Posted on February 25, 2025
Renourishment projects along Georgetown County’s beaches have moved about 6 million cubic yards of sand in the last 45 years. But they haven’t kept pace with erosion, according to data collected for an update of the county’s beachfront management plan.
“We’re losing now 200,000 yards per year along the developed beaches of the county,” said Steven Traynum, president of Coastal Science and Engineering, the firm hired by the county to update the plan.
Since Hurricane Joaquin in 2015, “it’s been a very energetic past 10 years,” he told County Council during its annual retreat.
The state requires local governments along the coast to adopt and maintain a beachfront management plan. Georgetown County’s was last updated in 1992.
The county wants to incorporate the update into its state-mandated comprehensive plan, which it just updated.
Holly Richardson, the county planning director, said she plans to present the draft from Coastal Science to the Planning Commission once it’s completed. It will also require approval from County Council.
The draft “does not identify or commit the county to new initiatives. That’s something that needs to be done by council and then incorporated into the plan and future updates,” Traynum said.
His firm, which has worked with the county and the town of Pawleys Island in the past, collected the data that is required for the plan, including an inventory of structures and beach access, and an analysis of erosion rates and alternatives to control them.
“The key focus will be on engineered beaches that will be eligible for FEMA disaster assistance,” Traynum said.
The plan will also look at ways Georgetown County can help private communities such as DeBordieu and the Peninsula that have funded their own renourishment projects become eligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“I think that’s something that could be very beneficial,” Traynum said.
To meet FEMA’s requirements for disaster funding, a beach must built up to the ideal profile. It must then be monitored. If it’s damaged in a storm event, FEMA will pay 75 percent of the cost for repairs.
Homeowner associations aren’t eligible, but the county is.
The recommendation from Coastal Science is that the county partner with the private groups for nourishment projects.
“If you sign the contract with the dredge company for the project, then it would be eligible, even if it was 100 percent paid for by the private group,” Traynum told the council.
Coastal Science did a feasibility study last year for creating an engineered beach from the south end of Litchfield to Huntington Beach State Park. The area includes the gated communities of Inlet Point and Litchfield by the Sea so state funding would only cover 74 percent of the cost.
One way the county could cover the rest is by adding a penny to the tax on short term rentals as a “beach preservation fee,” Traynum said.
“There is a strong interest among some of the local stakeholders to get something going,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of support financially from some of these groups.”
Since it takes time to get a project approved, he recommended the county start building partnerships once the new beachfront plan is approved.
“You don’t want to get to the point where you’re in a critical situation and have to wait 18 months to get a permit,” Traynum said.
