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Soldout! The 2006 Annual Conference
“Managing Coastal Sediment” confab hits all-time records

Nationally prominent scientists, engineers and researchers joined with North Carolina’s unified coastal advocacy organization November 13 and 14 at Courtyard by Marriott at Carolina Beach to update one another and the public on the issues presenting challenges to those whose lives and livelihoods depend on the effective stewardship of vital coastal infrastructure.

A highlight of the two-day annual conference of the North Carolina Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association (NCBIWA) was an update of an ongoing research project to determine the economic impact of recreational boating. That study begun in the spring of 2005 is being conducted by a team of researchers from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Appalachian State University in Boone.

The packed house also heard from representatives from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), as well as a contingent of inlet and waterway stewards from Florida.

The condition of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) which connects near-coast North Carolina with other Eastern states to provide commercial and recreational transport lane was a key focus of the 2006 conference.

Federal government abandonment of its historic role as the maintainer of the waterway led conference attendees to consider other options for funding critically needed dredging to keep the waterway, and inlets that provide access to the waterway from the open Atlantic, open and operational.

The economic study organized by UNCW chancellor emeritus Dr. James Leutze is expected to show the value of not only commercial but also recreational boating to coastal and surrounding counties and to gauge the potential for user-based fees to return the waterway to vitality.

Results of the Leutze study will be released in early 2007. The majority of the funding for the research came from the local governments organized by NCBIWA, with participation from North Carolina Sea Grant and NCDENR. Preliminary reports shared with the group at the November 13-14 meeting illustrated the results of surveys of boaters to determine how much a typical crew spends on fuel, lodging, launch fees, food and other provisions as they cruise the state’s inlets and waterways. Reports also showed what boaters told researchers about their willingness to pay an additional boat licensing fee, a fee increase which would be dedicated to waterway and inlet maintenance.

Dr. Jim Herstine and Dr. Chris Dumas of UNCW presented their update to the conference. Other researchers leading the project are Dr. Woody Hall and Dr. Ed Graham of UNCW and Dr. John Whitehead of Appalachian State University.

Using on-site survey teams, the study has collected and compiled information from approximately 1,500 boaters at Coinjock, the Great Dismal Swamp, Belhaven, Oriental, Beaufort/Morehead City/Atlantic Beach area, Swansboro, Scotts Hill, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Southport.

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