VOL 17 ,NO 11 Monday, October 20, 2008

Here is an interesting article on beach erosion from India. We believe that there is a great deal of merit in using comparative information to solve these types of problems. After all, why reinvent the wheel? On this blog we will try to share some of the discussions that are going on around the world on coastal zone issues. Please share your comments with our readers.


Value lost in sea

Intro:

Coastal erosion turns Puri’s prime beachfront property to nothing

Until now hoteliers and house-owners by the coast were the envy of Puri, Orissa’s most popular tourist destination. Today they fear losing it all to the sea that is fast advancing inland; it has already touched part of the 1.5 km road running along the shore in Sipasarubali area. If hotel owners fear loss of business, property owners are nervous because banks are no longer as willing to give loans against Puri’s beachfront assets. Erosion has destroyed their credit-worthiness.

“If someone from the area comes to us for a loan, I think we will have to tell him we can’t help,” said Devi Dutta Mohanty, appraiser of hdfc home loans, Bhubaneswar. Banks normally fall over one another to get to the customer with a house loan. But now that the property in the area is threatened by erosion, “it puts a big question mark on the collateral against which we will give the loan,” said Kailash Chandra Sahu, manager, Vijaya Bank, Puri.

In a city that thrives on tourism the fear among hotel owners runs deeper. Erosion of the 35 kilometre of beach between Puri and Konark, another very popular tourist spot, could mean loss of business. The twin towns are popular with both domestic and international tourists. Business is brisk along the coast. Hotels of all categories—from the high end to the low—run a full house all the eight dry months of the year. Restaurants, cafes and eateries that dot the beach can barely cope with the demand for fresh lobsters and crabs from their tourist patrons.

All this may come under sea water if erosion continues. “We are so worried. This will affect the entire tourism trade here,” said Vikas Das, an executive with Hotel Hans Coco Palm. “We have asked the government to intervene,” said another hotelier, Ramkrushna Das Mohapatra of Puri Beach Resort.

The administration in Puri responded by laying stone boulders and sand bags on the road embankment sloping down to the beach. But this is a temporary measure for which the government has sanctioned Rs 7 crore. Naturally, it has not generated hope. “The sea had never advanced this far ever. Now that it has come up to touch the road people are afraid to build houses here,” said Harish Mohanty, a resident of Sipasarubali area.

While the government looks for a solution in geotextile tubes (wave breakers made of high grade rexin) and in building a sea wall, the final decision will come as a comprehensive state government project, said Orissa’s director, environment, Bhagirathi Behera (see Bureaucracy on the beach, Sept 16-30). The project, he added, is expected to get a Rs 100 crore assistance from the World Bank under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan.

“We will be submitting the detailed project report soon. This will be for the Gopalpur-Chilika and Dhamra-Paradip stretches,” said Behera. Officials said the government has also decided to set up a coastal erosion project directorate.

Sea and its waves
N K Mahalik, retired geology professor of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, attributes coastal erosion to global warming: “Rising temperatures have led to rise in the sea’s water mass. The sea is expanding everywhere with this rise in its water mass. During monsoon storms this excess water gets an added thrust and starts eroding the coast. ”

At the present rate of increase in global temperatures, explained Geological Survey of India’s Subhranshu Bhushan Ray, the temperature of the ocean surface is estimated increase by about 2°C from today’s levels by the middle of this century. “In that case the ocean surface will rise by 15 to 30 cm. This will mean higher waves and much greater wave energy, leading to much deeper ingress of the sea into the landmass,” he said.

Ray recommends the Orissa government does what Australia and the us have done to protect their beaches from erosion. One is to make a series of low walls stretching into the sea from land which would act as water barriers. The waves would dissipate their energy on them, thus reducing the chances of beach erosion.

The other method is known as beach nourishment wherein sand from the areas of excess is pumped and deposited in areas of deficiency caused by erosion. “We can use both these methods to good effect,” said Ray.

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http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20081031&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=18

(Photo U of Oregon)

The headlines are frightening.

"Venomous lionfish prowls fragile Caribbean waters"

In this Associated press article (Aug 13, 2008), David McFadden writes that

"A maroon-striped marauder with venomous spikes is rapidly multiplying in the Caribbean's warm waters, swallowing native species, stinging divers and generally wreaking havoc on an ecologically delicate region. The red lionfish, a tropical native of the Indian and Pacific oceans that probably escaped from a Florida fish tank, is showing up everywhere — from the coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola to Little Cayman's pristine Bloody Bay Wall, one of the region's prime destinations for divers."

As a frequent diver in this area as well as Tonga, Belize, Bonaire, Florida and other places this is a very distressing development. We divers are the original diversity supporters. We know that all of the vibrancy in the oceans are the result of species health and diversity. The lionfish seriously threatens this.

