4.3 Maintenance

Site maintenance — it’s under water, what is there to maintain? The answer: Plenty. Protected areas covered seasonally or diurnally by water require maintenance similar to their terrestrial counterparts.

The intensity and cost of necessary maintenance activities for lands and resources within ocean and coastal waters depend on several factors, most significantly:

• The proximity of the site to adjacent human activities;
• The proximity of the site to the shoreline; and
• The intensity of public use on the site.

Sites that are closer to other human uses, closer to the shoreline, or have more public use will require more maintenance than those that are not. In general, these site maintenance activities can be divided into two general groups: Frequent Activities, and Infrequent Activities.

Frequent Maintenance Activities

Frequent maintenance activities include the typical day-to-day needs of sites. If undertaken consistently, these activities are comparatively inexpensive, relatively easy, and less time-sensitive than the infrequent activities.

Frequent maintenance activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Installing and maintaining in-water boundary markers (i.e., buoys, trees);
• Eradicating noxious plants and animals;
• Maintaining public facilities such as walkways, boardwalks, shelters, fishing piers, and mooring buoys;
• Maintaining monitoring and other scientific equipment;
• Picking up trash left by the public or that drifts onto the property from off-site;
• Posting and maintaining boundary, public information, and exclusionary signage;
• Repairing bank erosion caused by public access; and
• Repairing excavation sites created by public resource extraction (i.e., shellfishing).

Infrequent Maintenance Activities

Infrequent maintenance activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting authorities cleanup after oil spills or other contamination events;
• Assisting authorities remove derelict vessels and other abandoned gear; and
• Cleaning up and repairing sites after natural disasters such as storm surges and hurricanes.

The need to undertake infrequent maintenance activities is often caused by one-time, unexpected, and potentially traumatic and disruptive events such as oil spills and ship wrecks. While there is little certainty that these events will take place on or affect leased or owned areas, being prepared for them will reap huge benefits if they do occur. Because these events are often expensive, labor-intensive, and time-sensitive, it is essential that lessees and owners work with regulatory agencies in charge of these events. As such, it is important for lessees and owners to understand cleanup processes, laws, and agencies prior to these events.