Collaborative Strategy for Dredging and Environmental Restoration Projects: Annapolis, Maryland

When Annapolis was chosen as a stop for the 2005–2006 Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), the premier round the world sailing yacht competition. City planners were tasked with preparing the City Harbor and Channel for the fleet's arrival in May 2006. Unlike previous VORs this planning would include dredging to support a new class of racing yacht 70-feet long, designed to draw 14.8 feet of water. This need sparked City officials who had for some time been contemplating increasing harbor depth to allow entrance of deeper draft vessels. Planners realized the cost associated with such work could be prohibitive to Annapolis' budget goals. To solve this potential dilemma, the City hired the design firm KCI Technologies, Inc. KCI and the City teamed to pursue a collaborative strategy to complete the work in parallel with environmental restoration efforts in the region. Initial concepts for the dredging and associated material placement were generated and advanced by KCI. At the same time, all necessary background information was compiled for the dredging including a material characteristics assessment, updates to hydrographic surveys, and consultation with VOR yacht design firms to assess controlling parameters. During the preliminary designs, Greenbury Point, owned by the U.S. Naval Academy was identified as a possible location for beneficial use of the dredged material. The Greenbury Point peninsula, located at the mouth of the Severn River, was identified because of its close proximity to Annapolis Harbor and the need for environmental restoration at the site, including stabilization of a potentially failing berm, existing fresh water ponds, and wetlands associated with an historic Dredge Material Placement (DMP) site. Greenbury point also contained opportunities for wetlands creation through dredge material placement utilization and reforestation. The team also recognized that the project could potentially serve as a model for local DMP. Local officials noted that the space availability for DMP sites, especially on the larger scale of regional DMP sites, is continuously being reduced through land development while capacity requirements remain at least stable. Based upon the preliminary designs, the City of Annapolis requested Congressional funding for the project through the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration portion of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), also known as a Section 206 project. With the background data provided by the team, initial Congressional funding was allocated to the project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) tasked with completing the work. After choosing several potential scenarios for advancing the project, KCI, Annapolis, and USACE assembled potential shareholders including the Maryland Port Administration (MPA), U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Maryland Environmental Service (MES), and Anne Arundel County Soil Conservation Service to ascertain the potential benefits to the region from the project. By providing positive leadership and direction to the project, team leaders were able to forge a consensus among all partners through a mutually beneficial Collaborative Strategy approach. This Collaborative Strategy sought simply to provide a "win" for all involved team members. With a Collaborative Strategy in place, and with a strong interest in providing environmentally beneficial uses of dredged material, MPA agreed to earmark an existing DMP site for disposal of the Annapolis Harbor dredge material in exchange for participation in the Greenbury Point restoration portion of the project. In addition a time-optimized design for the dredging and material placement was produced which allowed the dredging of Annapolis Harbor to be completed in early 2006. During the same period KCI continued Section 206 project development based upon inputs of team members, drafting a Scope of Work and cost estimates for the entire project. This information was used to secure further funding from Congress from which design of the Section 206 portion of the project is currently advancing.