Posted on February 26, 2024
Mother nature has played havoc with Palm Beach County’s emergency dune restoration plans, already washing away more than 20,000 tons of sand deposited in Singer Island as part of a $2.5 million project. Another $2 million is expected to be spent to help restore beaches at Coral Cove Park in Tequesta.
Several strong windstorms and king tides late last year caused such severe beach erosion that the county declared an emergency and authorized the placement of 53,000 tons of sand onto Singer Island beaches and another 45,000 tons onto Coral Cove beaches.
Andy Studt, who oversees the county’s dune restoration programs, said 70% of the county’s 47-mile coastline, much of it in the northern end, is considered “critically eroded.”
In a letter dated Feb. 12 to county commissioners, Deborah Drum, director of Environmental Resources Management, acknowledged that heavy winds and waves last week resulted in a setback and the work at Singer Island is “offering little shore protection.”
Drum’s office has been inundated with requests for help. Jupiter Inlet Colony has been hard hit with erosion threatening single-family homes there. But there is little the county can do for Jupiter Inlet as Drum told county commissioners that her efforts must be directed toward county-owned beaches that are publicly accessible. The beaches at Jupiter Inlet have limited to no public access.
County’s shore protection plans focus on county beaches
“Stakeholders continue to reach out to the county seeking regulatory assistance or shore protection actions that exceed the County’s regulatory authority or are not practical (technologically, financially, or otherwise),” Drum stated in her email to county commissioners. Homeowners without armored shorelines should seek guidance from coastal engineers on how to best protect their properties, she noted.
‘Some of their homes are in danger’:Jupiter Inlet Colony closes beach as waves erode sand
Studt said the loss of the 20,000 tons of sand at Singer Island was the result of 10-15 foot waves in early February that hammered the dunes that had just been protected. Some of the new sand is being placed in the area that was washed away. He noted, though, that there is a strong likelihood that the lost sand will eventually wind up back on the beach. The Singer Island project is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Each day, scores of trucks arrive at Singer Island to unload sand taken from a sand mine in Fort Pierce. The sand is placed along a two-mile stretch of beach about 1.5 miles north of the Lake Worth Inlet within the city of Riviera Beach from Ocean Reef Park north to the John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.
