The EPA gulf of mexico program has unique work opportunities with federal and state partners to test the latest technologies in measuring increases and trends in important gulf habitats. Some of these…

The EPA gulf of mexico program has unique work opportunities with federal and state partners to test the latest technologies in measuring increases and trends in important gulf habitats. Some of these technologies include the most up-to-date remote sensing methods, water quality monitoring methodologies, on-site modeling validation tools and gulf important models to aid decision makers. As part of the mississippi coastal improvements program (mscip), the so-called camille cut in ship island is to be filled in with dredged sand to protect the ecology of the mississippi sound as well as strengthen the ship island storm protection for the mainland. Dredged sand will also be placed in the littoral zone to help replenish the sand on the island more naturally and to mitigate the effects of the gulfport shipping lane being near the island. As a result of the ship island mscip restoration, IT is expected that water quality on the sound side of the island will become less turbid. Seagrasses that are already present on the sound side are expected to increase because of the improvement in water clarity when the fill-in is completed. Additionally, IT is expected that bird perching stakes will be implemented to help increase seagrass expansion through bird guano fertilization. Barrier island decision makers also need modeling data and analyses to be able to make more targeted decisions on barrier island management and mitigation. The recent trend of numerous intense storms has increased the interest of coastal impacts in terms of geomorphic changes and the resilience of natural systems to storms. Storm impact can result in beach and dune erosion, overwash and formation of new inlets through breaching. Changes in the morphology can lead to significant change in ecological systems resulting in loss of critical habitat. For example, barrier island breaching may allow a greater exchange of water between ocean and sound leading to degradation of estuarine water quality and loss of sensitive habitats. Further, exposure of BAY waters to increased waves and currents can similarly cause both physical and ecological changes (kraus and wamsley, 2003). Best management practices for protecting critical habitat can be informed by the identification of areas vulnerable to breaching during storms and the development of options for pre-storm management activities that may reduce the chance of breaching. There are a variety of approaches that characterize coastal vulnerability (e.g., hansen and sallenger (2007), kraus (2003), and thieler, E.R. And hammar-klose, E.S.