Wave photo by Alicia
Mason
BEACHGOERS BEWARE -- While the holiday
weekend is sure to bring tourists and beachgoers to Delaware's
coastal towns, winter storms have all but washed away the
shoreline. Bethany Beach's shore (May 19) is still a fraction
of what it was at this time last year.
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Despite a winter that saw several nor'easters eat away at
Delaware's beaches, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary John Hughes said that until
next year, no beach replenishment will likely happen on the southern
Delaware shore.
In response to discussions late in the week of May 5 on the state
of beaches at Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach and South Bethany with
Sen. George H. Bunting (D-20th District), Hughes said that no beach
rebuilding is likely to happen in the region before spring 2004.
"We don't have the permits, and we don't have the funding," he
said.
Bunting had asked Hughes to seek some kind of state or federal
emergency funding to finance a replenishment project.
"Traditionally, we lose beach during the winter, and it gets
built back up in the summer," explained Bunting, who sees the storm
damage firsthand on daily walks near his home in Bethany Beach.
DNREC is currently involved in four partnerships with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers at seashore sites from Broadkill Beach to
Fenwick Island.
But congressionally mandated financial reassessment of current
projects has caused delays. Work on constructing a 200-foot-wide
berm at Fenwick Island will likely begin in fall 2004, but a project
to replenish the beaches at Bethany Beach and South Bethany has been
put on hold indefinitely.
"Currently, we have no funding for the preconstruction estimates
or engineering studies required," said Merv Brokke, head of public
affairs for the Corps' Philadelphia District.
A similar project at the Dewey and Rehoboth beaches will likely
go ahead as planned in spring 2004, said Brokke.
"We do have the ability to shift money and resources if one
project requires more immediate action," explained Brokke. "But the
permitting process, the public input and notification that goes
along with that, it's not something that can be rushed."
At Bethany Beach, high waves over the past winter have come
within a few feet of the town's boardwalk. In South Bethany, waves
regularly lapped at the foot of beachfront homes through the winter.
"We are very concerned about the state of our beach right now,"
said South Bethany Town Manager Wayne Stacey. An early hurricane or
tropical storm or another nor'easter, Stacey said, could cause
irreversible damage.
"We're ready for the summer season, with a full lifeguard staff
and everything," he added. "What we need is a beach."
During this past winter's Presidents' Day Weekend storm, South
Bethany's Ocean Drive was breached at several points by high seas.
The town was able to restore access to the front line of beach
homes after storms this winter, but not without considerable
expense. Said Stacey, the town is currently awaiting federal
reimbursement for a portion of the expenses.
The town's beachfront homes, located on the east side of Ocean
Drive and built on the dune line, are under constant threat, Stacey
said. "These are all homes that were built after the famous 1962
storm," he explained. "All of the houses lost then were even further
east."
After another weekend nor'easter hit the coast May 15 through May
17, Stacey was even more concerned and warned residents and
potential visitors to exercise extreme caution if they plan to visit
the beach over the Memorial Day weekend.
Waves have produced a steep drop-off in the surf, in addition to
further eroding the width of the beach down to a narrow strip. Old
pilings and well heads from older houses destroyed in the 1962 storm
may be protruding from the sand and surf, Stacey warned. "We are
asking people to be very careful out there."
A 2000 study by the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the
Environment, a Washington, D.C. think-tank, charted the likely
future shorelines at South Bethany. In 60 years, the study noted,
the shoreline may be as far inland as the second or third row of
homes west of Ocean Drive.
Tony Pratt, shoreline manager for DNREC, said that on the lower
Sussex shores, the current beach volume is what typically occurs
from January to March.
"Usually, the weather has shifted by now and winds from the west
and southwest are helping to build up the beach," Pratt said.
DNREC regularly surveys the beach to chart sand loss and the
impact of various weather patterns on the beaches. "But we're going
into summer with almost no beach in some places, and it definitely
concerns us," he said.
While a beach replenishment project may be a year away, towns
from Rehoboth Beach to Fenwick Island may just have to rely on good
weather and luck to restore their beaches.
Reach John Duffy at (302) 537-1881, ext. 106, or by e-mail at mailto:jduffy@smgpo.gannett.com
Originally published Wednesday, May 21, 2003
