Helping beaches recover from hurricanes, other impacts costs governments millions of dollars

Local governments play a game of give-and-take when it comes to maintaining Treasure Coast beaches and their ever-changing terrain.

As a result of hurricanes, erosion and development on barrier islands, intervention in Mother Nature’s natural cycle on beaches is needed to sustain the recreational space used by locals and tourists and to protect waterfront structures.

Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties have spent millions on beach renourishment projects over the past decade.

To many, the work seems repetitive, even futile, yet it’s become necessary, coastal engineers say. Beach erosion, which occurs both naturally and artificially, is partially fueled by manmade inlets.

“If we want to maintain shorelines in Florida, and we want to have beaches to recreate, we have to address what Mother Nature would have otherwise eroded or moved,” said St. Lucie County Coastal Engineer Joshua Revord. “And then we also have to deal with those additional features that we have constructed over time that further exacerbate nature’s role in changing the shoreline.”