Baird understands the need for sustainable coastal zone practices and the care with which the coastal ecosystem and resource base must be handled. This requires an integrated coastal zone management plan to achieve an optimal balance between the social, economic and biophysical environments. This is achieved through a complete understanding of the natural processes underlying the dynamics of the coastal zone, such as:

• meteorology, climate change and sea level rise;
• waves and coastal hydraulics;
• erosion, sediment transport and shoreline evolution;
• bluff and beach stability for varying shore types;
• water quality; and
• watershed management.

Rapid increases in population and development pressures in the world's coastal zones has given rise to a number of challenging issues. Baird has worked independently and with a range of partners to address a wide range of coastal zone management issues, including:

• coastal flooding and erosion hazard mitigation;
• coastal protection structures;
• protection of coastal water quality;
• protection of coastal habitats, wetlands and natural resources;
• preservation of recreational beaches.

Baird has advised governments and agencies around the world at federal state, provincial and local levels. Baird provides specialized services that address all aspects of the natural processes in the coastal zone, including:

• Planning - characterization of issues; evaluation of alternatives and optimization.
• Field studies - rapid response assessment; hydrographic and shoreline surveys; wind, wave and current measurements; sediment and water sampling and analysis.
• Numerical and physical modeling - deepwater and nearshore wave climates, fluvial and coastal processes, statistical analyses, circulation and dispersion modeling, custom software applications including GIS-linked modeling systems.
• Analysis - hazard mitigation, cohesive shore erosion, bluff and cliff erosion, sediment transport, fluvial and coastal morphology, sediment budget, river hydraulics and sedimentation; coastal protection structures; economic damages of flooding and erosion.
• Monitoring- analyzing and making recommendations based on coastal zone data.
• GIS Analyses - remote sensing including satellites, air photos, spectral imaging, LIDAR and SHOALS, determination of recession rates.

Featured Study: Sustainable Management Strategy for Southeast Leamington