Posted on October 21, 2022
OAK ISLAND, N.C. (WECT) – Beach management efforts throughout southeastern North Carolina will receive over $10 million thanks to a total of $20.1 million in state grants given to coastal communities for storm damage repairs.
“Our coastal communities are on the frontlines of climate change and this funding will help provide solutions to protect their environmental resources and support a healthy coastal economy,” said N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth S. Biser in a DEQ release.
Funds were awarded by the DEQ’s Division of Water Resources to eight projects. The grants also required a local match; between all eight projects, local governments are required to pay a total of $38,931,398 towards their projects to receive the grants. The DEQ writes that all eight applications resulted in grant funding.
For Oak Island, $965,000 in grant funding will go towards the town’s beach management plan, which aims to nourish and protect the local sand dunes and public beaches. In Topsail Beach, $109,100 will be used for their dune planting project. North Topsail Beach received more than any of the others: $10.5 million for phases four and five of their nourishment efforts.
Per a DEQ release, projects include:
- Pine Knoll Shores Sand Fencing $90,400.00
- Topsail Beach Dune Planting Project $109,100.00
- Town of Nags Head Dune Planting $300,000.00
- Oak Island Beach Management Plan $965,000.00
- North Dare County Multi-Town Beach Nourishment $1,000,000.00
- Beach Renourishment to Protect NC Hwy. 12, Buxton, Dare County $1,557,607.00
- Avon Village Beach Nourishment, Dare County $5,576,639.00
- North Topsail Phase 4 & 5 Nourishment $10,500,000.00
