NATURAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENTS

Water-related projects typically affect natural resources. Projects of all types — beach nourishment; marina construction and renovation; coastal and inland waterfront construction; dredging; dredged material management plans; dredged material management facility construction; and habitat restoration, among others — may have positive or negative impacts on terrestrial, wetland, and submerged aquatic communities. Determining the type and extent of possible environmental consequences requires natural resources assessments. Taylor Engineering’s scientists characterize and map natural resource communities to assist project owners in evaluating potential detrimental and beneficial effects of their projects, minimizing project environmental impacts, preparing defendable permit applications, and developing mitigation strategies to compensate for unavoidable environmental impacts. Please visit our project gallery to view a variety of our natural resource assessment projects. A few project examples include

Texas GLO Economic and Natural Resource Benefit Study

Taylor Engineering’s study classified and estimated economic and financial benefits associated with 13 beach and natural resource restoration projects constructed over a three-year period. The study looked at projects associated with commercial and recreational fishing, tourism and ecotourism (wildlife viewing), improved water quality, carbon sequestration, beach recreation, property values, out-of-state visitor spending, and storm protection. This study served to estimate the economic and financial benefits of projects via benefit-to-cost ratios after construction.

Leading-edge Solutions

Viewed project funding from outside Texas and spending by visitors from outside the state as financial benefits to the state
Applied meta-analysis techniques to evaluate natural resource benefits
Performed rigorous engineering analysis of storm damage reduction benefits
Produced clearly written report for decision makers to understand project costs and benefits

Loxahatchee River Seagrass Monitoring

This monitoring consisted of surveying multiple existing and proposed recreational boat navigation channels within an Aquatic Preserve. The surveys aimed to locate, characterize, and quantify seagrass communities in the immediate vicinity of the channels. The information gathered during the surveys helped the Jupiter Inlet District develop a maintenance dredging design that avoids and minimizes potential impacts to seagrass communities.

Leading-edge Solutions

Followed latest survey protocols of the Johnson’s Seagrass Recovery Team for large sites
Assessed frequency and abundance of seagrass near project sites
Produced report and analyses accepted by environmental permit agencies

SJ-14 Wetlands and Spill Damage Assessment

Taylor Engineering provided and oversaw professional engineering, environmental, and surveying services related to site remediation of an upland dredged material management area along the Intracoastal Waterway. These services became necessary after a dredging contractor disconnected the temporary return water pipeline from the weir’s permanent buried pipeline and inadvertently released a large volume of marine sediment slurry from the containment basin into an adjacent 28.7-acre forested natural area, primarily wetlands.

Leading-edge Solutions

Constantly coordinated with environmental agencies to ensure activities conformed to agency expectations
Quantified ground and surface water contaminants
Developed soil, groundwater, and surface water remediation plans