beach restoration workshop - 1/9/06

[kurt]

Walton County will be hosting a public informational workshop regarding beach restoration on Monday January 9th from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m, in the Azalea Ballroom at Baytowne Wharf in the Sandestin Resort. The purpose of the workshop is to present information that has been collected regarding beach and dune erosion caused by the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, emergency recovery projects conducted by the County, and future large-scale restoration efforts. If you require additional information, please contact Brad Pickel at 267-1216.

Keep up with hapenings at http://www.protectwaltoncountybeaches.com

[SoWalSally]

From Walton Sun

The beaches of South Walton are recovering with a little help from Mother Nature.
Usually during the fall and winter months small amounts of erosion occur along the shoreline, but this year the beaches are getting wider.
“The recent hurricanes took a lot of sand from the dunes and dumped it out in the near shore area,” Brad Pickel, director of beach management for Walton County said. “Those were different from getting a direct hit like Opal. With a direct hit, the sand from the dune and beaches is taken farther out.”
The winter waves are larger and closer together because of the north winds. Cold front winds create choppier wave action, which stirs up the sand in the water right off shore causing it to be pushed back ashore, Pickel said.
Pickel added extending the shoreline is the first step in recovery. Then the beach gets higher. With higher wider beaches more sand can be blown into the dunes. The sandbars are the last part of the beach system to repair itself.
“Wave action repairs the beaches and wind repairs the dunes,” Pickel said.
The more windy dry days we have this winter and spring the faster the dunes will repair.
Sandbars traditionally take longer to fix themselves and are interconnected with the beaches and dunes.
“The sandbar is a speed bump,” Pickel said. “Every foot lower the sandbar is, the larger the waves will be that can impact the beaches.”
The recent erosion of historically healthy beaches at Seagrove, Seacrest and Rosemary has seen peat outcroppings exposed. Now with sand washing back onto the beaches most of the peat outcroppings are covered up again.
Pickel and the Tourist Development Board will be hosting a meeting at the Baytowne Conference Center to discuss current and future beach restoration projects with the public on Jan. 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

[Beemn]

As long as the TDC doesn't try to help; With Beach SCRAPING!

[aquaticbiology]

welcome beemn

what? you dont love the smell of deisel fumes in the morning? and those little peaked baby dunes they make that just wash back into the ocean in a day or two? I'm being silly of course, but good luck stopping it if the decide to do it.

[ecopal]

This sounds like a very important meeting.
I may not be able to attend.
Please whoever goes please post your comments/summary of the meeting.

I hope these concerns are addressed:

Why aren't county officcials enforcing sand standard of 7.2 for any sand dumped on the beach after August 1, 2005? There seems to be inconsistent enforcement by county officials with most owners being required to put 7.2 or higher standard sand and some being allowed to put 6.2 (Seagrove's Montgomery Street-west of Greenwood Ave.- is one example). Being allowed to dress it up by covering it with a thin layer of 8.1 white sand is not an acceptible long term solution.

Does the county lack manpower to do proper enforcement and/or are some officials caving into pressure by a few beach front owners?

Also, in setting the sand standard why does the county only use a test of "whiteness" and does not determine if the sand is the pure Appalachian quartzite sand that makes our our beaches so beautiful.

In regards to some private owners not allowing government renourishment in front of their property, will those owners then be allowed to block public use of beach? It is obvious that if the "hold outs' " neighbors all get their beaches renourished that their beaches will eventually benefit as the sand moves onto their "private" beaches. Maybe the county should not do any of the beaches unless all owners give approval.

In addition, beach scraping seems to do more harm than good. What seemed to happen after the beach scrapping was that the black peet was exposed which tainted the beaches and the water.

We should be exploring ways of facilitating natures renourishment of the beaches. That does not include scraping sand off the public portion of the beach and pushing it up to the bluffs to protect private property at public expense. I do support beach bringing in the appropriate sand to restore the beaches if done properly.

[Hans]

The dark sand of the Montgomery Street is presently being blown by the wind over the white sands of the properties further west.

THIS IS A REAL DISGRACE.

How long will this be tolerated to continue?