Evaluating Dredging Impacts

With the increased recognition of the value of natural systems and the stresses man has placed on both our natural and manmade systems "comprehensive planning" now means more than simply including a floral fauna inventory of a project area in the planning process. Active inclusion of the natural system into the planning process requires definition and investigation of effects of proposed manmade systems as they relate to the natural system. A study initiated in April 1972 by the San Francisco District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine the environmental impact of dredging operations, was designed based on relating the dredging and disposal operation to the natural system in San Francisco Bay.