Posted on August 1, 2022
The project to restore the Sodus Point Beach following flooding in 2017 and 2019 has been recognized by a national organization.
Dune project shares national recognition
The Finger Lakes Times reports the beach has won a Best Restored Beach award from the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association. Other beaches receiving the honor were Ocean Isle Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts, and Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.
The association wrote “Sodus Point Beach on Lake Ontario in the Village of Sodus Point, New York is a man-made beach created by accretion of land after the construction of federal piers to stabilize the entrance to Great Sodus Bay in 1833. Over the years, the beach continued to receive natural sources of sand; however, sand was not retained on the beach but drifted against upland residences where it was removed as a nuisance. The project focused on measures to capture wind-blown sand to harness natural means to reach flood protection goals and widen the beach at a county-owned park. With a strong focus on community engagement and education and participation in the permitting of the project by the affected property owners, the Village of Sodus Point successfully constructed the Sodus Point Beach Project to address the continual flattening of the beach while also providing access through the newly created dunes with volunteer-planted dune grasses.”
Related: Flood mitigation project complete in Sodus Point: Village hopes it’s protected from future flooding
Beach work comes in well under budget
The beach was restored with funds from the Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative begun by Governor Cuomo in 2019. The project to build dunes to protect from future flooding was budgeted at $490,000, but thanks to in-kind services and volunteer labor, it wound up costing about half that.
Sodus Point officials will travel to Washington next year to accept the award.
Related: Army Corps of Engineers awards contract for Little Sodus Bay pier repairs