"Wherever it appears, the adaptable predator corners fish and crustaceans up to half its size with its billowy fins and sucks them down in one violent gulp. Research teams observed one lionfish eating 20 small fish in less than 30 minutes.

"This may very well become the most devastating marine invasion in history," said Mark Hixon, an Oregon State University marine ecology expert who compared lionfish to a plague of locusts. "There is probably no way to stop the invasion completely."

Most devastating in history! This is a very surprising escalation of the attack of invasive species. It is closer to the devastating Black Sea invasion by jellyfish caused by the collapse of that ecosystem's environmental quality.

"A white creature with maroon stripes, the red lionfish has the face of an alien and the ribbony look of something that survived a paper shredder — with poisonous spikes along its spine to ward off enemies. The invasion is similar to that of other aquarium escapees such as walking catfish and caulerpa, a fast-growing form of algae known as "killer seaweed" for its ability to crowd out native plants. The catfish are now common in South Florida, where they threaten smaller fish in wetlands and fish farms."

We are all aware of the cases of invasives that from time to time attract the attention of the news media. The Zebra Mussel is one example of a well covered invasive. Here is another:

"In Africa, the Nile Perch rendered more than 200 fish species extinct when it was introduced into Lake Victoria. The World Conservation Union calls it one of the 100 worst alien species invasions"

This is the big threat to the homeostasis of ecosystems - the extinction of species which are vital to the balance of any ecosystem and are necessary for the economic activity of human communites as well as potentially holding important genetic information for future use.

"Those kinds of things happen repeatedly in fresh water," Hixon said. "But we've not seen such a large predatory invasion in the ocean before."

For us as students of CZM and coastal policy this threat of invasives is a very important POLICY challenge.

• How do we nail down the origins and causes of invasivs?
• How do we force policymakers to quickly develop new laws and regulations to slow or halt the further spread of invasives?
• How do we attack the invasives, bring them under control and reestablish the origina ecosystem?

(Image courtesy City of New Orleans, 2008)

New Orleans is a vulnerable city that is in the bulls eye of severe coastal weather. It is also a city that has suffered from foolish coastal management which has exposed the Big Easy to even more risks that just its location. Below is a link to a great discussion of these coastal problems. There are some universal lessons to be learned for all US coastal zones. We will examine all of these in my Coastal Policy and Politics class. Steffen Schmidt, Professor

"The levees of New Orleans held fast against Hurricane Gustav but several more storms — including Hanna, Ike and Josephine — are now forming. Hurricane expert Ivor van Heerden discusses the levee reconstruction project and how New Orleans will fare during what is expected to be an active hurricane season."

Can NOLA withstand another storm? National Public Radio.

also read the short review New Orleans, Gulf Coast Assess Gustav Damage by Dina Temple-Raston.

Breach of Faith?

The story from AP is sympromatic of what is happening in the coastal zones of the the United States>

Cape Cod town says no to filling barrier

August 1, 2007

"CHATHAM, Mass. --Opting to let nature take its course, residents overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to borrow $4.1 million to plug a widening breach on Nauset Beach that could threaten oceanfront homes.

The breach has grown to nearly 1,000 feet wide since it was blasted open by a fierce April [2007] storm. The beach forms a natural barrier that prevents the ocean from encroaching on the Chatham mainland."

The story goes on to explain that "About 600 residents attended a special Town Meeting Tuesday on the issue, which was seen as pitting wealthier owners of seaside homes -- many of them seasonal residents -- against permanent residents who faced higher property taxes to fill the breach. Voters rejected a plan that called for pouring hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of sand into the inlet created by the breach."

This is one of the first concrete cases where a voter's rebellion against beach renourishment and other artificial and costly human "interventions" on the beach/Coastal zone has ben reported.

Surprisingly the voters also rejected a proposal to spend $150,000 on a study of the long-term impact the breach will have on the coastline.

Ted Keon, the town's coastal resources director, the AP reported, " ... was surprised voters rejected the study, which he said would create a "road map" for local officials in the future.

Officials and scientists will continue to monitor the breach and do the best they can to protect public and private interests, Keon said."

The news story was accompanied by paid advertisements on Boston.com in a typical Internet/Google disconnect that read: "Cape Cod Waterfront, View 700+ Waterfront Properties From $24,900 to $15.5 million www.PropertyCapeCod.com"

Well Now We Are in a Pickle!

The latest finding on the melting of ice caps is not encouraging.

Today as I write this here is the gist of the matter

"Climate scientists may have significantly underestimated the power of global warming from human-generated heat-trapping gases to shrink the cap of sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean, according to a new study of polar trends." New York Times , May 1, 2007.

