| "People come up with new ideas of what they want to do, and we don't always have the foresight to think of these new activities ahead of time." | |
| Vangie Lujan, Guam Coastal Management Program |
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Snorkeling, jet skis, kite boarding, and now underwater walking tours, or SNUBA, all show that as times change, so do people's ideas of what's fun. But one person's fun can be another person's annoyance or—worse—damage the very resources people come to the shoreline to enjoy.
For more than a decade, coastal resource managers in Guam have planned for the extensive recreational use of its resources. Over time, coastal managers have learned what they did right, what they could do better, and most importantly why they need to stay flexible and engaged.
"Recreational uses change," says Vangie Lujan, administrator of the Guam Coastal Management Program. "People come up with new ideas of what they want to do, and we don't always have the foresight to think of these new activities ahead of time."
But the island did have the foresight in 1992 to pass legislation to create its Recreational Water Use Master Plan.
At the time, the use of personal watercraft, commonly called jet skis, was just becoming popular. "It was like the Wild West with jet skis going everywhere," explains Victor Torres, acting geographic information systems manager and planner for the coastal program.
With user conflicts and concerns about environmental impacts mounting, the coastal program brought together the island's network of agencies to address recreational activities.
The result was a coastal use zoning law that designates areas for use by specific recreational users.
For instance, the law administered by Guam's Department of Parks and Recreation prohibits motorized watercraft from being used inside the reef in Tumon Bay, except for a narrow passage for jet skis leading seaward from San Vitores Beach, and for a dinner cruise boat operating along the beach. Only small sailing and paddling craft use the shallow lagoon inside the reefs in the rest of the bay.
While the zoning has helped quell user conflicts, new recreational activities that are not addressed in the plan, such as kite boarding and SNUBA, have become popular.
"People think because it's not addressed, obviously they can do it," Lujan says. "As a result we're seeing damage, they are infringing on other people, and are causing safety hazards."
There also have been some unexpected consequences of the zoning, Torres says. Aerial photographs are showing "halos in the sand" in a primary area where personal watercraft are allowed. The University of Guam is conducting two studies to look at the impacts of snorkeling and jet skis on the natural resources.
The master plan was updated in 1998 to address unexpected uses, and the coastal program and other agencies are again working to update the plan.
Things they want to do differently, Lujan says, include involving more user groups in the planning process, particularly members of the visitor industry and military. They also plan to clarify enforcement roles, and to add requirements for evaluating the plan every few years to add flexibility to management decisions addressing new activities or issues.
Torres notes, "We are cognizant that the visitor industry provides a lot of money to our economy. By protecting the resources while accommodating as much use as possible we are protecting the goose that laid the golden egg."
For more information on Guam's Recreational Water Use Master Plan, contact Vangie Lujan at (671) 475-9672, or vange@mail.gov.gu.
You may contact Victor Torres at vtorres@mail.gov.gu.
