GENERATING SWELL: HOW THE BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT’S NATIONAL OFFSHORE SAND INVENTORY AND MARINE MINERALS INFORMATION SYSTEM SUPPORT COASTAL RESILIENCE AND OCEAN USE PLANNING

Sediment used for coastal resilience projects is finite and demand for those resources is increasing. On a national scale, little is known about the character, quantity, and location of sediment resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). To support coastal resilience, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Marine Minerals Program created the National Offshore Sand Inventory (NOSI) initiative. NOSI is composed of four major research areas: (1) Supply and Demand, (2) Resource Evaluation, (3) Risk Mitigation, and (4) Borrow Area Optimization. These research themes are progressed for each major coastal/shefal compartment and are prioritized based on the need established in Supply and Demand studies. Resource Evaluation is the cornerstone of NOSI and incorporates geologic framework and sediment budget studies. The data and products of these studies are compiled and visualized on a GIS platform, Marine Minerals Information System (MMIS), and available to our stakeholders and researchers (https://mmis.doi.gov/BOEMMMIS). MMIS offers an interactive tool that provides public access to data and information relevant to offshore mineral resources throughout the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific OCS. Without ready access to data and a regional and comprehensive understanding of the processes at work on the continental shelf, cost-effective exploration and efficient long-term management of those resources are both challenging. To meet these challenges, BOEM developed MMIS as part of NOSI to help facilitate long-term planning for coastal resilience and reduce or eliminate the potential for multi-use conflicts (e.g. submerged infrastructure, fisheries, navigation, sensitive habitat, cultural resources, etc.).