

 $237 million, of which the Federal share was $94 

 million. As severe storms battered our shores, 

 $361 million-$253 million of it Federal funds- 

 have been invested in hurricane protection under 

 Corps of Engineers direction since 1958.^ 



II, 



Annual Report of the Corps of Engineers, Vol 

 1966. 



From information furnished the panel by Brigadier 

 General H. G. Woodbury, Jr., Director of Civil Works, 

 Office of the Chief of Engineers, Oct. 9, 1967. 



Tables 10 and 11 show the level of Federal 

 effort in the estuaries and Great Lakes. 



Table 10. ESTUARIES 

 (in millions of dollars) 



Less than $50,000. 

 ^Includes $2.1 million in construction in FY 1967. 

 Source: Marine Science Affairs, 1968. 



Much more needs to be known about the 

 physical processes that shape our coastlines and 

 estuaries: how, for instance, combinations of 

 waves, tides, and currents affect depositon and 

 erosion; the sources of beach sands, and when and 

 how it is naturally removed from beaches; and the 

 effects of storm surges. 



Simulation of observed conditions through the 

 construction of hydraulic scale models and mathe- 

 matical models will improve predictions of the 

 effects of change. 



More needs to be known of the marine organ- 

 isms and biological processes of the coastal zones. 

 Detailed information on the food web, tolerances 

 of each species to enviroiunental change, and the 



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