Beach Nourishment and the Living Shoreline
There are various solutions to our beach erosion problems, but other than managed retreat, almost all of them involve sand, and in some cases lots of sand. Beach nourishment programs are just that, ongoing efforts to keep the system replenished, as opposed to a one-time dump. All beaches are different and require approaches specific to their situation, but increasingly the concept of the living shoreline is taken into consideration as the preferred alternative. The Living Shoreline is a protected, stabilized coastal edge made of natural materials such as plants, sand, or rock. Unlike a concrete seawall or other hard structure, which impede the growth of plants and animals, living shorelines grow over time. Natural infrastructure solutions like living shorelines provide wildlife habitat, as well as natural resilience to communities near the waterfront. They are an innovative and cost-effective technique for coastal management and are often referred to as soft armoring.
Human intervention has disrupted the flow of sediment to the coastline and BBOB advocates for human intervention to bring the sand back. Human intervention plays a key role in maintaining beaches throughout the U.S. Generally, state and federal funds, matched by some amount of local funds, are utilized to enable the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to add sand to beaches (“beach nourishment”), generally by dredging natural sand from offshore or nearby sites. Sometimes, man made structures like groins and jetties are added, but there are downstream consequences from these decisions and each beach system needs to take those into account with local and state agencies and stakeholders. BBOB does not advocate one way or the other regarding man made structures, the impacted communities will determine what’s best for them in concert with all stakeholders.
Beach Nourishment and Sand Replenishment are
Well Documented Solutions
Beach nourishment programs have been widely employed throughout the coastal U.S. during the past 100 years. The first large scale nourishment project took place at Coney Island, NY in 1923, with the number of nourishment projects increasing to now include 457 beach communities. In total, more than 1.5 billion cubic yards (cy) of sand has been placed throughout these communities during approximately 3,200 distinct nourishment events to restore and maintain their beaches. A properly implemented beach nourishment program has a demonstrated ability to increase and maintain beaches and dunes, which act as buffers between the ocean and upland infrastructure. Nourished beaches not only protect roads and buildings, but greatly increase recreational opportunities and tourism, and enhance critical wildlife habitat. Examples of successful beach nourishment programs are plentiful, with two good examples being Seal Beach, CA and Delray Beach, FL.
Delray Beach, FL
Source: Smith Travel Research
Delray Beach, located on Florida’s east coast, has had an active beach nourishment program since the early 1970s. The program was implemented to restore the natural beach and dunes which had eroded and allowed the ocean to threaten the main beachfront roadway (A1A) and eliminate recreational opportunities. The city attempted to utilize armoring measures like concrete and rock revetments, but to no avail.
The first nourishment was conducted in 1973 and there have been eight subsequent nourishment events since that time. More than 8 million cubic yards of sand have been placed along Delray at a total cost of $54 million. Ever since the initial nourishment, A1A and other infrastructure has been protected by a wide beach and heavily vegetated dune system, enabling increased recreational activity and tourism in the area.
Seal Beach, CA
Source: trekandshoot / Alamy Stock Photo
In Seal Beach, CA, 18 nourishment events, comprising 3.5 million cubic yards of sand, have occurred since the mid 1950s providing extensive recreational and economic benefits. Seal Beach was one of four cities in 2010 to earn the Best Restored Beach Award from the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association.
THE CALIFORNIA COMMITMENT TO SAND AND BEACH NOURISHMENT
States, and the federal Government, do not place enough emphasis on the economic value of beaches, relative to other natural resources and infrastructure when measured by economic returns. California in particular has decreased its commitments to beach nourishment programs as evidenced by this chart.
Source: Source: Nicole Elko, Tiffany Roberts Briggs, Lindino Benedet, Quin Robertson, Gordon Thomson, Bret M. Webb, Kimberly Garvey, A century of U.S. beach nourishment, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 199, 2021, 105406, ISSN 0964-5691, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105406.
THE SAN CLEMENTE ISSUE
Source: Brett Sanders, Ph.D, University of California, Irvine
San Clemente has been under consideration for a shoreline protection project for over 20 years and the first dump of 250,000 cubic yards just commenced in late April 2024. This is most welcome, however, estimates from our advisors are that the San Clemente sand system (San Juan Creek southeast to San Mateo Creek), could use something more on the order of 2 million cubic yards (1M over the next 5 years) to adequately address all San Clemente beaches and allow the natural ebbs and flows of sand migration to do their thing. Securing the permanent funding for these amounts of sand and ongoing beach nourishment projects is our primary objective. Short term, our primary objective is to stop the railroad and OCTA from over armoring our beaches.