Effect of dredging on the marine environment

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges is to manage and ameliorate physical changes to aquatic ecosystem. Physical alteration to aquatic ecosystem through such process as erosion, siltation and hydrologic modification are among the leading causes of water quality impairment and a key understanding avenue for restoration. Many physical disturbances are the result of specific actions (e.g. channelisation. shoreline hardening and dredging). While some others are the result of less specific non-point activities that result from land use. As ocean is the eventual receiving basin for all land runoff water it carriers. any uncontrolled development activity located anywhere near coastal area-in, watersheds, floodplains. wetlands, tidelands or water basin has the potential for drainage to the coastal ecosystem.