We especially want to thank Colonel Brad Morgan, District Commander of the Wilmington District of the Corps, and Captain Tim List, Commander of Sector North Carolina of the U.S. Coast Guard for participating in our opening session. Participation by leadership of federal agency local offices is always a highlight.

Our annual updates by each Corps District’s recent dredging activities and upcoming projects along with all other presentations is available on our annual meeting website. In addition, we invited an article for this month’s newsletter from Dr. Todd Bridges at the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems at the University of Georgia. Dr. Bridges led the Engineering with Nature program by the Corps from its founding before moving to IRIS earlier this year. We are excited to highlight the opportunities for nature-based solutions for the management of the AIWW so please share your ideas with the IRIS team.

Looking forward over the holidays, we continue to watch Washington, D.C. for any movement of appropriations bills. December is expected to be a quiet month since the Congress has passed a Continuing Resolution keeping the government open until at least January. However, Congress divided the appropriations bills into two pieces with some agencies funded through January 19th and the remaining agencies funded through February 2nd. This is unprecedented so no one is sure how this process will move forward. The Corps is funded through January 19th so we are hopeful that their FY24 funding will be resolved early. The good news is that numerous projects are underway and will not be delayed. Our board of directors will be visiting Washington, D.C. in March so we expect to have more clarity by then.

Finally, it’s never too early to Save the Date! We will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary in Charleston, SC next year during the week of November 18th. We look forward to seeing everyone in Charleston to celebrate this momentous occasion for the AIWA.

Below left to right, Brad Pickel presenting the Waterway Champion Award to Mark Crosley honoring his numerous years of service to AIWA, and recognizing David Dickerson for his leadership in 2022 and 2023 as the outgoing board chair.

The ‘natural’ opportunity for the AIWW—as well as other waterways, systems, and landscapes—is to meaningfully integrate processes and features in nature with human engineering and infrastructure to make the combined system more sustainable, resilient, and beneficial for both nature and people.

On Earth Day in April of 2022, President Biden issued Executive Order (14072) on “Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.” Section 4 of this Executive Order, entitled “Deploying Nature-Based Solutions to Tackle Climate Change and Enhance Resilience,” initiated a series of actions by the federal government to accelerate the deployment of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), which the EO defined as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges, simultaneously providing benefits for people and the environment.” One relevant example of a NbS is action taken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its partners’ to beneficially use dredged sediments in the Atchafalaya River to create Horseshoe Bend Island, a feature that reduces channel shoaling (and thus dredging costs) while also providing >80 acres of habitat for native flora, fauna, and folks. Complementary to EO 14072, in January of 2023, the Chief of Engineers, LTG Scott Spellmon, established the first national, agency-wide goal for beneficial use of dredged material—70% beneficial use by 2030 (i.e., 70×30)—stating that “Dredged material is a valued resource that is not to be wasted, but instead used for benefits to the ecosystem, economy, and to deliver the USACE mission more effectively and efficiently across our portfolio of Navigation, Flood Risk Management and Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration projects.” The nexus between NbS and beneficial use of dredged sediment represents a significant opportunity for the AIWW.

The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) at the University of Georgia (UGA) was established with the vision of “natural and conventional infrastructure working together for thriving communities, businesses and natural systems.” More than 50 faculty and professionals and >60 graduate students across UGA are pursuing this vision through research, education, engagement and project implementation. We would like to invite you to share your ideas with us about needs and opportunities for NbS, which you can do by visiting our webpage on Opportunities for Nature-based Solutions. The future is bright for Nature-based Solutions and the AIWW!

Association Note: The AIWA is excited to partner with IRIS-UGA and we encourage our stakeholders to learn more and share your ideas on their website.