The GIS Integration and Development Program

Grant Project Summary:
South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management

SC Marsh Island Assessment and Management Strategy

March 2003 to August 2004 Grant Project Area Map

Project Summary

The South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (SC OCRM) and the NOAA Coastal Services Center entered a cooperative agreement to provide guidance for revising regulations governing bridge permits and island development through the design and construction of a stakeholder accepted, GIS-based decision support tool that relies on the best available information and identifies critical criteria necessary to evaluate permit specific, cumulative, and secondary impacts associated with developing islands. SC OCRM 1) served as the project lead and establish the project management team; 2) identified critical policy and management issues governing development of a GIS and decision support tool; 3) identified information and data needed to address the issue; 4) established a stakeholder study committee comprised of coastal resource professionals and developers; and 5) determined the organization and mode of the final products.

NOAA Coastal Services Center's Role

The NOAA Coastal Services Center served as a technical advisor to the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (SC OCRM). NOAA helped 1) create an island spatial data layer, including assessing available software and imagery to identify those most acceptable for meeting project goals; 2) develop and compile metadata for the created spatial data; 3) design a spatial decision tool in the ArcView framework to address the policy issues developed by SC OCRM; and 4) compile the final island data set, other existing data utilized, the decision support tool, and supporting metadata.

Grantee Overview

SC OCRM was created with the primary goals of protecting the quality of the coastal environment and promoting the economic and social improvement of the coastal zone for the people of South Carolina. In order to achieve these goals, the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management strives to develop a balance between the economic development and environmental conservation while promoting inter governmental coordination and public participation. OCRM is part of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and includes about 60 full-time employees in four offices: Beaufort, Charleston, Columbia, and Myrtle Beach. These employees are biologists, engineers, hydrologists, and oceanographers, and planners.

Back to Grant Page Summaries