Resources | Technical Assistance

Technical Assistance

The following are links to technical assistance NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and NOAA’s Coastal Services Center offer on a variety of coastal management issues:

Clean Marina Initiative

The Clean Marina Initiative is a voluntary, incentive-based program that addresses cumulative and secondary impacts from marina and boating activities.  The Clean Marina Program encourages marina operators and recreational boaters to protect coastal water quality by engaging in environmentally sound operating and maintenance procedures.

marina

The Clean Marina Program recognizes marina operators for being good environmental stewards.

Coastal Services Center Technical Assistance

NOAA’s Coastal Services Center is involved with many projects and decision-support tools. These tools provide coastal managers with information and guidance needed to address coastal management issues including hazards, smart growth, beach nourishment, benthic habitat mapping, ecosystem restoration, and remote sensing and others. They have also developed a Legislative Atlas to support regional ocean and coastal management efforts by mapping key state and federal laws and jurisdictions.

Coastal Services Center Training Opportunities

NOAA’s Coastal Services Center offers a variety of training opportunities for coastal managers.  Training is provided on geospatial technology, process skills such as negotiating and project design, and other topical issues, such as hazards training.

Coastal Storms Program

NOAA’s Coastal Storms Program is a nationwide effort to help coastal communities reduce the impacts of coastal storms.  Local, state, and federal organizations, lead by NOAA’s Coastal Services Center, are cooperatively developing a large suite of new and improved tools, information, and forecast models to meet this goal.

To date, the Coastal Storms Program has focused on three pilot regions: the St. Johns watershed in Florida, the lower Columbia River and adjacent coastal areas, and the Southern California Bight.  In addition to these three, the program is beginning a new pilot project in the Gulf of Mexico. Although these pilots focus on specific regions the results are helping the entire coastal zone do a better job of preparing for the inevitable coastal storm. The types of products (developed through each pilot) cover a variety of storm-related issues ranging from community risk and vulnerability assessments, to flood response and improved weather forecasting.

Dock photo

The number of residential docks are increasing throughout the coast.

Dock and Pier Management Activities

Many coastal managers and citizens are concerned about the proliferation of docks and the potential impacts numerous private docks may have on the environment, navigation, and the ability of the public to access the waterfront. OCRM, in partnership with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and Coastal Services Center sponsored workshops, and developed white papers, training materials, and other resource tools to help coastal managers with their small dock and pier management needs.

Shoreline Management Technical Assistance Toolbox

OCRM, in partnership with NOAA’s Restoration Center, developed a Shoreline Management Technical Assistance Toolbox to provide coastal managers, local decision makers and other interested parties with information about and easy access to management tools, case studies, and other resources available for addressing shoreline management issues. The site focuses on management approaches that avoid shoreline hardening, including policy tools (e.g., set backs, planning, shoreline zoning, etc.) and alternative “soft” shoreline stabilization methods (e.g., marsh restoration with breakwater sill).

 

 

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