The article continues by going beyond the last (and scary enough!) report on the effects of climate change on the planet.

"The study, published online today in Geophysical Research Letters, concluded that an open-water Arctic in summers could be more likely in this century than had been estimated in the latest international review of climate research released in February by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."

Well if we screw it all up there is some interesting news about a new planet. The San Fran chronicle reports it thus:

"A rocky planet not much larger than Earth has been detected orbiting a star close to our own neighborhood in the Milky Way, and the European astronomers who found it say it lies within the star's "habitable zone," where life could exist - possibly in oceans of water.
The object is the smallest of all the 200 or more so-called "exoplanets" whose discovery around far-off stars in the past dozen years has sparked a burst of excitement worldwide among astronomers and astrobiologists." San Francisco Chronicle, April 24, 2007.

So maybe there is a polace for us to ship some of our species and some of ourselves to start over again.

Stabilize or Nationalize Senator?

In an article written 08 March 2007 titled “S.C. senator will file bill to stabilize insurance: Policies of 3 years would be protected from cancellation” the author, Zane Wilson writes, “A key senator said Wednesday he will file legislation based on Louisiana law that forbids insurers from canceling policyholders who have been customers for at least three years.”

The “key” senator in the article refers to Senator Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston who states that such legislation is in “a response to the continuing outcry concerning policy cancellations in the coastal areas.”

Senator McConnell, are you trying to tell us that if there is a hurricane that hits South Carolina you and or the Senate will pay for loses incurred by the insurance companies paying out millions of dollars in claims? Is there not any responsibility that lies squarely on the shoulders of the person building in an area KNOWN to be prone to such weather patterns?

Companies are not stupid, they have done their research and understand their level of risk tolerance, and like in many cases these tolerance level’s may change over time. It is not and should never be the government’s job to force a corporation to endure more risk then it feels comfortable with.

Common sense must return to the people of the United States, there are places in the country that one is not suppose to farm, live or build. It is ok to try but by attempting to one must take the responsibility for the possible outcomes: drought, erosion, hurricanes, wild fires, etc. Of course another entity may wish to take this risk on (i.e. insurance companies) partially or fully and that is their decision, but it must be by choice not by force.

If Senator McConnell would like to spend more tax payers dollars on rebuilding the structures being built in a hurricane, erosion, etc prone area then the state can insure the policy holders of these canceled policies through a state funded insurance program. Unless of course you are completely set on nationalizing the insurance industry and in that case maybe you should first gather some advice from Hugo Chavez on nationalizing industries.


This blog entry is in response to the following article.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/16858118.htm

Dubai is a coastal small state in the Persian Gulf. As we look at coastal development, conservation, and sustainability we need to realize that in most places around the world the opposite is happening!

Dubai is home to the three largest man-made islands in the world, visible from outer space. (Picture of "Palm Island").

Dubailand, the world's largest theme park, will house 45 megaprojects such as the Snowdome, an indoor ski resort boasting a five-star hotel shaped like an icicle.

• "Tiny Dubai has big plans. Armed with riches seemingly as endless as its ambition, Dubai aims to exploit its Persian Gulf perch to become an aviation superpower. Leaders of this booming Middle Eastern financial center have budgeted $82 billion to construct the world's largest airport on barren desert 30 miles from its downtown and make its home-town carrier, Emirates Airline, one of the biggest on the planet. Dubai wants to make the most of its setting, a crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa and a natural link between new economic powers like China and India. Blessed with year-round sunshine, stunning beaches and azure gulf waters, Dubai also is pumping billions of dollars into turning itself into a layover playland."

So what does this mean for the waters and coastal ecosystems in the Gulf?

Development!

Raw Sewage Threatens the Coasts and Oceans.

Fill in the correct answers in the blanks below. (See end of blog for answers).

1. Destruction and changes to marine habitats are the direct result of increasing coastal population - some ___ percent of the world's population lives on the costal zone, which is just over ___ percent of the Earth's land mass.

2. The average population density in the coastal zone rose is set to rise from ____ people per square kilometer in 1990 to ____ in 2025.

-------------------------

The latest United Nations report on the condition of the coastal areas and oceans of the world is discouraging at best. It reports that:

• "Untreated sewage pouring into the world's seas and oceans is polluting their water and coastlines and endangering the health and welfare of the people and animals that inhabit them, according to a bleak new U.N. report released Wednesday on the threats to the world's marine environments."
  
