Remarks by
BG William E. Rapp
Division Commander
Northwestern Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Coastal Engineering Research Board
Portland Oregon
23 September 2008
Good morning and welcome to Portland! It is a privilege to be here with you today and to see the tremendous interest that each of you have in improving the management of our coastal and inland water resources.
It is great to have the Board meet in Portland so that we can show you some of the issues we face. While not as high profile as say Louisiana Coastal Restoration, the Pacific Northwest has a number of important and exciting engineering problems. The wave energy coming across the North Pacific provides us with a number of challenges!
To that end, you’ll be hearing from several of our own Portland and Seattle district experts who will address:
> Oregon and Washington coastal infrastructure management;
> The influence, trends, and impacts of storm surges and a rough wave climate on our infrastructure;
> Ongoing changes to jetties at the Mouth of the Columbia River;
> And long-term harbor management studies.
On a national scale, your coastal initiatives have dealt with high-visibility topics, from the National Shoreline Management Study and Shoreline Erosion Control Study to MORPHOS (Modeling Relevant Physics of Systems) and Regional Sediment Management.
It is the latter issue that I want to address briefly, along with some thoughts about other challenges ahead that you might consider.
From all accounts, Regional Sediment Management has been a win-win story from the word go.
When CERB created the Regional Sediment Management program in the 1990s, it was to answer the call for more efficient management of coastal dredging projects and to develop a regional, long-term systems approach to managing dredging and disposal of dredged material.
In the ensuing years, the program has demonstrated its value many times over in our increased understanding of sediment transport and more efficient operation of Corps coastal and inland projects.
All five Northwestern Districts receive funds from the national program through ERDC for both coastal and inland projects.
Our NWD division and district team carefully manages this program – and tomorrow you’ll hear more about how this team works with our stakeholders on Regional Sediment Management projects in the lower Columbia River estuary.
As you discuss critical issues and challenges, other questions may make their way to the forefront:
1) The regional climate is changing in ways that can adversely affect our coastal margin infrastructure. How do we effectively isolate the cause and effect relationship between changing climate and infrastructure response?
2) In many cases, our coastal-navigation infrastructure is already in a deferred maintenance mode. How much deferral is acceptable . . . and what future cause and effect scenarios should we be anticipating and projecting as a result?
3) Since the Chief’s Actions for Change initiative stresses a comprehensive systems approach and risk-informed decision-making, what are the best models to help us develop a timely, ordered rationale for prioritizing infrastructure investment decisions?
4) Lastly, an important corollary to any discussion of risk is the need to communicate these issues throughout USACE, Congress, and to our local and regional stakeholders. Early and frequent communication may help promote a smoother partnership approach for responding to critical or complex situations.
By any measure, CERB exemplifies the kind of organization the Chief of Engineers values so highly --- one that builds momentum, produces results, and sets the stage for greatness.
I applaud this organization and its professionals who work so hard to provide informed research to solve our nation’s coastal engineering problems. Your contributions have lasting impact and value to the nation.
What you do, individually and collectively, not only improves the present moment for others, but for generations to come.
I wish you continued success in all your endeavors.