ecopal said:
I commend the 2 scientists and the engineer who gave wonderful presentations and many thanks to the SWCC staff and volunteers for doing such a tremendous job making it happen. The Sun and the Beach Breeze newspapers both had reporters there, so watch the newstands.
I will briefly give you some highlights.
Wetlands were described as the "Rodney Dangerfields" of the natural world; they are often given no respect and are vastly under valued. They are a "speed" bump to buffer storms. Not only do they assist in attenuating flooding but they provide water storage and improve water quality. They also provide a "sink" for greenhouse gases and amelioration of climate change.
New Orlean's damage was exacerbated by massive loss of wetlands. Just in the Mississippi delta there is a loss of 24 sq. miles of wetlands each year. Over 1,900 sq. miles of wetlands have been lost in the last 100 years. Storm surge is reduced by one foot for every 2.7 sq. mile of wetlands.
Seawalls were described as a crude last century undependable and "ugly" solution that interferes with beach self renourishment and habitat. They were further labled as being a "selfish choice" of those attempting to protect their own properties. In some applications they can actually contribute to erosion. Pictures of seawalls after storms just showed a remnance of pilings standing alone on the beach.
Geotubes were briefly mentioned. The short comings of Geotubes in a storm is that the sand around them gets scoured away and the sand under them becomes liquified causing them to slide around on the beach. After a storm they can end up scattered around and sideways.
Over 200 seawalls have reportedly been approved for construction on Walton beaches. Although they are intended to be only temporary there supposedly is an outspoken constituency that are lobbying to make many of them permanent.
Beach renourishment was shown to be ineffective in offering storm surge protection. As an example: Pensacola Beach was renourished and Perdido Beach wasn't but there was no difference in erosion post hurricane. Beach scraping was also described as unhelpful in storm surge protection.
Seaside is considering a modern engineered system to protect their beaches. Sand apparently would be brought in (possibly from a few miles out in Gulf or trucked in) and put in front of dunes. Then a water permeable reinforced membrane (anchored with spikes driven down deep into the beach) would be wrapped up over the top of the sand dune and bluff by cables well anchored to landward. More sand would be added on top and sea oats planted.
The good news is that Walton beaches have not shown a lot of chronic erosion over the years. However, the bad news is that we are suffering from episodic erosion by storms. Our beaches would be expected to self renourish but this can take decades and can not fully recover until the frequency of storms decreases. Also to be considered is the interference of man made structures and destruction of wetlands on nature's renourishment process.
I would like to hear the reports of others who attended.
Maybe I was catnapping in certain parts you mention, or perhaps you talked to the beach guy after the meeting.
I think you give a fair summary of the meeting. In my opinion, I think the audience was mostly focused on the beach erosion/solution, so I am disappointed that the topic held only 1/3 of the time for the evening.
Ecopal was hinting at it, but I will state it directly. The beach guy, engineer, stated that Walton County does have eposodic erosion as opposed to chronic. Eposodic is due to storms. I did find it interesting that to the east of Seaside, the beach has withered while the beach to the west, in SoWal, has grown. Seaside has remained mostly unchanged as for gain or loss since ...? I cannot remember the date, maybe 1971? Anyway, the engineer stated that Seawalls stop the movement of the beach and dunes. The whole thing is a system and extends and includes the sandbars some 800' out into the Gulf. Seawalls prevent the back and forth movement. The biologist says that seawall prevent wildlife from being able to survive. The engineer says that renourishment of beaches is like paint on a building. The storms will remove the sand, and will not protect the property from storms. You will need to "repaint" after each storm. Another option that can work to save beaches is retreat, but he did not talk about it too much, because he knows that too much money is on the Gulf front, and it will not be considered. It is too late, perhaps. He was a very informative, but he still does not have the answers as to what to do. He hates seawalls. He mentioned "jersification" that takes place when you have chronic erosion, which he states that we don't, and seawalls. The seawalls are eventually undermined and the sand is washed out to sea, leaving no beach. In some cases, seawalls can be shown to help a particular property, but he states that there is not enough money in Walton County to build a seawall that will work along the entire beach front. Blah, blah, blah. meeting adjourned.
I don't know that I picked up much new info.
Good to see Commissioner Cindy Meadows attend the meeting. Clarification was made regarding temporary seawalls. The 60 day period was to apply for a permit. The temporary seawall permit would expire in June next year just in time for hurricane season. I have ten dollars that says that every temporary permit will become permanent, without exception. These people are spending around $1M to install a "temporary" seawall. Get for real. What makes anyone think that they will also pay another $750+ to have them removed in June. "What will they do, fine me $5,000?" I hope all of you are smart enough to know that the seawalls you see today, will become permanent eye sores.
