Something unusual is happening next month. For the first time in decades, Rhode Island is holding a statewide election without any candidates on the ballot. Money is on the ballot March 2, when voters will be asked to weigh in on seven referendums that would approve a combined $400 million in state borrowing for a broad swath of public projects. Adding interest over the 20-year… Read More
BAY HEAD – As the sea continues to carve into the storm-battered dunes on Bay Head’s beach, Mayor Bill Curtis says he hopes an emergency permit to make repairs will soon be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The borough plans to use one of its on-call contractors to lower the slope of eroded dunes that Curtis… Read More
Although Gov. Tim Walz’s $518 million bonding bill focused on infrastructure in Minnesota, funds for the final year of dredging on Fountain Lake were not included. Companion bills before the Legislature — filed by Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, and Sen. Gene Dornink, R-Hayfield — would provide the $7.5 million to complete the work and… Read More
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority expects to spend $887 million next fiscal year if the money is available, according to a draft plan CPRA’s director presented Friday to the board. Of that total, $633 million, or 71%, would be spent on construction. Other uses involve planning, design, maintenance and general operation costs. Estimated… Read More
An industry insider offers an update on this renewable sector’s potential and challenges. The Atlantic coast has great opportunity for the energy sector and governors across the northeast are aware of it. They need this power source to meet their states’ clean energy goals and are now in stark competition to establish the land-based businesses… Read More
Amid rising seas, ‘dry’ resort is wetter than it likes. Ocean City, New Jersey, is officially a “dry” town. In 1879, four Methodist ministers established a Christian seaside resort here with a permanent ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol — a prohibition that remains to this day. But numerous times a year, Ocean… Read More
This year, the big beach replenishment project will be along the Outer Banks in North Carolina’s Dare County. Communities from Duck not far from the Virginia line south to Buxton on Hatteras Island are spending about $99 million to add sand to their ever-shrinking beaches. In the summer of 2019, it was Virginia Beach’s turn…. Read More
Water levels across Lake Michigan and Lake Huron reached near-historic levels in 2020, with threats to beaches creating an urgent need to respond. Federal and state regulators across the Great Lakes region have their hands full. The record water levels across the Great Lakes region are dangerous because they expedite the natural processes of coastal… Read More
Though Point Pleasant Beach did not experience the cliff-like escarpment of its beaches like neighboring Bay Head and Ortley Beach, the borough was left far from unscathed in the Feb. 1-3 nor’easter that pummeled the Jersey Shore. “The beach erosion here has been similar in many regards in terms of how much sand we lost,”… Read More
By Paul Mulshine | Star-Ledger Columnist The dictionary defines “resilience” as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.” That sounds pretty straightforward. But our friends at the Sierra Club employ the term to describe actions that would lessen the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. The first such reference came from that cold snap in… Read More
Dare County will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the proposed beach nourishment project for Avon on Wednesday, February 24, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will serve as an opportunity for Avon property owners to weigh in on the proposed project, (and the corresponding tax increase), before a final decision on whether to move… Read More
Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca and marine geologist Peter Slovinsky will hold a public conversation on how coastal communities can be more resilient to climate change. PORTLAND — The state is taking steps to fight the impact of climate change, but regardless of the measures put in place, the sea level is going to continue to… Read More
(The Center Square) – The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority expects to spend $887 million next fiscal year if the money is available, according to a draft plan CPRA’s director presented Friday to the board. Of that total, $633 million, or 71%, would be spent on construction. Other uses involve planning, design, maintenance and… Read More
A series of breakwaters to protect a coastal wildlife refuge in southwestern Louisiana incorporated an innovative, lightweight design. Despite extremely poor soils and ongoing erosion that kept changing the shoreline throughout the project, the breakwaters are already showing dramatic results. The Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Louisiana, which borders the Gulf of Mexico for 26.5… Read More
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago, Louisiana’s political and civic leaders admitted what science and facts on the ground had been shouting for decades: If the state was to have a sustainable future, it urgently needed to embark on a holistic effort to address our sinking, crumbling, drowning coastal zone. So they… Read More