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The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers put out this press release dated August 2, 2024. It outlines the erosion control projects that have been put into law for Sandy Hook down to the Barnegat Inlet. Basically, it's an open book and open checkbook for beach replenishment, or nourishment, to begin when the application is made and both federal and non-federal funding is available. Federal funding has to be approved through Congress, ie. Frank Pallone, and non-federal through the NJDEP. Additionally, pursuant to N.J.S.A 12-6A and 13:19- 16 et al, the Commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Protection is empowered to authorize emergency repairs to damage caused by erosion and storms. Currently that person is Shawn LaTourette, appointed by Governor Murphy is 2021.
The last beach replenishment we have seen in Monmouth County were the beaches in Elberon (seen above in December of last year, 2023), Monmouth Beach, and Sea Girt. We all know how detrimental beach nourishment is for the environment. Yes, erosion and flood control is a good thing, but I think it would be better if we changed rather than asking Mother Nature to. Let's say you build a house on a river bank. It rains, it floods, and your house gets damaged. Wouldn't a smart person say, "Hey maybe we shouldn't have built this house here?", and, "Maybe we need to look for a better place to build?". Not along the shores in the United States, both on the east and west coasts. People want what they want where they want when they want.
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| Manasquan after Sandy |
We have all seen pictures either during or after storms of houses, on or in the water, on stilts, or barely holding on to the side of a cliff, that have been damaged or destroyed. In the interviews people say, "We will rebuild!". Okay, but at whose price? Continued damage from storms drives up insurance costs and any structure that has to be repaired or rebuilt is paid for by local, state, or federal monies, paid for by taxpayers. And the kick is the people who get the benefit of all that don't want or fight access for beachgoers and fishermen who pay the bill!
Below is the picture of a beautiful house located in Nantucket. It was purchased in 1998 by the couple who recently put it up on the market. The town had it valued at almost $2 million dollars but
it sold for a meager $200,000. There's speculation that by March 2025 the house will have collapsed down off of it's perch. The image below shows the same house when it was purchased in 1998, outlined in blue.
The homes in front of the current home have all been lost to sea, well Mother Nature. You can "replenish" all you want but she always wins. A current birds-eye view of the home shows just
how much beach and cliff has been lost over the last near 40 years. You can read more on the story of the house in an article in the Nantucket Current, HERE. This kind of thing has happened forever anywhere there is water, especially big water that is affected by storms and tides. Each year, like robots, we are programmed to be dialed into storm season anticipating if, when, and where the storm will hit and how much destruction will happen. It's like sitting at an intersection with some snacks waiting for an accident to occur.....kinda twisted. But back to beach "nourishment".
While we finished making the local business and homeowners happy along the north Jersey Shore this past spring the ships, pipes, and machinery were off the Cape May County
in North Wildwood trying to beat Mother Nature, of course just in time for the summer season. They, well us, spent 10 million dollars for 350,000 cubic yards of sand to "save" their beach. North Wildwood is part of the southern-most
barrier island in New Jersey. What's north of North Wildwood? First you have the Hereford Inlet, then the bottom of Stone Harbor. But the inlet is a nasty one, some say one of the most
difficult to navigate in New Jersey. It's not like Cape May, Barnegat, Manasquan and Shark River which have jetties, in whole or in part on both sides, but the wicked natural sand bars and shoaling that happens just outside of it. You see Hereford gets hit both ways, littoral or longshore currents from the south bring a littoral drift, (The current is the water movement the drift is when sand and sediment move.), and then the movement of sand south from Avalon and Stone Harbor when the winds and tides get pushed from the East and Northeast, like during fall storms.
And what's funny is I saw all of this first hand as about two weeks ago we woke up at 4 am and traveled to North Wildwood to watch the sun rise. It was a dead low moon tide and I watched the
waves break way out on a bar that had been formed by all of the sand coming off the beach over the years. Looking into the inlet you could barley read the water where it was shallow or deep. The water came from this direction and that direction over this sand and that sand. I cringed watching a few center consoles making their way out to sea just waiting for them to bottom out.
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| Photo Andrew Meli Facebook |
Back up north we have seen some changes in and around the Manasquan Inlet. This is nothing new and happens from time to time in inlets up and down New Jersey. Sand, silt and sediment from either "out back" or "out front" find their way between the jetties reducing the depth of navigable channels and forming "beaches" on the affected side. It's a dangerous condition especially for boats, bigger than your
24-foot center console, to navigate through especially on low or moon tides. With the Nor'easter storm season coming only more sand would shoal up on the north sides of the groins and jetties along the
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| Manasquan Inlet - August 6, 2024 |
Jersey Shore. This past Tuesday the ACOE starting dredging the "beach" on the Point Pleasant side of the inlet as seen above in this press release photo. The last time that inlet was dredged was in 2022.
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| Hilton Head Island |
Beach nourishment isn't just a Jersey thing. It happens to places north of us as well as down south. My hopeful new home of Hilton Head isn't spared from man's desire to beat Mother Nature either. South Carolina and Hilton Head have been at it since 1990 and just about every 10 years a project is awarded with the last being completed in 2016, so they're due for some more sand. What's funny are
spins that people create to "sell" the idea of how good beach "nourishment" is. I found this one from the Chamber of Commerce before the 2016 project went underway. While big beaches are good for the tourist
industry and locals alike is it a good thing for the environment? You know my take on beach replenishment, which is mostly through the eyes of an angler. In New Jersey we've destroyed "Jetty Country" and also destroyed the places where all types of marine life call home. Migratory fish can't or don't stay anymore, just look at the summer seasons we don't have. Striped bass used to stay and it was always fun to go down and pop up a bass or two around first light. These days the ones that are around are only looking for mole crabs, and a sand bug soak is hard to do with a fly rod. And the structure is different as the mussel beds are gone and sloping beaches with long sand bars parallel every beach. These changes lead to the blitz fishing we see each fall, just big fish chasing little fish, from north to south. It's fun for a bit to fish, more fun for me to stand and watch or photograph.
But down in SC they say that beach replenishment is good for the environment. It's actually, "Environmentally sensitive...." and benefits both residents and visitors to the island. While it doesn't help marine life it does, "Allow beach-goers to spread out, play paddle ball, ride bikes, and bask in the sun". Kinda like we do here in New Jersey. I'd just hate to be a crab, a clam, or a fish.