In 2014, the Army Corps of Engineers pumped some 726,000 cubic yards of sand onto the South Reach beaches, with the next scheduled routine replenishment slated for around 2020.
But in the wake of damage from Hurricane Matthew last October, the Army Corps concluded the storm resulted in the loss of approximately 277,000 cubic yards of sand. So four years after the last beach fill, the agency will return in December for a fully federal-funded replenishment on a 3.8-mile stretch between Flug Avenue north of Indialantic and Spessard Holland Park North just south of Melbourne Beach.
“Normally, it’s six years between nourishments,” said Mike McGarry county program manager for beaches, boating and waterways in Brevard County’s Natural Resources Management Department. “In some cases, they’ve gone eight, in some only four.”
It depends upon how badly beaches are eroded, and how much political will there is to spend money on sand-pumping, or sand-dumping.
The upcoming project will require multi-year environmental monitoring both during and after the project, the latter jointly funded by the state and Brevard County.
On July 25, the county commission approved a resolution to provide the local share of the monitoring, not just in the South Reach, but also the North and Mid-Reach beaches as well. The Mid-Reach from Satellite Beach to Indian Harbour Beach gets a storm-related beach replenishment of its own beginning in January.
“The county action was simply permission to seek grant funds which are matched with local funds from the Tourism Development Council’s Beach Improvement Fund to handle the on-going monitoring of reconstructed beaches. Standard stuff,” said Eric Garvey, executive director of the TDC.
Of the total cost of $1.65 million – covering about 18 months of monitoring – the county will provide up to $849,780 through the Beach Improvement Fund, which gets its income through a bed tax on hotel and short term rentals.
“Brevard taxes tourist rentals instead of property owners,” McGarry said.
According to the county, a 2013 economic study by Dr. William Stronge, at Florida Atlantic University, indicated that each $1 invested by the state on beach restoration generates $48.60 in revenues from visitors.
Amanda D. Parker, spokeswoman for the Army Corps, Jacksonville district, said beach replenishment in the three regions that are part of the Brevard County Beaches Shore Protection program will cost the feds between $10 and $25 million
“The project provides storm risk reduction benefits to the homes, commercial business, public parking and access and other infrastructure along the shoreline of the Brevard County beaches,” Parker said.
The exact number of cubic yards of sand for the replenishments is still being developed by the Army Corps. “But in rough numbers it’s about 400,000,” McGarry said.
The sand will come from Canaveral Shoals 2, an offshore borrow area some five miles east of Port Canaveral.
Project permits include physical monitoring of the beach profile. The first survey during construction verifies that the nourishment adheres to the design drawings. In subsequent monitoring, surveys will note any changes to the beach and measure the change in sand volume and shape.
The monitoring permit also requires steps to insure the sea turtle nesting sites have not been adversely affected by the replenishment, both when building the beach and in subsequent years. “We track the success of turtle eggs,” McGarry said. “To date, nesting remains very strong on nourished beaches.”
Brevard County is required to monitor the performance of the restored beach and marine turtle nesting for at least three years post re-nourishment. McGarry said money is budgeted for monitoring five years out, but could be adjusted up or down depending on the status of the beaches. During the upcoming nourishment in both the South and Mid Reach beaches, the Army Corps will only replace sand lost from storm damage not the full template.
“So it could be five years to the next replenishment,” McGarry said.
