Posted on April 8, 2026
Georgetown County Council is due to approve a contract this week for monitoring sand on the beaches, the first step toward creating “engineered beaches” that will qualify for federal and state disaster aid.
The council will also adopt the first update to the county’s beachfront management plan since 1992.
“This is a critical step,” Carla Harvey, the county’s Public Services director, told the county beach committee last week. “We are well on our way to eligibility for renourishment.”
The county plans to allocate $1 million for a beach renourishment fund in the budget for fiscal year 2027. It will include another $100,000 for engineering.
“We are trying to build in a reserve in case something happens,” County Council Member Stella Mercado said.
The updated beachfront management plan prepared by Coastal Science and Engineering says the county’s beaches lose an average of 190,000 cubic yards of sand each year, with most of the loss at DeBordieu. Creating an engineered beach could make DeBordieu and the Peninsula at Inlet Point South, which have private renourishment projects, eligible for disaster aid through partnerships with the county.
Disaster recovery and engineered beaches “both take a lot of money,” Mercado said.
The budget proposal calls for funding the $1.1 million from the county’s local accommodations tax, which is collected from short-term rentals.
“I thought that was wonderful news,” said John Martin, who chairs the beach committee, which the county created to help support and find ways to fund renourishment projects.
Steven Traynum, president of Coastal Science, told the committee that the low bid for a project to place 2.5 million cubic yards of offshore sand on the Isle of Palms that was expected to cost $30 million came in $8.5 million below that.
“The dredging industry was very hungry for work this particular season,” he said. “If we can give the dredging companies enough flexibility and work around their schedules, there’s the potential for significant cost savings.”
One way to do that is to allow renourishment during the summer when sea turtles are nesting. That was done at DeBordieu and the Peninsula with monitoring by S.C. United Turtle Enthusiasts (SCUTE) and safety protocols to protect the turtles.
Flexibility “is the best long-term strategy,” Traynum said.
