Post-Georges Disaster Mitigation Project: Terms of Reference

Development of Coastal Erosion Hazard Maps for Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis

Purpose and Summary of Activities

Under this contract, an assessment of coastal erosion hazards will be undertaken for the islands of Antigua, Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis. The understanding of coastal erosion hazards gained through this contract will inform the development of national coastal development and erosion hazard vulnerability reduction policies and measures for these islands.

  1. Assemble existing beach monitoring data for Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis. Using this information, calculate erosion/accretion rates and assign erosion risk categories to monitored beaches.

  2. Develop GIS data and maps based on that data, which display these erosion risk category assignments.

  3. Produce technical and non-technical reports describing the results of the hazard assessment.

Terms of Reference

  1. The Independent Contractor (hereinafter referred to as "The Consultant") will be technically responsible to the Director of the Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment ("USDE") of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States ("GS/OAS"), for fulfilling the obligations established by the following terms of reference of this contract.
  2. One of the major objectives of the Post-Georges Disaster Mitigation ("PGDM") project is the development of national goals, objectives and actions to reduce the vulnerability of Antigua/Barbuda and St. Kitts/Nevis to the effects of natural hazards. A prerequisite for developing appropriate hazard mitigation strategies is a solid understanding of the existing hazards and their effects. Under this contract, an assessment of coastal erosion hazards will be undertaken for the islands of Antigua, Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis. The understanding of coastal erosion hazards gained through this contract will inform the development of national coastal development and coastal erosion hazard vulnerability reduction policies and actions for these islands.
  3. Under this contract, the consultant will undertake a hazard assessment of coastal erosion in Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis. These assessments are to be consistent with current coastal erosion hazard assessment methodologies. The consultant may subcontract portions of this work to local coastal erosion experts, but the consultant is responsible for all contract deliverables. The following activities are included in this hazard assessment work:
    1. Assemble existing beach monitoring data for each island. Using this data, calculate erosion/accretion rates for all beaches for which beach monitoring data exist. Based on these calculations, assign coastal erosion risk categories (low, medium or high) along the coastline of each island.
    2. Produce island-wide geographic information system (GIS) data layers depicting coastal erosion hazard risk zones in Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis. For each monitored beach, the layers will show the calculated erosion/accretion rate. These data are to be in an Arc/Info- or ArcView-compatible format, georeferenced to the common mapping standard for each island, and accompanied by the appropriate GIS metadata.
    3. Using the GIS data described above, produce island-wide coastal erosion hazard maps for Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis. These maps will depict coastal erosion risk along the coastline using the following risk categories: high, medium, low and 'not monitored'. All maps are to include a common set of reference features (e.g. roads, settlement areas), to be provided by the PGDM for this purpose, and will conform to the PGDM hazard map layout, as defined by GS/OAS. Where appropriate, information on vulnerable coastal infrastructure can be included on these maps.
    4. Produce a technical report of the coastal erosion hazard assessment. This technical report should describe the structure and content of the hazard maps, the methodology employed in map preparation (including data collection, analysis and final preparation), map use and limitations, metadata and information sources and guidance on understanding coastal erosion hazards on non-monitored beaches. Recommendations for future work should be included. This report should also identify key contacts on each island for coastal erosion hazards.
    5. Produce non-technical summaries, by country, of the coastal erosion hazard assessment. This summary should be suitable for distribution independent of the technical summary and should be a total of approximately 2000-2500 words in length.
  4. The consultant shall submit the following documents to GS/OAS’ satisfaction. All documents are to be submitted in electronic format. All final materials are to be delivered to GS/OAS by 15 January 2001.
    1. Draft copies of all maps and the technical report and non-technical summary, as described in §III. e.–h. for review by GS/OAS. These can be submitted in electronic format. These materials are to be delivered to GS/OAS by 15 December 2000.
    2. Final copies of the coastal erosion hazard GIS layers, as described in §III.b.
    3. Final copies of all maps, as described in §III.c. For each map, five copies are to be submitted in hardcopy format and one copy in electronic format.
    4. A technical report on the coastal erosion hazard assessment [See §III. d.]
    5. A non-technical summary of the coastal erosion hazard assessment [See §III. e.]
  5. Payment schedule: Maximum compensation for the contract is US$10,000. Consultant will receive the first payment of $1,500 upon receipt by USDE of GS/OAS of the signed contract; this payment is an advance to the consultant. A payment of $4,000 will be made upon receipt by USDE of GS/OAS of satisfactory drafts of the reports and maps [§IVa]. A final payment of $4,500 will be paid upon completion of all contract requirements and receipt by USDE of GS/OAS of a satisfactory final report and acceptable accounting of expenditures for travel and miscellaneous costs related to this contract.
  6. Privileges and Immunities
    Nothing in this Contract shall constitute a waiver of the GS/OAS’ privileges and immunities under the OAS Charter and pertinent agreements.

Justification

Dr. Cambers has over two decades of experience with coastal management in the Caribbean. She has directed the 'Coastal and Beach Stability in the Caribbean' (COSALC) project since 1993. Under this project, she has been responsible for the collection of beach monitoring data throughout the Caribbean. These data and the procedures developed by the COSALC project for analyzing it are central to the work proposed under this coastal erosion hazard assessment activity.


USAID/OAS Post-Georges Disaster Mitigation: http://www.oas.org/pgdm

Page last updated on 27 Oct 2000