Seawalls, Geo-tubes, Beach Scraping and Beach Nourishment. What is the answer?

[Kurt]

Coastal systems experts to discuss hurricane impacts October 20
South Walton Community Council will present a forum on beaches, dunes and wetlands as our coastlines? natural defense systems in major storm events. The meeting will be held in at 7 p.m. October 20 at the Coastal Branch Library in Santa Rosa Beach. Speakers include: William (Bill) F. DeBusk, Ph.D. is a water quality scientist with Escambia County and a certified Professional Wetland Scientist. Bill has been involved in several environmental assessment and management projects in Walton County, particularly Costal Dune Lakes.
Taylor (Chips) Kirschenfeld is a marine biologist and senior water quality scientist in Escambia County with over 25 years of water quality, wetland and habitat restoration experience in Northwest Florida. In 2001, Kirschenfeld wrote a new wetlands ordinance for Escambia County that strengthened and clarified protection standards for wetlands, wetland buffers, and other environmentally sensitive lands.
David McGehee, a coastal engineer, will also be on hand for the discussion.

 

[Paula]

Very informative. Thanks. Is it correct that without the pumping...it would take many years for the vertical loss of dunes to be replaced by natural means? And I mean MANY years. What's the earliest we might be looking at for the pumping project? There's no escaping the fact that our beaches ain't what they used to be.

The beaches looked wonderful when we bought our place in April 03. Wasn't that about 11 years after Opal? So, what did nature/the town do after Opal. It seemed to have worked in terms of making our beaches beautiful again with white sand, sloping dunes covered with sea oats, etc. Perhaps a difference is that there are many more owners who built on the dunes since Opal and who are looking for fixes to save their property.

 

[Kurt]

The beaches looked wonderful when we bought our place in April 03. Wasn't that about 11 years after Opal? So, what did nature/the town do after Opal. It seemed to have worked in terms of making our beaches beautiful again with white sand, sloping dunes covered with sea oats, etc. Perhaps a difference is that there are many more owners who built on the dunes since Opal and who are looking for fixes to save their property.

There was a LOT of scraping, rebuilding, and planting. The key was having time for it all to settle and take root. There has been a lot of residences built since then that's for sure. And a lot more expensive ones.

 

[Beach Runner]

Thanks, David, for educating us. I had no idea what damage seawalls could do (or why). Hopefully you, as a long-time 30-A business icon, and people that you know have the power to help stop the seawalls and other damaging practices.

 

[Shutters]

Dave's very informative post says the dredging will take only 3 days to do all of Rosemary Beach and go out 100 to 150 feet. Another post says the process for just the west end has taken years, albeit much of this time has been in court or caught up in bureaucratic red tape. I feel SoWal has 5 months (Nov - March) to dredge the entire length of the 18-mile beach before the tourists come back, and 8 months before we brace ourselves for the another hurricane season. This is probably an unrealistic timeline, so it?s time to prioritize and that brings up a few questions.

What areas need to be dredged the most?
Currently what section of the beach is slated to be dredged and when?
(I guess I'm looking for something more specific than "west end")
Is the county plan to go from west to east in a blanket dredge?
How long does the dredging need to settle to become part of the landscape?
What size storm will the dredging be able to withstand?
Are the homeowners paying for the Rosemary dredging?
What is the cost per foot of shoreline?

Regarding the MASSIVE seawall. It's a travesty but I also understand the homeowners need to put up something right now that stops the erosion of their property. Although it's very short sided, as the value of their property is totally dependant on the beach just beyond it. If left up, I can foresee a day where you won't be able to walk from Seagrove to Seaside on the beach, as there will be a very long section of just water. I did walk the length of the wooden seawall and it's currently over 1000 feet. The metal section, which is much more permanent, is another 150 - 200 feet. Both of these seawalls seem very permanent to me, especially the metal one. Unfortunately, unless we band together and create quite a stir, or court action, I believe they are here to stay. Here are some photos of the seawall last weekend.

 

[Kurt]

Many seawalls you see on the beach are already permitted to be permanent. The west end project starts at Four Mile Village just east of Sandestin and continues into Okaloosa County around Henderson Beach State Park in Destin.

Dredging sand and building a beach is nothing magical. It will be eroded just like any other beach from storms. That is part of the fuss. Meaning it is a temporary solution and must be repeated as necessary at great expense. Still I agree with Dave and it is probably the best compromise if people are going to continue to live on the beach. Once you allow a beach to be developed, government and society says there exists an obligation to protect life and property there.

As far as buying up the properties and creating more public park, it seems we have decided we have more important things to do with our money. For example - the wars on drugs and terror are extremely important and effective at reducing the number of drugs and terrorists don't you think? :roll:

You don't even have to start talking about $300 hammers or bridges to nowhere.

 

[Shutters]

Once you allow a beach to be developed, government and society says there exists an obligation to protect life and property there.

The irony is we are attempting to protect those lives and property with little regard for the single element that brought them there. The beach and its longevity.

...it seems we have decided we have more important things to do with our money. For example - the wars on drugs and terror are extremely important and effective at reducing the number of drugs and terrorists don't you think?

Oh don't get me started brother. You're preaching to the choir.
Unfortunately we have a government that is reactive, not proactive. And a society that wants the best, but only if they can buy it at 40% off.

 

[Rita]

My sentiments too, Kurt & Shutters!

 

[Seasider]

I understand that the beach needs 50 yards of depth and 10 years between hurricanes to allow the dunes to rebuild naturally.

 

[sdavis]

I am not a tax and spend guy, but maybe the county and state should think long term, and set aside some of the property taxes from the beach front homes (and maybe a little extra tax on those homes) to plan on defraying some of the cost of dredging and rebuilding the beaches when these big events occur. The dredging after Opal was temporary for 10 years, and needs to be redone. These property values are high because they are gulf front. If there are no houses or lots, there will be No taxes.

The cost for these likely temporary seawalls ain't cheap (currently more than 4 years of equivalent property taxes for a wooden wall alone for every 75' lot). I am a beach front owner, and would like nothing more than to renourish the beach and rebuld the erosion instead of spending the money on the seawalls. Hell, new steps alone already cost enough.

It is going to have to be one way or the other. It would seem like some private/public partnership like that would make everyone happy. Am I crazy?