A workshop on “Regional Sediment Management (RSM) and Engineering With Nature (EWN)” was held August 20-22, 2013, in Vicksburg, MS. Sponsored by the RSM and the Dredging Operations Environmental Research programs, the overall goals of the workshop were to:
- identify EWN and RSM opportunities within the USACE missions;
- introduce seven new EWN action projects;
- provide RSM program updates and conduct the annual RSM in-progress review of District initiatives for fiscal year 2013;
- share successes and lessons learned across the RSM and EWN communities;
- establish future EWN and RSM direction and collaborations with the Districts.
Workshop participants included representatives from USACE Headquarters, ERDC, Institute for Water Resources-Hydrologic Engineering Center (IWR-HEC), and Districts. The workshop included technical presentations and group breakout sessions on a broad range of topics associated with Navigation, Flood Risk Management, and Environmental missions, including innovative engineering and operational practices, modeling, data management, and strategic communications for the advancement of a joint EWN and RSM community. Coordinators of the workshop were Dr. Todd Bridges of ERDC Environmental Laboratory (EL) and Ms. Linda Lillycrop of ERDC Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL). The 64 participants in the workshop included representatives from USACE HQ, IWR-HC, Districts, and scientists and engineers from ERDC. The workshop included numerous technical presentations and group breakout practices, numerical modeling, and strategic communications for the advancement of a joint EWN and RSM community.