Kilo Wharf Extension Current and Suspended Sediment Study

As part of the Kilo Wharf Expansion Project EIS study team SEI deployed 5 acoustic Doppler current profilers in Apra Harbor, Guam, in support of environmental studies to characterize dredge plumes that could result from the Kilo Wharf expansion construction activities. Profiler locations were chosen to monitor currents at the Harbor entrance, the job site, and environmentally sensitive areas at Gab-gab beach and the Orote Peninsula. Current data were used to calibrate an EPA-approved state-of-the-art hydrodynamic circulation and transport model, EFDC (Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code).

The EFDC model was successful in duplicating observed site conditions and was then used to predict the extent of the dredge turbidity plume under various climatic conditions. The modeling results enabled comparison of environmental impacts from various expansion alternatives and allowed the selection of a preferred alternative based on minimum impacts to the local coral reef ecosystem.