1 / 21

MACOORA Annual Meeting State Partnerships Panel

MACOORA Annual Meeting State Partnerships Panel. Laura McKay. Laura McKay 804.698.4323 Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov. State CZM Programs Form MARCO. Fall of 2008 NY, NJ, DE, MD and VA CZM Programs began drafting Governors’ Agreement.

alpha
Download Presentation

MACOORA Annual Meeting State Partnerships Panel

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. MACOORA Annual MeetingState Partnerships Panel Laura McKay Laura McKay 804.698.4323 Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov

  2. State CZM Programs Form MARCO • Fall of 2008 NY, NJ, DE, MD and VA CZM Programs began drafting Governors’ Agreement. • June 4, 2009 Governors announced signing of Ocean Conservation Agreement.

  3. Guiding Principles of the Agreement • Protect and conserve our ocean resources for current and future generations. • Take an ecosystem-based management approach. • Promote a regional agenda at the national level. • Partner with federal and external stakeholders to ensure success.

  4. Four MARCO Priority Issues: • Habitat • Renewable Offshore Energy • Climate Change • Water Quality

  5. Protect the 10 major offshore canyons from harmful or damaging activities. • 2) Identify other key Mid-Atlantic habitats (such as migration corridors) at risk from damaging activities and seek appropriate protection measures. • 3) Create a regional internet mapping system to identify areas unsuitable for certain activities due to the presence of key habitats. • 4) Create Mid-Atlantic marine habitat protection and restoration policies to guide management.

  6. Task 1: Protect the 10 Major Offshore Canyons Step 1:Document ecological value of, and identify threats to, the canyons. Step 2:Identify most appropriate canyon protection tools. Step 3:Work with NOAA and other federal agencies with jurisdiction to adopt appropriate canyon protection measures.

  7. Task 2: Identify Other Key Mid-Atlantic Habitats Step 1:Synthesize existing habitat mapping & monitoring data.

  8. Task 2: Cont’d. Step 2:Identify and fill data gaps.

  9. Task 2: Cont’d. Step 3:Conduct stakeholder workshops.

  10. Task 3: Create a Regional Internet Mapping System Step 1:Build a draft MARCO GIS Portal. Step 2:Secure a permanent server for MARCO portal.

  11. $93K in VA CZM Grants to TNC toMap Marine Habitats & Create MARCO Portal

  12. Develop and finalize shared research and monitoring protocols for assessing impacts of energy development in terms of construction and operation on ocean and coastal resources. • 2) Define regulatory steps, time frames, and potential barriers to development of offshore renewable energy resources. • 3) Complete an offshore use map to facilitate siting of renewable energy projects to minimize adverse impacts to other ocean users and ecological services.

  13. Identify key infrastructure vulnerable to sea level rise and flood hazards at a coarse scale. • 2) Acquire data to assess regional vulnerability to climate change and sea level rise impacts to infrastructure and coastal habitats. • 3) Create a regional/ national GIS. • 4) Facilitate information exchange. • 5) Initiate sea level rise adaptation measures to collectively reduce the region’s vulnerability.

  14. Promote greater federal investments for infrastructure upgrades to region’s wastewater treatment infrastructure. • 2) Reduce amount of human-derived debris and floatables entering waterways and the ocean. • 3) Improve delivery and expand data collected on water quality to better predict impairments and assess effectiveness of wq improvement efforts. • 4) Develop agenda to address atmospheric sources of nitrogen and other toxins that contaminate ocean waters.

  15. Check “midatlanticocean.org” for Updates!

  16. Major Coastal Issues Facing Virginia are same as for MARCO • Habitat Protection • Offshore Wind Energy Development • Climate Change • Water Quality

  17. Habitat: Special Area Management Plans - Seaside Marine Spatial Plan

  18. SB1350 Offshore Wind Energy In State Waters Bathymetry <4 meters Wind Class 3 4 5 6 Shipping lanes (¼ mile buffer) Military exclusions FAA restrictions Public Private Shellfish Grounds Data and maps provided by: Continental and Regional Importance to Birds

  19. Offshore Wind Energy in Federal WatersTwo Wind Companies looking to locate~12 miles offshore of Virginia Beach MMS lease blocks are4.8 km x 4.8 km, with each block having 7 x 7 turbines. Turbines spaced 685 mapart (7.6 rotor diameters) Each lease block could contain 49 turbines= 147 MW if V-90 3 MW (6.4 MW per km2) GIS layers and calculations by Remy Luerssen, James Madison University

  20. Climate Change: Local PlansNew VA CZM Focal Area$400K per year for 3 years: Oct 08 Sep 11 Protecting Blue & Green Infrastructure & Adapting to Climate Change

  21. What Do We Need to Move Ahead? Where to Next? Macrofauna Maps (esp. birds, marine mammals, sea turtles and finfish) Human Use Maps (esp recreational fishing areas) LIDAR (esp maps showing sea level rise over time intervals)

More Related