Posted on December 7, 2021
Government plans to allocate $21 million over the next two years for a project to restore a large stretch of lost sand at the southern end of Seven Mile Beach.
Storms and natural erosion have stripped away sand along almost a mile of beachfront.
Swimmers can now wade waist deep where sunbathers once sat in deckchairs in front of the Marriott Beach Resort. The hotel has had to remove all images and advertising suggesting it has a beach.
It is not just the resort that is impacted. The beach has receded to nothing but a few pockets of sand along the stretch of coastline from the Coral Beach Club to George Town Villas.
Jennifer Ahearn, chief officer in the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, is part of a task force chaired by Premier Wayne Panton that has been looking into the problem.
She said a proposal for a “beach re-nourishment” project – which would involve adding a significant amount of sand to the coastline at the southern end of the beach – is under discussion.
Many of the technical details remain to be worked out and the $1 million allocated for 2022 is expected to cover a business case and feasibility study for the work.
An additional $20 million has been allocated for 2023 when the project, if approved, is expected to get under way.
Ahearn said initial consultations with an experienced coastal engineer suggested that beach re-nourishment is feasible. The Department of Environment has also indicated that the project could be a viable medium-term solution and it would not oppose the project – if it is handled correctly.
Ahearn said key challenges include sourcing the right sand and ensuring that it is distributed effectively to prevent it being swept away in the next storm.
“The beach re-nourishment is a project that will take quite a long time to deliver because of all the planning and analysis that has to take place,” said Ahearn.
“It is not just a case of going out there and dumping a bunch of sand on the beach.”
She said the magnitude of the project was yet to be determined and there would likely be community consultation in the new year.
Ahearn acknowledged that the option of “doing nothing” remained on the table and would be factored into a business case study. But she said there were negative impacts for property, tourism, business and recreation caused by the loss of so much coastline.
While storms and coastal dynamics have always shaped and reshaped Seven Mile Beach, the loss of sand at the southern end is the most significant on record.
“In my living memory, we have never had it this bad,” said Tim Austin, deputy director of the Department of Environment.
He said the amount of beach impacted and the duration of those impacts suggested a more permanent shift.
Gina Ebanks-Petrie, DoE director, said it was normal and expected for the boundaries of a beach to flex over time.
When hard structures like hotels, condos, pools and sea walls are built on the active beach – as has been the case in Cayman – that can impact the ability of a beach to naturally replenish itself.
She said the problem was largely a tourism and recreational issue rather than an environmental one. Of the various proposals put forward over the years, the DoE believes beach re-nourishment – which essentially involves adding significant amounts of sand to the impacted area – stood the most chance of success.
Ebanks-Petrie said that kind of project – if handled correctly with properly-sourced sand – would have limited negative impact on the environment.
Long term concerns
In the longer term, both the DoE and the Beach Erosion Committee are concerned about the underlying problem of structures that have been built too close to the water.
“The location of structures on the active beach and sea walls on the active beach has certainly exacerbated erosion, particularly at the southern end of the beach,” she said.
The Department of Environment endorses a policy of “beach retreat” that would see buildings moved further back from the coastline as they are renovated or redeveloped.
Ebanks-Petrie said she was hopeful that a new Development Plan would help control coastal construction in order to “future proof” the beach against erosion and the impacts of sea-level rise.
Ahearn said the erosion committee – which includes officials from the planning, environment, and lands and survey departments among others – is also looking at imposing stricter coastal setbacks for development.
Currently setbacks are measured from the high water mark. Ahearn said the committee was looking at establishing a fixed reference line, further inland, that would be used to determine how close to the water new structures could be built.
She acknowledged that there was less that could be done about existing buildings, many of which were developed decades earlier.
“Everybody knows there is no silver bullet,” she said. “There is no one thing that has caused this and no one solution that is going to fix it overnight.”
The proposed $21 million budget allocation for beach re-nourishment is expected to be discussed by MPs in Finance Committee later this week or early next week.
