Reprinted from: 



Proceedings of Coastal Zone '89 . 

 American Society of Civil Engineers 

 pp. 3607-3618, 1989. 



ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT OF PROPOSED BOLSA BAY DEVELOPMENT 

 Steven A. Hughes 1 , M.ASCE 



ABSTRACT 



The Waterways Experiment Station (WES) has examined the impacts that a 

 proposed new ocean entrance and marina development at Bolsa Chica, 

 California, would have on the ocean shoreline and tidal wetlands. 

 This paper overviews the scope of the engineering studies, describes 

 the engineering methodology applied by WES to examine possible 

 impacts, and discusses products of the study. The emphasis of the 

 paper is to illustrate how modern coastal engineering techniques can 

 be used to aid coastal planners, developers, and government officials 

 in making informed decisions about coastal resources. 



INTRODUCTION 



The State of California, State Lands Commission (SLC), and others are 

 reviewing a plan for a new ocean entrance system as part of a multi-use 

 project. The project, located in the Bolsa Chica area of the County of 

 Orange, California (Figure 1), includes navigational, commercial, recreation- 

 al, and residential uses, along with increased flood protection and major 

 wetlands restoration. 



In order to satisfy requirements of the California Coastal Commission, 

 which must "Confirm" the viability of a Land Use Plan it provisionally certi- 

 fied in January 1986, the SLC requested the US Army Engineer Waterways Experi- 

 ment Station (WES) to conduct specific engineering studies regarding the 

 technical and environmental assessment of a navigable and a non-navigable 

 ocean entrance system at Bolsa Chica. Results of these studies will assist 

 SLC (the principal public landowner in the project area) and other parties 

 which are formulating reports and plans for the proposed Bolsa Bay project. 



A joint effort involving WES's Coastal Engineering Research Center and 

 Environmental Laboratory examined the impacts that the two proposed ocean 

 entrance alternatives would have on the coastal shoreline and tidal wetlands. 



(1) Research Hydraulic Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment 

 Station, Coastal Engineering Research Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, 

 Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199. 



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