CICEET Progress Report for the period 9/01/08 Through 2/15/09

Project Title: Sustainable Estuarine Shoreline Stabilization: Research, Education and Public Policy in North Carolina
Principal Investigator(s): Carolyn Currin, NOAA and John Fear, NCNERR
Project Start Date: 9-1-08
Report Compiled By: Carolyn Currin and John Fear

Tables

Table 1

• Hired research technician, training begun on using new RTK GPS techniques
• Held meetings with Dr. Fear and Ann Weaver (advisory panel facilitator) to develop advisory panel agenda for first meeting
• Made project presentation at Southeast Coastal Zone Managers meeting
• Made project presentation to Coastal Habitat Protection Plan advisory panel
• Working with NOAA in the Carolinas (NINC) and NOAA Coastal Hazards group to incorporate CICEET-funded project objectives into those programs

Upcoming events:

• Finalize site selection in the Central Region (March 2009)
• Conduct successful advisory panel meeting (April 2-3, 2009)
• Initiate data collection (Summer 2009)

NCNERR updates:

• PI meeting held October 31st 2008 to finalize methods and site selection timeline.
• Hired research education technician, funded by this project, in January 2009
• Continual efforts to get the subcontracts for the University PIs finalized
• Site selection trip to northeast coast with Dr. Currin and University PI Mike Piehler completed
• 1 page flier for home owners in northeast to secure their participation created
• Computers and software for our research/education assistant acquired to support her work on this project
• Worked with Dr. Currin and Ann Weaver to schedule first Advisory Panel Meeting for April 2-3, 2009.
• Gave Project presentation to the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission Feb 2009 meeting

Upcoming events:

• Finalize site selection in the Central Region (March 2009)
• Get University PI contracts executed (March 2009)
• Conduct successful advisory panel meeting (April 2-3, 2009)
• Initiate data collection (Summer 2009)

Design and install a demonstration project utilizing alternative shoreline stabilization approaches for research and education purposes

• No work has been done on this objective. This objective is not scheduled to be implemented until year 2 of the project

Refine approach for evaluating ecological and socioeconomic costs and benefits of shoreline erosion & protection alternatives

• No work has been done on this objective. This objective is not scheduled to be implemented until year 2 of the project

Develop effective communication methods for exchanging information between scientists, regulatory agencies, business community, politicians and general public in regard to costs-benefits of various short-term and long-term shoreline stabilization plans.
A needs assessment is currently being developed by the NCNERR education staff (Fegley, Jenkins and Houston). The Advisory Panel will review the needs assessment questions and assist with identifying relevant stakeholders in their April meeting. Once finalized, the assessment questions will be developed into an on-line survey instrument and sent to stakeholders to determine audience knowledge, skill level, and attitudes regarding various estuarine shoreline stabilization methods.

Education staff is also working with the NC Division of Coastal Management staff to develop a decision tree for identifying which estuarine shoreline stabilization technique should be used in different scenarios. The decision tree is based on the NC Division of Coastal Management’s 2006 recommendations for appropriate shoreline stabilization methods for the different North Carolina estuarine shoreline types. The decision tree will be developed into an online tool where the user is guided through a series of questions based on his/her property description to the most preferred type of erosion control based on the habitat type. This online resource will be updated periodically as results from this project are obtained.

Data Generated to date
There has not been any data generated to this point.

Project Objectives for Next Reporting Period
The project objectives for the next reporting period are the same for this reporting period. The work plan to meet those objectives will follow the timetable shown in Table 1.

Expenditures
Expenditures are currently below the range expected due to the lack of execution of needed contracts (see below). This will quickly correct itself once these contracts are executed.

What Else?
Contract Difficulties: We have experienced extreme difficulty getting the contracts needed to conduct this work in place. This problem has affected both the NCNERR and NOAA-side. NCNERR’s contract with the University of New Hampshire was not executed until 12-1-08. This was a full three months after the proposed start date of 9-1-08. The subcontracts to provide research money to our University partners have still not been executed. These were originally expected to start in Dec 2008. The NOAA-side of our project has also experienced contract difficulties. After receiving a portion of the NOAA-side budget in 2008, we were informed in Feb 2009 that CICEET could no-longer operate as originally agreed and that funds could no longer be contracted to NOAA. This change has left our NOAA partners with no way to receive the funds to cover their portion of this project. While options to work around this change are being explored, it again is causing delays in getting the project off the ground.

NOAA funding: Given the current funding situation, we cannot support the participation of two key members of our project: Ann Weaver and Peter Wiley. Ann Weaver is the facilitator of our advisory panel, and the participation of a facilitator with Ann’s experience was one of the key recommendations in the CICEET review process. Ann has already met with the co-PIs on several occasions to familiarize herself with the project and to advise us on how to work with our stakeholders. In order for Ann to attend the scheduled April Advisory Panel meeting, we must find funds to cover her travel from Mississsippi. Peter Wiley is a NOAA economist who will be developing the cost-benefit analysis for the program. Ultimately, regulatory policy which will direct the future of estuarine shoreline stabilization will rest upon economics. Wiley is contributing his time and expertise to the project at no cost, but cannot attend the Advisory Panel meeting without travel support.

Although we have sufficient contractor support for the next 4 months, we must solve the problem of getting the rest of the contracted funding to NOAA CCFHR. If the awarded funding to support equipment, travel and contractor salaries cannot be provided as specified in the proposal, NOAA will not be able to participate in this project.