DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS WITH NJ MUNICIPAL & STATE OFFICIALS TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ABOUT COASTAL STORM HAZARDS AND EROSION ISSUES

NJ founded the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)) in 1968, which was followed by NJ Legislative enactment of a Coastal Wetlands Development Act (1970) and the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (1972, updated in 1994) to oversee through permits what had become runaway development of barrier islands and tidal marshes. Six stakeholder panels were involved in policy making and implementation of the new laws.

Public Law 93 passed in 1994 that set up an annual $25 million fund to assist entities along the coast to build coastal improvements on a 75% State, 25% local funding formula. NJ was first to aggressively seek the phenomenal leverage through gaining a Federal project where the Federal share was 65% of the cost with a 35% State/Local share. The NJDEP devoted itself to building relationships with both the Federal agencies and the State's Congressional delegation bringing the municipal officials in at the outset.

The NJDEP contracts with Stevens Institute of Tech. to provide coastal engineering services on project development. The DEP works with Rutgers Univ. to develop statistical databases to provide municipal officials with quantitative data on tourism, beach usage, and desirable alternatives to transportation and access to NJ beaches. Richard Stockton Coastal Research Center has collected seasonal beach surveys at 100 ocean coastal sites for 20 years to monitor beach/dune changes. Stevens and Stockton produce the “State of the NJ State Beaches” each May to assess issues relating to the coming tourist year at a media event run by the NJDEP.

A new technology involving airborne LIDAR and the Stockton coastal data is designed to produce a GIS-based assessment of dune vulnerability to storm overwash or breaching caused by storms of varying intensity. Deliverables included spatial datasets and maps that: (1) identified and predicted weaknesses in the beach-dune system, and (2) quantified historic shoreline change and forecast short- and long-term shoreline positions.

The New Jersey Dept. of Transportation has provided about $4 million annually through the “I BOAT NJ” grant program to allow any state entity, public or private, to apply for funding to improve access, quality, and enjoyment of boating on the bay waters of NJ. A recently funded project on dredge materials management on a regional scale will bring new alliances with local, county and State officials.