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A review of field and laboratory data indicated that bottom mud can appreciably damp surface water waves in coastal areas. The interactive feature is the ability of waves to fluidize bottom mud and sustain it in a fluidized state as long as the wave action continues. This report reviews iterative procedures and simple model approaches for studying the basics of the interaction between progressive water waves and a compliant mud bed in a shallow coastal environment. Possible applications include designing offshore structures-energy absorbing berms-as buffers against shoreline wave attack using dredged material. The mud is, assumed to be a continuum, and the suspension is assumed to have sediment and water phases. Constitutive relationships are developed to describe mud rheology. Mud can be highly rigid and weakly viscous or can be purely viscous fluid. Fluidization of the mud by waves proceeds as the space filling structure of the mud is broken and the stress between particles greatly diminished. An empirical relationship with which to estimate the depth of fluidization is presented. Models for water waves over mud are first presented, then compared to laboratory data. Field data are used to make example applications of the models. Berms,