Beach Management
Effective beach and coastal management is of paramount importance for the islands of Maldives. Maldives depends wholly on the coastal and marine environment, as tourism constitutes a large percentage of the national economy. Tourism revolves entirely around the aesthetics and therefore health of the Maldives coastline. Resorts owners are faced with the dilemma of providing all year-round beaches without compromising engineering structures.
In the inhabited islands, the same problem exists, and it is worse due to limited budgets available for coastal management unlike a resort island. The small, low-lying islands of Maldives are particularly vulnerable to damage from both natural and anthropogenic causes.
Coastal management is all about managing the beaches in harmony with development. The biggest challenge in coastal management is finding a solution without compromising hard engineering structures. However, this is not always possible, as soft engineering alone cannot provide the best solution as a management option.
Water solutions’ team of experts use state- of- the-art equipment and the latest technology to provide innovative solutions to protect and preserve the coastline. Our consultancy leads to practical solutions using both hard and soft engineering management options such as construction of groyns, break water, sea walls, beach nourishment and other methods to manage the coastline in harmony with the development.
where we come in
Coastal management solutions currently provided by Water Solutions are tailored for each client’s individual requirements. At present we provide the following services under coastal management:
Assessing the best possible management options for a given island.
Developing coastal management plans.
Designing groynes, breakwaters, headlands, sea walls, and revetments as well as advising on their construction methods and the best materials to use.
Developing detailed methodologies for beach nourishment including the identification of optimal sediment borrowing areas, pumping requirements, as well as what equipment ad work methods to utilize.
Harmonizing and timing coastal works for optimal months of the year.
Obtaining all required permits for coastal works.
Forecasting erosion and assessing vulnerable erosion areas