The Delaware River and Estuary Ecosystem Data Gathering Initiative (DGI), launched in 2018 as white paper, is now a centralized repository containing vetted scientific, environmental, and industry data that will reduce permitting efforts by centralizing much of the information required. The Exchange worked with Mott MacDonald, the prime contractor tasked with identifying, collecting and vetting the data, and ICI Innovations who developed the DGI interface.
TECHNICAL PARTNERSHIP SOLUTION
The Exchange contracted Mott MacDonald to lead the collection of data due to its intimate knowledge of the area and experience with the permitting process. ICI Innovations (ICI) provides the Automated Identification System (AIS) as part of Maritime Online; contracting ICI to incorporate DGI functionality was efficient and cost-effective. RIVAS from ICI provided the platform for creating, managing, searching and visualizing the contents of the DGI database. ICI quickly deployed and configured its Document Manager module to meet the database design requirements provided by Mott MacDonald and trained the project team in its use so they could upload collected documents or datasets and add data from the database. Following data upload, DGI users are able to access data within the ReportViz module for visual exploration in context with other datasets.
With the support of Delaware Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, the Maritime Exchange was successful in obtaining funding to launch the DGI. While there is a shared understanding for development activities to take place, moving through the permitting process in an area that is regulated by the federal government and three state governments is not an easy task and involves using a lot of data that is dispersed in many different places. To aid this process and help developers, regulators, and other stakeholders, data needs to be consolidated.
Despite its academic-sounding name, the primary purpose of the DGI is to collect empirical information that can inform decisions about when and/or where maintenance dredging, berth construction, pile driving, and other waterside development activities can take place. The members of the Exchange Private Berth Dredging Committee hope the project lengthens today’s extremely tight dredging windows in some areas. The DGI project also seeks to reduce the time needed for permit application, review, and approval as well as a reduction in the costs to prepare applications.
PROJECT GOALS:
▪ Enable scientists to more fully understand the river ecosystem.
▪ Provide a centralized repository for access of data and information for the Delaware River.
▪ Reduce time and cost for permit applications from developers.
▪ Help regulators base permit decisions on the most current, best science available.
▪ Aid in understanding the impacts of climate change by creating a living document that allows for monitoring of changes in water temperature, salinity, turbidity, species, habitat, etc.
▪ Access to ecosystem data for residents of industrial areas.
▪ Support infrastructure investment by facilitating permits for waterside improvements while providing appropriate protections for species and habitats.
Read the full story here.
For information about how to get involved and gain access, contact Michael Fink, the CAO & Director of Information Technology at the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay at mfink@maritimedelriv.com