Digital Coast

Issue

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) Mapping and Planning Portal, developed by The Nature Conservancy under a contract with the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, contains a compilation of state and local data used for regional ocean planning efforts. To inform such regional planning efforts, authoritative federal spatial data are also required. However, compiling and providing access to multiple sources of spatial data and information is both time- and labor-intensive.

Process

Instead of manually compiling federal data, the MARCO Mapping and Planning Portal is able to directly consume federal data that are produced, maintained, and made available through the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC) data registry. The MMC data registry provides access to national-scale spatial data sets and Web services that support planning and decision-making in the coastal and marine environment. Using Web services ensures that users are able to view and access the most recent federal authoritative spatial data and information. Specific data sets include marine jurisdictions, which encompass the collection of U.S. marine boundaries and limits, as well as other administrative boundaries used to accurately delineate planning on the outer continental shelf.

Impact

By utilizing Web services from the MMC, The Nature Conservancy has reduced the costs associated with collecting and processing spatial data, while providing state, regional, and local practitioners access to the most authoritative and current information.