Saco and UNE propose partnership to measure impact of Army Corps project on wave energy

The City of Saco is considering a partnership with University of New England to measure wave energy off the shore of Camp Ellis.

The Army Corps of Engineers is slated to add a spur jetty to the Saco River Jetty. The spur jetty would reach out from the side of the main jetty like an arm, with the intension of diverting wave energy and mitigating coastal erosion.

David Plavin, vice-president of local shoreline advocacy group SOS Saco Bay said at a City Council workshop Monday night that there was concern on how to collect reliable and accurate data to measure the effectiveness of the spur jetty.

Will Kochtitzky, assistant professor at UNE’s School of Marine and Environmental Programs concurred.

“The Army Corps is not going to provide any monitoring of the jetty. They are going to install it and walk away,” said Kochtitzky.

He recommended the city purchase two wave gauges from Ocean Sensor Systems for a total cost of about $10,000. The cylinder-shaped devices would be attached to a mooring and sit on the bottom of the ocean and track data on wave energy. They would be attached to a line and a buoy, so they could be retrieved for data collection.

Kochtitzky said the selected gauge is the most reasonably-priced instrument that would be appropriate for the shallow water area. He said the gauge measures water pressure 30 times per second to determine change in water height and was accurate to a third of a millimeter.

He said the university has an atmospheric pressure monitor in Biddeford Pool, and data from that monitor would be used to verify that pressure changes at the bottom of the ocean were caused by ocean activity and not atmospheric pressure.

Kochtitzky and representatives from SOS Saco Bay said they’d like to see the gauges deployed as soon as possible, so that the waves can be monitored before the spur jetty is constructed. The gauges would be removed when the jetty was completed and re-installed afterward. This would give data on waves before and after the spur project, and the city would have information on the effectiveness of the Army Corps project.

The City Council will vote at a later date on whether to purchase the gauges and sign a memorandum of intent with UNE.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.