For two days a collective of coastal issues experts and officials will convene in Wrightsville Beach for the 17th annual N.C. Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association (NCBIWA) meeting.
Planned for Monday, Nov. 17, through Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, the conference will feature eight sessions throughout the two-day agenda. Topics range from monitoring coastal species to management of Coastal Storm Damage Reduction projects, including updates from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and N.C. Division of Coastal Management.
Harry Simmons, Caswell Beach mayor and NCBIWA executive director, said the conference is designed to cover a broad range of topics.
“It is a little bit of everything for everybody, which is the point of it,” Simmons said. “It is not so much to make people whole on coastal issues as it is to stir discussion, exchange ideas and try to make people think about things that need to happen or improve the things we do on the coast of North Carolina.”
Simmons said certain hot topics will take center stage this year.
“No doubt that the expansion of the waters of the United States is going to be a big topic because that is something the EPA is actively trying to do,” he said. “How we address regional sediment management in the future by not wasting sand that comes out of channels is going to be an interesting topic.”
In terms of the relationship between sea turtle nesting protections and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction projects, Simmons said he would be interested to discuss the possibility of requesting flexibility in the window for completing the projects.
“We think there may be some flexibility in all of that to make it a little easier to do the projects by making them less expensive and also safer,” he said. “The unsafe time to work on the coast of North Carolina is the winter, which is exactly when the turtle advocates suggest they should work so we are trying to find ways to work at the edges of all of that.”
Simmons said the NCBIWA searches for presenters throughout the year. Roughly 100-150 people usually attend the conference. Advanced registration ends at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14. Costs are $95 for NCBIWA members and $105 for nonmembers. Afterward, Simmons said those interested may show up Monday to attend the conference for a slightly higher cost.
For a full agenda and for more information, visit
www.ncbiwa.org
email [email protected]
