The Congressionally authorized National Shoreline Management Study (NSMS) to document the physical, economic, environmental, and social impacts of shoreline change across every coastal region of the United States. Under the leadership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), NSMS is providing government policymakers, coastal scientists and engineers, stakeholders and tribes with updated information about regional coastal processes using existing and available information, providing Congress and other decision makers recommendations regarding potential shoreline resilience management, planning and adaptation needs, and use of a systems approach to sediment management. The primary focus areas of NSMS include:
- Description ofd the current state of U.S. shores
- Erosion and accretion, including their causes
- Environmental and economic implications of shoreline change
- Anticipated future climate risks
- Agency roles in restoring and renourishing shores
- Systematic movement of sand
NSMS has several ongoing initiatives applying a systems approach to address shoreline change on a regional and national landscape scale. These actions view past events, present conditions, and future needs of the shoreline. The National Shoreline Management Study results show that the shorelines of the U.S. are eroding, with significant implications for the health, economics, and welfare of our citizens and the environment.
Regional Assessments
The national shoreline has been divided into ten (10) separate NSMS regions for development of regional assessment reports: Hawaii, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, California, the Gulf of Mexico, the South Atlantic, North Atlantic and the Great Lakes. Each regional assessment report provides an assessment of the causes and effects of erosion and accretion, social, cultural, economic, and environmental importance of our shorelines, and current and future risks. The reports summarize key findings, management actions being taken, and those recommended to restore and maintain resilient shorelines. Report content was developed using existing, available data and information gathered in virtual meetings and other communication between USACE, tribes, and regional stakeholders representing other federal, state, and local organizations.
National Assessment
A NSMS National Assessment report has been prepared with participation from other Federal agency representatives, tribes, academia, and other coastal-related constituents and is currently under review. The report includes a high-level synthesis of information from the regional assessments to assist in informing, refining and affirming the priority issues and recommendations that the USACE provides to the Army, the Administration, Congress and other interested parties. Elements include:
- A national overview of shoreline change and sediment movement with regional highlights
- Capturing shoreline needs on a national scale
- Identifying and providing support for the importance of:
- Economic, social and environmental aspects of shorelines
- Current and future shoreline management activities
- The need for action
- A systems approach to sediment management
- Recommendations for actions at the national scale
Review Plan
The NSMS Review Plan can be found here.
Beneficial Use of Dredged Materials
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the lead federal agency responsible for most dredging activities in the United States. In Fiscal Year 2022, Congress requested USACE development of a report that provides a description of the beneficial uses of dredged material (BUDM) for non-contiguous states and territories outside of the continental United States (OCONUS) and how BUDM can be applied to mitigate changing sea levels, including impacts on sensitive shoreline areas.
The resultant OCONUS BUDM report presents recent USACE OCONUS dredging and BUDM information, and a five-year projection of future USACE Navigation projects in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. In addition to the use of existing data, USACE obtained regional insights and perspectives on BUDM and best management practices through outreach and engagement with other dredging interests.
OCONUS BUDM actions that may offset and temporarily address adverse impacts of sea level change (SLC) include habitat restoration or enhancement, beach nourishment, nearshore placement within the littoral system (intertidal zone from the high-water mark to areas permanently submerged), and marsh creation or restoration that provides coastal storm risk management to infrastructure.
Offsetting the impacts of SLC is a complicated long-term challenge throughout OCONUS locations. BUDM has the potential to play a role in at least temporarily combating the negative impacts of SLC. While there is limited data regarding past applications of BUDM for this purpose, best available information and insights gained through the development of this report indicate additional investments in the use of BUDM to offset SLC could provide positive temporary benefits in some locations.
The report was transmitted to Congress in November 2024.