Coastal communities and harbor managers across the Great Lakes face persistent challenges with sediment accumulation. The traditional response—dredging and hauling sediment away—treats sediment as waste rather than a resource essential for healthy shorelines. Beaches, dunes, barrier bars, and wetlands depend on coarse sediment moving through longshore transport. When harbors interrupt this flow and dredged material is removed, downdrift shorelines lose sediment supply, leading to erosion, habitat loss, and increased coastal vulnerability. A growing number of Great Lakes communities are rethinking dredging outcomes by placing sediment where it can re-enter the system. At Sandy Pond on Lake Ontario, dredged material was strategically placed to restore barrier bar dunes protecting a bayfront community. Around Point Pelee on Lake Erie, coordinated sediment placement maintains the dynamic spit system that defines this internationally significant coastal habitat. These examples show that with intentional planning, dredging can support rather than undermine coastal resilience. This presentation shares insights from the Sediment Positive Actions project on the governance structures, economic frameworks, and institutional coordination that enable communities to use dredged sediment as a coastal resource.
