Posted on October 15, 2025
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — High tides and recent tropical activity are intensifying beach erosion in Fort Pierce, creating large cliffs near the Inlet. Locals are increasingly calling on St. Lucie County for a long-term solution to the endless cycle of sand dumping and erosion.
Rough surf and high winds in mid-October currently leave beachgoers with dramatic, cliff-like views. The perpetual nature of the problem is concerning residents, including Adam Morris.
“I just never knew how much sand they put here. What is it every year, every other year, they’re coming with tons and tons of sand, and it keeps eroding away. I don’t know if that’s a waste of money or not. It’s kind of like, we could be spending the money a little better,” Morris states.
The County is currently planning a beach nourishment project for early 2026, where they will bring in nearly 100,000 tons of sand to the Jetty. However, long-time Fort Pierce resident Samantha Tusso says there needs to be a more permanent fix.
“It hasn’t been fixed yet. My biggest question is, what is the solution? Are we going to keep doing that over and over again?” Tusso asks.
Joshua Revord, who oversees Ports, Inlets, and Beaches for St. Lucie County, explains that the difficulty lies in the process of securing federal funding for a major construction project.
“You have to do a feasibility report before you move forward with any designs to get federal funding. And that feasibility report was submitted to Congress in 2017. We’re just now getting to the point where it potentially could be approved, and that duration is just to approve the concept,” Revord said.
While beach nourishment projects are not cheap, Revord notes that federal and state partners absorb around 90 percent of the costs. The next planned project will cost the county around $1.5 million.
As for an immediate fix, Revord says there is not one. He urges people to be cautious around the steep cliffs for the time being.
This is a view of the beach at Jetty Park in 2021 (Google Earth)
High tides and recent tropical activity are intensifying beach erosion in Fort Pierce, creating large cliffs near the Inlet (WPEC)
