Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Research Articles

Living with a large reduction in permited loading by using a hydrograph-controlled release scheme.

The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for ammonia and biochemical oxygen demand for the Pee Dee, Waccamaw, and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway system near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, mandated a 60-percent reduction in point-source loading. For waters with a naturally low background dissolved-oxygen concentrations, South Carolina anti-degradation rules in the water-quality regulations allows a permitted discharger a reduction of dissolved oxygen of 0.1 milligrams per liter (mg/L). This is known as the "0.1 rule." Permitted dischargers within this region of the State operate under the "0.1 rule" and cannot cause a cumulative impact greater than 0.1 mg/L on dissolved-oxygen concentrations. For municipal water-reclamation facilities to serve the rapidly growing resort and retirement community near Myrtle Beach, a variable loading scheme was developed to allow dischargers to utilize increased assimilative capacity during higher streamflow conditions while still meeting the requirements of a recently established TMDL. As part of the TMDL development, an extensive real-time data-collection network was established in the lower Waccamaw and Pee Dee River watershed where continuous measurements of streamflow, water level, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and specific conductance are collected. In addition, the dynamic BRANCH/BLTM models were calibrated and validated to simulate the water quality and tidal dynamics of the system. The assimilative capacities for various streamflows were also analyzed. The variable-loading scheme established total loadings for three streamflow levels. Model simulations show the results from the additional loading to be less than a 0. 1 mg/L reduction in dissolved oxygen. As part of the loading scheme, the real-time network was redesigned to monitor streamflow entering the study area and water-quality conditions in the location of dissolved-oxygen "sags." The study reveals how one group of permit holders used a variable-loading scheme to implement restrictive permit limits without experiencing prohibitive capital expenditures or initiating a lengthy appeals process.

Sediment Trapping and Transport in the ACE Basin, South Carolina

A study took place during May 1998 and May 1999 to examine the processes controlling localized accumulation of fine-grained sediments in the lower Ashepoo River. This region, referred to as the Mud Reach, is an area of muddy bottom sediments bounded by fine sands. The Mud Reach is located downstream of the landward extent of the salt intrusion where an estuarine turbidity maximum commonly occurs. Tidal time-series measurements made in the Mud Reach during May 1998, when river discharge was at a 10-yr high, showed high concentrations of suspended sediment (0.05–1 g I−1) during maximum tidal current velocity with concentrations in the bottom 30 cm exceeding 70 g I−1 (fluid mud). A correlation between salinity stratification and increased suspended sediment concentration suggests that inhibited vertical mixing enhances the settling of flocculated sediments to the bed. Measurements made during May 1999 show a two-order-of-magnitude decrease in the concentration of near-bed sediments. A decrease in river discharge during the 1999 observation period of more than 100 m3 s−1 suggests that changes in the hydrography and in the supply of sediments to the system both may be important factors in the trapping of fine-grained sediments in the region. The source of sediments is likely from muddy deposits in the Fenwick Cut, a man-made section of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway about 2 km north of the Mud Reach that connects the Ashepoo and Edisto Rivers. The Fenwick Cut appears to be an effective area for trapping sediments where shoaling has increased by 130% in the last decade. Current measurements show that flow velocities decrease through the Cut, likely allowing for the settling of suspended particles that form the thick deposits of unconsolidated mud observed during both years.

Longitudinal transport in a coastal lagoon

A two-dimensional, finite difference numerical model is used to describe longitudinal transport through a transverse cross section into and out of the northern segment of Indian River lagoon, along the Atlantic coast of Florida. The model uses four layers to represent the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and two layers in the shallow waters east and west of the waterway to quantify transport. Simulations during a 161-day period from late June through late November 1983 include a seasonal shift in the longitudinal component of the wind. Transport is in the same sense throughout the cross section 32% of the time. Relatively subtle lateral shear, however, has a profound effect on long-term net transport. For most of the study, cumulative net transport in the shallow areas on either side of the waterway follows the cumulative along-channel windstress, but it is directed upwind in the lower half of the Intracoastal Waterway. Four numerical experiments examine the relative importance of terms in the momentum equation and components of the database. Results suggest that time-varying baroclinic forcing is an important component of the pressure gradient. Simulations which ignore water-level variations at the open end of the model differ substantially from those which incorporate water-level fluctuations.

Impact of Intracoastal Waterway maintenance dredging on a mud bottom benthos community

The effects of hydraulic dredging on the benthic infauna of a mud bottom area were investigated in Georgia in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Complete displacement of the benthic community was caused by dredging; however, the community began to recover within a month following the cessation of dredging. Within two months the diversity and species composition of the dredged channel were similar to that of a control area and little change in sediment composition resulted. Thus, no apparent limitation was imposed on the normal benthic population by habitat alteration. Recolonisation was too rapid to have been caused by the settling of immature or larval stages from the water column alone. Bank slumping and migration of adult forms have been postulated as other means of recolonisation.