Shawn Dalton, Ph.D.

Principal and Senior Consultant

April 11, 2011
! document whether and how climate change and
sea level rise are currently viewed and
incorporated into shoreline planning and design
along the Hudson;
! to identify and document barriers to the adoption
of soft shoreline engineering techniques into the
design process;
! to identify potential training needs and
mechanisms of information sharing among actors
in this organizational system.
Roughening of shoreline improves
habitat, but its less important to
clients than [it is to] agencies.
- Landscape Architect
two state mandatesare slamming up against
each other: shoreline related stuff; plus smart
growth Initiatives - densify development in
urbanized areas ,and direct development where
infrastructure is
-Municipal Planner
! Small sample size
! Not representative or random sample
! Uneven distribution of different types of
interviewees
! Possibility of shifting baselines
If Im designing a single
house next to the river, Im
expected to include the
entire issue of global
warming
-Architect
! This is a very diverse group of actors
! Public and private landowners depend upon the engineers and
designers they hire to walk their projects through the permitting
process
! There is very little consideration of the potential effects of
an individual project on the ecological structure and function of the
Hudson River Estuary as a whole
! Project design and the opportunity to employ bioengineering techniques depend to a
great extent upon intended uses
! No consideration of tailoring human uses and activities to the
shoreline
! Despite a high level of expertise and experience in various aspects of
shoreline design and management, very little information sharing takes
place among the actors in this group
[We are] seeing pushback from the
engineering community because
soft engineering it is not as lucrative to
recommend or design plantings
as large hard infrastructure
-Business Alliance representative
Distribution of ranked responses to the question, How helpful
would the following be for you in your shoreline design work?
Rank 1-5 (1 is very useful; 5 is not useful).NB : Results based on
first-round interviews (engineers and consultants) only.
"#$%& ' ( ) * +
Case sLudles of exlsung Lradluonal and alLernauve shorellne pro[ecLs coverlng
deslgn, cosLs and process 6 3
uemonsLrauon slLe or slLes showlng hablLaL frlendly so shorellne" 6 1 2
Sclenuc sLudles of Lhe ecologlcal value of Lhe shorellne zone 3 2 2
Culdance documenLs wlLh llLeraLure revlew of alLernauve shorellne sLablllzauon
Lechnlques 2 6 1
An expanded englneerlng analysls of Lhe funcuon of selecLed shorellne
sLablllzauon LreaLmenLs under Lhe unlque condluons (currenLs, wave and wake
energy, and lce) of Lhe Pudson LsLuary 6 1 2
Local pro[ecuons of cllmaLe change lncludlng sea level rlse 2 1 3 1
ClS-based mapplng characLerlzlng Lhe energy reglmes wlLhln Lhe Pudson, based
upon a hlgh resoluuon (10 m grld resoluuon) verslon of Lhe n?PCS 3-u
clrculauon model (lncludlng Lhe wlnd wave module) forced wlLh hlsLorlcal daLa.
new ?ork Parbor Cbservlng and redlcuon SysLem (n?PCS) 2 2 1
! Understood to be issues of concern
! Importance is relatively low compared to other,
more immediate, concerns faced by shoreline
landowners
! Predictions of the effects of climate change and
sea level rise thought to be too imprecise to
include in the design process
! Railroads consider climate change to be a
business opportunity as well as a management
challenge
Sea level rise is not
considered a huge issue
because we think its way
out there in time
-Municipal Planner
! lack of confidence in longevity
and efficacy in the unique
energy regime of the Hudson
River;
! lack of knowledge in terms of
design and installation;
! perceived costs of installation
and maintenance;
! loss of land required to design
inland of the shore;
! intended uses of a site;
! difficulty in obtaining public
funds for non-traditional
designs;
! time required to introduce
permitters to new soft
engineering tools and
materials;
! lack of support for shoreline
treatments by the general
public - other infrastructure
such as storm sewers, water
lines, and sanitary sewers are
malfunctioning in some
places.
Theres a very daunting process in NY called
SEQRA investigation when [project is]
considered to have significant environmental
effects.Have to do high levels of investigation,
extraordinary and over-the-top planning for a
community that you dont know if youre getting
an approval for
-Developer
! pervasive and varied
! range from basic introduction to soft shoreline tools and techniques in
various settings to high level training for engineering firms
! virtually all types of actors need training: planners, landscape architects,
engineers, contractors and their seasonal staff, and permitters were all
cited as needing training in soft shoreline design and management.
! disconnect between training needs and the amount of time people are
willing to spend in training
! most respondents thought a one-day workshop would be sufficient
highly unlikely, given the complexity of the material
It would be great if we could find a nice
grant to focus more attention on this.
These funds are not at risk of being taken
away the way state money is: you cant raid
it. You have to spend it on what its
intended for.
-Industry Representative
! Take full advantage of the existing expertise and
experience in the Hudson River
! Conduct focus groups to determine in more
detail the training - design, content, and timing of
the various audiences in the system
! Create opportunities to share information and
expertise. Because the organizational system is so
large, varied, and complex, it is difficult to
determine how best to enter new information
into it.
People think that bioengineering
approaches are more expensive than
traditional approaches. Its a mindset
though, because it can actually be
cheaper both up front and in the
long run
-Landscape Architect
! Create opportunities to build trust and
understanding among different
type of stakeholders
! Develop field-based training opportunities,
which provides hands-on experience as well as
networking opportunities
! Develop a HRSS-specific applied research
program, which answers vital questions in short
timeframes
Residents are very vocal about not wanting money
spent on shoreline [because we] dont have money
even for aging infrastructureso shoreline issues are
considered to be menial in
comparison.
-Municipal Engineer