  "As well as the growing problem of sewage, oceans also are suffering from rising levels of nutrients such as run-off from agricultural land triggering toxic algal blooms that deprive the water of oxygen, destruction of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and a rising tide of ocean litter, says the State of the Marine Environment report drawn up by the U.N. Environment Program." AP story, Oct 2006
  

The Environmental News Service summarized some of the key pieces of information from this report:

• "The study reports that sewage may be "the most serious problem" facing the marine environment, in part because it is the area where the least progress has been made. Over half of the wastewater entering the Mediterranean Sea is untreated. In many developing countries more than 80 percent of sewage entering the coastal zones is estimated to be raw and untreated, the report said."
• "Increasing coastal populations, inadequate treatment infrastructure and waste handling facilities are all contributing to the sewage problem, the report said. Fixing the global sewage problem could cost at least $56 billion..."
  

Of course, this is a problem that directly affects the coastal areas as well as the wider and larger ocean environment. People swim, recreate, fish, and otherwise have intimate contact with the coastal zone where the sewage is being dumped. Moreover, the sewage affects the marshlands and wetlands along the shore where much of the marine life begins sicen these are the nurseries for marine critters.

One of the problems is that there are som many other high priorities (HIV Aids, war and genocide, hunder, very, VERY poor fresh drinking water, underdevelopment and poverty, depleation of energy resources, lack offood and huger, human rights, etc.) that sewage treatment marely makes the list of international priorities. Thus, if there were an extra $56 billion laying around to spend where do you think it would be allocated? Moreover, even more developed countries around the Mediterranean for example, are still dumping most of their sewage raw into the sea.

This issue poses the typical set of policy challenges that make efefctive coastal policy so very difficult to achieve. First, it is not one of the hot priority issues on which politicians run for office. Secon, it is an "invisible" problem so there is less urgency. Third, sewage treatment is a very expensive process (unless traditional method of disposal and processing are used such as putting sewage on fields as fertilizer and using natural mangrove and grass filters to allow nature to cleanse the sewage).

U.N. Environment Program chief Achim Steiner is quoted by AP as saying

• "In many countries we are losing nature's capacity to actually deal with some of the sewage and effluents because we are destroying the wetlands that could provide us — particularly coastal wetlands — with filtration capacity to avoid the kind of runoff into the sea," he said. "We also need to rediscover or demonstrate how maintaining wetlands ... can avoid heavy infrastructure investments because nature can cope with a certain degree of pollution, particularly if you use its natural mechanisms."

This issue has been pushed to the coastal backburner for many decades and may now be building into a major crisis especailly if epidemics of disease such as e. coli erupt in coastal areas around the world.

Answers:

1. 40 percent of the world's population lives on the costal fringe, which is just over 7 percent of the land.

2. from 77 people per square kilometer in 1990 to 115 in 2025.

To Armor or Not to Armor, That is the Question.

Not quite shakespear but it is a crucial question that coastal communities ask themselves every year. The problem, as I see it, is that we have built on the coast and now we realize that all our structures are vulnerable if intense storms become more frequent.

City and county governments are faced with the unpalatable choice of spending millions on seawalls and other armoring, leaving property (and people) at risk, or "deconstructing" human structures.

None of these are easy. In the final analysis, armoring is probably the most palatable from a political perspective.

What we need is a focused and realistic planning model for communities that face this discussion so that they can make a sensible combination of decisions - some armoring, some dedevelopment, and some temporary and cyclicla protection 9such as renourishing beaches).

I have had a blog on coastal policy since the discovery of sea grass! We have had lots of great academic discussions about saving Manatees - they are cute and prehistoric, shark finning and Asian culture (they like exotic foods like shark fin soup), whether renourishing beaches is a good idea (the sand is so hard & packed that critters cannot dig into and live in that hard surface.

All of these have been rewarding, fun, and academically sound.

All that changed after the killer hurricanes slam banged the Gulf coast of the US, Fllorida, and after the Indian Ocean Tsunami killed and wreaked such havoc.

We now understand that the coastal zone is a fragile and highly exposed feature of the earth. In fact, think of the coasts along any continent as the place where everything is rising, sinking, crunching and grinding. Yes, the coast is, of course, the shifting edge of the ever floating continents.

Oops, now I've done it!

Many of my students don't like to think about the coast as an unstanble, dangerous, and shifty place. (It has always been that). Many prefer to think of those marshet and wetlands, the wind and waves gently shifting dunes, the reefs and off-shore structures as permenent and conservational. To think of them as very unstable and subject to both natural and human reshaping is disturbing.

Now after seeing what humand and nature together can do to a coastal zone (the replumbing and dredging of the Mississippi River, the oild and gas drilling, the building of levies, the entire mess) we all need to reassess.

On the other hand, coastal policy and coastal zone management as critically important national policy issue no longer has to be explained or justified!