Dredging Creates a Strong Economy and a Cleaner Environment

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Thank you for your interest in WEDA's webinar, "A Multi-Decadal Assessment of Dredged Sediment Beneficial Use Projects". A special thanks to Dr. Jacob F. Berkowitz for presenting this highly informative and educational webinar and Kathryn Thomas for facilitating. 

Click here to read the full paper in the WEDA Journal of dredging.

The links to view the webinar online and the webpage are below. 

When occurred: 
Monday, November 14, 2022
Time:
1:00 PM EST

 

Presenter: 

Dr. Jacob F. Berkowitz, Senior Research Soil Scientist
US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center.
jacob.f.berkowitz@usace.army.mil 

Zoom Facilitator: Kathryn Thomas, Vice President, ANAMAR Environmental Consulting, Inc.

PDH Credit:
A certificate for one (1) professional development hour will be available for all participants who attend this webinar or view the recorded webinar online. 

General Webinar Overview:  

Dredged sediment has been used to create and restore wetlands and other landforms for decades as part of beneficial use initiatives. Previous studies demonstrate that beneficial use projects yield ecological functions such as habitat maintenance, floodwater detention, and biogeochemical cycling. However, questions persist about the long-term ecological trajectory of beneficial use projects due to:

  1. short monitoring timeframes and
  2. the paucity of beneficial use sites that have reached maturity since most beneficial use projects were recently constructed. 

In response, ecological functions were assessed at six > 40-year-old dredged sediment beneficial use projects and adjacent reference areas with available historic post-construction monitoring data. Results indicate that after four decades the beneficial use projects:

  1. generally achieved and maintained their target habitats,
  2. became more similar to reference areas over time while remaining on unique trajectories,
  3. display similar responses to environmental conditions as reference areas despite some persistent differences, and
  4. continue to provide a wide array of ecological functions. 

Findings suggest that the establishment of beneficial use success criteria should not over-emphasize replicating reference conditions but should focus on achieving specific ecosystem functions and desirable outcomes.

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Jacob Berkowitz is a Senior Research Soil Scientist and the Team Leader for wetlands research at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center. He also holds faculty appointments at Louisiana State University and several other universities. He is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist, a Professional Wetland Scientist, is a member of the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils, and serves on the editorial board for the journal Wetlands. Dr. Berkowitz has conducted wetland studies in 40 states resulting in more than 95 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. His research focuses on ecological assessment and restoration, wetland biogeochemistry, and improving approaches to natural resource management through teaching and public outreach.

 

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you online! 

~ WEDA Education Commission