Major Components of a MONITORING Program
1.0 Objectives of Monitoring Program (Why)
This could be provided as a bullet list or brief statement on why the monitoring program is being proposed.
2.0 Features to be Monitored (What and Where)
The monitoring program should identify the specific features that will be measured (such as bluff retreat, beach width, etc.) and where the features will be measured, possibly shown on a map or site plan. The monitoring program also should establish baseline conditions for the protective option, possibly based on the site characterization, project plans, as-built plans, or information from other monitoring programs. Follow-up monitoring should, to the extent possible, compare future changes to these baseline conditions.
Monitoring methods should be provided in written protocol, and how the important project features will be monitored through techniques such as:
• Visual inspections of shoreline protective device or beach nourishment
• Visual inspection of recreational use or access
• Surveys of beach users
• Qualitative examination of project area
• Beach and bluff surveys or profiles through traditional survey techniques
• Tape measuring between established points
• Establishing permanent benchmarks to make periodic measurements at the same location
• Aerial photographs
For efforts to document conditions of beach nourishment, a structure, scour, or end effects, it may be appropriate to take regular photographs during monitoring, using the same vantage point and photographing in the same direction.
4.0 Monitoring Schedule (When)
There should be a written schedule for monitoring, such as:
• Annually, semi-annually, monthly, etc.
• Once an year during the spring or summer;
• Twice a year, during the spring and again in the fall;
• Following significant storm events (of an identified magnitude).
5.0 Reports on Monitoring Efforts
Following scheduled monitoring, the results should be documented and submitted to the executive director within four weeks after completion of the monitoring. The monitoring document should provide information on all measured features as well as:
• List of preparers, complete with titles and affiliations (Who)
• Analysis of all quantified monitoring data, with comparisons to performance criteria (What)
• Prints of monitoring photographs (what)
• Maps identifying monitoring areas, transects, etc. as appropriate (Where)
• Identification of any needed follow-up maintenance (So what)
If the monitoring plan is used to trigger maintenance, the maintenance plan may be prepared to identify all the actions which the applicants anticipate undertaking in the future to maintain their shoreline protective option in an effective, as-built condition. Anything proposed as a maintenance activity must be thoroughly described, to allow an early determination of any necessary permits or permit amendments prior to any maintenance action. In many cases, if the activities can be clearly defined in the monitoring and maintenance plan, and the maintenance activities can be covered in the initial permit, routine maintenance can be undertaken after a brief written notice or phone call.
Finally, it must be recognized that not all maintenance and repairs can be anticipated or handled through a maintenance plan. The need for unanticipated maintenance or large-scale repairs should be brought to staff’s attention as soon as possible. Such efforts may require regulatory action such as a new coastal development permit or an amendment to the initial permit. Such situations could arise if a shoreline protective structure is completely destroyed by a storm and a new design is proposed, or if routine maintenance is ignored until a large repair effort is necessary.
If the monitoring program is being prepared to evaluate the effectiveness of a shoreline protective option, it may be appropriate for the monitoring program to incorporate some performance criteria which could be used to gauge effectiveness. For example, if a beach nourishment project has been undertaken to increase recreational use on a beach, the project may try to quantify the number of new users that would be needed to determine whether the project has had a positive effect on recreation. Usually performance criteria develop from the objectives of the project and the monitoring, and these criteria will be specific to the project location and project design.
ATTACHMENT
B
TRACKING FORM FOR MONITORING OF SHORELINE PROTECTION OR BEACH
NOURISHMENT PROJECTS
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date |
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permit number: |
permit analyst: |
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project location (street address if any, city, and county or other location indicator): |
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Project Type (check one): ¨ Vertical Sea Wall ¨ Cave Filling ¨ Beach Nourishment, |
¨ Revetment ¨ Groin or Jetty |
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if nourishment, Source of Material: |
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Disposal Site: |
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¨ Other: |
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INFORMATION ON MONITORING
(if staff report or monitoring plan provide information on monitoring, a copy should be attached rather than complete the rest of the form.)
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What is being monitored: |
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Frequency of monitoring: |
Will we receive reports: ¨ Yes ¨ No |
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Is there any maintenance with the monitoring: ¨ Yes ¨ No |
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If yes, what type of maintenance can occur: |
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Person to contact for more details: |
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Accretion: enlargement of the beach area caused by either natural or artificial means. Natural accretion on a beach is the build-up or deposition of sand and sediments by water or wind. Artificial accretion is a similar build-up due to human activity, such as the accretion due to the construction of a groin or breakwater, or beach fill deposited by mechanical means.
Bluff Edge (or Cliff edge): the upper termination of a bluff, cliff or seacliff. When the top edge of the cliff is rounded away from the face of the cliff as a result of erosional processes related to the presence of the steep cliff face, the edge shall be defined as that point nearest the cliff beyond which the downward gradient of the land surface increases more or less continuously until it reaches the general gradient of the cliff. In a case where there is a steplike feature at the top of the cliff face, the landward edge of the topmost riser shall be taken to be the cliff edge. The termini of the bluff line, or edge along the seaward face of the bluff, shall be defined as a point reached by bisecting the angle formed by a line coinciding with the general trend of the bluff line along the seaward face of the bluff, and a line coinciding with the general trend of the bluff line along the inland facing portion of the bluff. Five hundred feet shall be the minimum length of bluff line or edge to be used in making these determinations (from Public Resources Code Section 13577).
Closure Depth: the water depth at which no appreciable movement of sediment by wave action occurs.
Down Coast: in the United States usage, it is the coastal direction generally trending toward the south; also the way in which current flows.
End Effects: changes to the shoreline directly adjacent to, and usually down coast of a seawall, often an arcuate zone of localized scour or loss of bluff material.
Geotextile Material or Filter Cloth: a type of strong permeable plastic cloth that is used behind seawalls or under revetments to reduce or minimize sand removal by scour.
Hydraugers: a horizontal drain used to convey groundwater through fill material or to prevent build-up of groundwater behind a vertical structure.
Littoral cell: a region which encompasses most features affecting sediment transport. The boundaries of the cell are usually delineated by river drainage areas, promontory headlands, or submarine canyons on the periphery, the continental shelf-continental slope boundary on the seaward side, and by inland ridges and river inlets on the landward side. Sediment within these cells generally travel seaward by river drainage, southward (downcoast) by longshore currents, and are eventually lost to the continental slope area or submarine canyon.
Longshore Sand Transport: the movement of sand and other sedimentary material parallel to the shore.
Monitoring: systematic collection of physical, biological, or economic data or a combination of these data on a beach nourishment project in order to make decisions regarding project operation or to evaluate project performance.
Nearshore zone: an indefinite zone extending seaward from the shoreline well beyond the breaker zone; it defines the area of nearshore currents.
Nourishment: the process of replenishing or enlarging a beach. It may be brought about naturally by longshore transport or artificially by the deposition of dredged materials.
Offshore: off or away from the shore. This area extends from beyond the breaker zone to the outer limit of the littoral zone and beyond.
Profile: the intersection of the ground surface with a vertical plane; a complete beach profile may extend from the top of the dune line or from the top of the bluff to the seaward limit of sand movement; however more limited end points may be used.
Scour: the removal of underwater material by waves and currents, especially at the base or toe of a shore structure.
Spalling: To break up into chips or fragments; to chip or crumble.
Up Coast: in the United States usage, the coastal direction generally trending toward the north; from which a current comes. Sediment will often deposit on the up coast side of a groin, jetty, or headland, reducing the amount of sediment which is available for transport further down coast.
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