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Quiz yourself on Issue EvaluationGet your flashcardsBuild my revision planTrack my progress⚖️ Evaluating Options: The SEDIMENT Criteria
When you need to compare options systematically — either during your 12-week preparation or in the exam — the SEDIMENT criteria give you a comprehensive framework. Apply each criterion to each option and you will rarely miss an important consideration.
| Letter | Criterion | Questions to Ask |
|---|---|---|
| S | Social impacts | How does this option affect people's quality of life? Who has to move, be disrupted, or lose access to something they value? Does it create or destroy jobs? Does it improve or worsen community wellbeing? |
| E | Economic impacts | What are the upfront costs? What are the long-term maintenance costs? Who pays? What are the economic benefits (tourism revenue, property values, jobs)? Is this value for money over a 20-year, 50-year, 100-year timescale? |
| D | Disadvantages | What are the specific downsides of this option? Who loses? What are the unintended consequences? Does solving one problem create another? |
| I | Implementation | Is this option technically feasible? How long will it take? What permissions or planning processes are needed? What happens during construction — is there disruption? |
| M | Management (long-term) | Who manages this solution once it is built? Who pays for maintenance? What happens when it deteriorates or is overwhelmed by a bigger event? Is there a plan for the next 50 years? |
| E | Environmental impacts | What are the ecological consequences? Does this option protect, damage or create habitat? Does it disrupt natural processes (sediment transport, river flow, soil formation)? What is the carbon footprint of construction? |
| N | Need | How urgent is the problem this option is solving? Is this an immediate crisis or a long-term trend? How many people or properties are affected? What is the scale of the issue without intervention? |
| T | Trade-offs | What is sacrificed to gain the benefits of this option? Can both be achieved, or is this genuinely either/or? Are the trade-offs acceptable given the context? |
Here is how SEDIMENT applies to the coastal example (Option A vs Option B):
| Criterion | Option A: Managed Retreat | Option B: Hard Engineering (Sea Wall) |
|---|---|---|
| Social | 12 properties must be relocated — significant disruption and distress for residents. Long-term benefit to broader community as natural coastline is preserved. | 12 properties protected in short term. But if beach erodes due to wave reflection, tourism declines and the wider community loses economically. |
| Economic | Lower upfront cost. Compensation for relocated homeowners is a one-off payment. Creates ecotourism potential over 20+ years. | £4.7 million upfront. Estimated £200,000/year maintenance. Must be replaced after 25–50 years (another £4.7 million+). Total lifetime cost significantly higher. |
| Disadvantages | Homeowners lose property. Short-term disruption. Some residents feel "abandoned" by the council. | Beach loss from wave reflection. Disrupts sediment transport to beaches 10–20 km south. Does not address the cause of erosion (sea level rise). Will ultimately fail. |
| Environmental | Creates valuable intertidal habitat — salt marsh and mudflat support RSPB-designated bird species. Natural carbon storage through salt marsh vegetation. | Concrete construction has significant embodied carbon. Hard structures remove habitat. Wave energy reflected onto adjacent beach and seabed, disrupting benthic communities. |
| Trade-offs | Sacrifice 12 properties now to create a sustainable, self-managing coastline for the next 100 years. | Protect 12 properties now at the cost of £4.7 million plus long-term maintenance and probable beach loss — a short-term fix that defers the real problem. |
Quick Check: Using the SEDIMENT criteria, give TWO reasons why Option A (managed retreat) is better than Option B (hard engineering) in the coastal example.
Economically (E): Option A has a lower lifetime cost because a sea wall costs £4.7 million upfront plus approximately £200,000/year maintenance and must be replaced within 50 years, whereas managed retreat involves a one-off compensation payment and then no ongoing maintenance cost. Environmentally (E): Option A creates intertidal habitat (salt marsh, mudflat) that supports biodiversity and provides natural coastal flood protection, whereas Option B involves concrete construction, reflected wave energy damaging the adjacent seabed, and loss of natural habitat. Also accept: Trade-offs (T) — Option A addresses the long-term cause (sea level rise) rather than temporarily delaying erosion as Option B does.
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