Description
Course Description
This course is an introduction to Self-Sustaining Ecosystems. The intent of this course is NOT to make the reader an expert in every ecosystem design, but rather, introduce some challenges in creating a self-sustaining ecosystem by using an actual project that was successfully designed, permitted and constructed…but not just any project! This project consisted of not one, but two, different manmade tidal saltwater ecosystems. The course explains the process used to permit and construct a tidal saltwater marsh and a tidal saltwater pond at the Suncoast Conservation Center.
This course IS intended for those engineers and designers to:
- be aware of different ecosystem projects and become sufficiently familiar with the permitting requirements;
- discuss potential ecosystem opportunities with a client;
- understand the permitting challenges;
- know how to work with the regulatory agencies for projects and ecosystems that the regulators are not familiar with;
- discuss the construction challenges that were faced;
- ease the pains involved with an innovative ecosystem permit.
The course will begin by providing a brief background of the project goals and challenges before presenting the technical topics on the marsh and pond designs. Again, this introductory course is about what creating new ecosystems may involve, and it provides a basic guide for an engineer to use in discussing ecosystem permitting intelligently with a client, as well as the initial discussions with the regulatory agencies.
Author: Randy S. Wilder, PE
Course Number: 483
Course Hours: 4 PDH