Walton County Beach Nourishment Project Update

The Walton County Hurricane & Storm Damage Reduction Project, also known as the federal beach nourishment project, is in the third phase- the Preliminary, Engineering, and Design Phase (PED). The PED phase includes the all of the steps necessary to prepare the project for the next phase- Construction. Currently, surveyors hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are surveying all five of the project reaches. Almost half of the surveying is complete and we anticipate the final survey work to be completed in October. This surveying of our beach and offshore areas will serve as the baseline condition for the beaches used in the engineering and design of the project.

Walton County has also contracted with American Government Services (AGS) to perform title search services to identify property owners within the project reaches. To date, AGS has completed their first reach- Reach 3, and are working on their second reach. The smallest reach was selected to be completed first to insure everyone is satisfied with the work product prior to moving on to larger, more complex reaches. The project has a total of five reaches totaling 18.8 miles.

Once the property owners are identified, the County, through the TDC, will be pursuing easements for construction of the project. Initial easement language has been developed based on the model version provided by USACE- Mobile District. The language mirrors previous federal projects developed for other panhandle Corps projects. Public workshops will be scheduled and held later this year to discuss the easements and the design of the project.

Beach Nourishment Map

Ask Our Expert

Please visit Frequently Asked Questions. Brad Pickel of Seahaven Consulting is the leading expert on this project and has been involved with it for over 10 years. His passion and knowledge of beach nourishment make him an excellent resource for any questions regarding the project.