The solution to understanding the dredging impacts is the type of scenario that lends itself to new approaches to understanding interrelationships between multiple variables within a dynamic environment. New data are becoming available to allow the examination of the consequences of dredging in a manner not done before. Efforts have been made by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and the creation of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) as an element of the National Information Highway has helped in solving some of the problems of the unavailability and unacceptability of data needed to support the applications.