“Castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually” … Jimi Hendrix.
A Few days ago the Rehoboth and Dewey Beach replenishment project was started. If you don’t know what beach replenishment is, that is when the Army Corp Of Engineers pumps sand onto a beach to rebuild dunes and beaches that have washed out from storms. In this case the last storms we had over the winter washed out all the beaches along the Delaware coast line. Think about that for a minute, take all the time you need. Two storms, this past winter, washed out the beaches. Now we are going to pay close to twelve million dollars to rebuild something that could easily wash back out this winter. When I say we, I mean the proverbial we, federal tax dollars and state tax dollars. DNREC is footing thirty five percent of the bill, that is Delaware tax payer money. The other sixty five percent is federal tax dollars. So in essence everyone in this state and country are paying for this, Delawareans will be paying for it twice.
Wave video shot by Matt Adams on December 5th 2015. Look at the power in that wave, and we are trying to buffer the effects of that!
This is where the controversy always starts on the local level. Businesses will say they need to be protected as will homeowners, but the feds and state have to foot the bill. You ever see how much rent is in that town? I have news for all of them, if the ACOE are only spending a month doing this replenishment and the existing line I see right now is all they are adding, it won’t take long to wash away. Even after the bad storms this winter the beach recovered rather well on its own. The surfers were loving the new shore break created by the sand bars that formed. A natural protection from storm surge and waves, built by mother nature. Beaches erode and move, that is what they do and have been since the beginning of time. Trying to stop that is literally the definition of insanity. The fishing even got a little better in some areas thanks to newly formed structure. We could cast to the second sand bar for once too, which is not an easy task on a regular day in some areas.
Beach replenishment is used to protect property and the shore line from storm damage and erosion. Erosion of beaches is something that has been happening since the beginning of time and will continue to happen long after man is gone from this world. One of the reasons you don’t find a lot of old or ancient settlements from man is the fact they were close to water or a shoreline that is under the ocean or sea now. Literally we are trying to stop the Atlantic ocean from eroding away beaches. Not long from now a sixty five million dollar beach replenishment project will start in New Jersey at Abescon island. The sad part about many of these projects is dunes are built higher than a natural dune would ever get in order to protect property and keep tourism alive. Meanwhile you can’t see the ocean from the boardwalk because of the engineered dunes. That won’t happen in Rehoboth Beach, but it did happen at Broadkill beach. That dune or berm is higher than some of the houses on the beach, but eventually it will erode and melt back into the sea.
My question has always been and will continue to be … Can’t we find a better way to protect the shore line and create a better, more “natural” shore break? I know groyns or jetties have worked in many areas. New Jersey is burying most of their jetties and even notching them for water flow.
Truck being tossed around by waves shows just how powerful water can be
What many do not know is the shore break created by replenished beaches is very dangerous to swimmers. It is especially dangerous to people who are not accustomed to swimming or wading in the ocean. Tourists, the same people for whom this beach is being rebuilt can break thier neck if they are not careful. I need to make a new Tshirt up … “Rehoboth Beach, Shore To Break Your Neck.” These waves that crash into the shoreline literally crash into the sand. Crushing anything in between them and the sand, that includes people. There have been many serious neck injuries from people being rolled by these waves. Which don’t slowly roll in and wash across the beach, instead they build up with huge energy and then crash on the beach, hard. You can feel the big ones hit on the large wave days whenthey slam into the beach. There are many other technologies that could be applied or looked at for protecting the shore line without using replenishment. In the long run replenishment will run out because you can only “borrow”so much sand from in front of the coast. Even the borrow pit being used now had to be adjusted to protect some of the marine life out there. The more we remove shoals the more we open the beaches up to erosion, and mess up the fishing. These shoals are what helps protect the coast line and the sand bars that form close to shore do as well. Back in the day we relied on mother nature to fix her beaches.
Storm Hermine waves
One thing I can guarantee. the fishing will be adversely affected for months to come from this replenishment. Not only will it smother anything living in the surf line. It will fill in existing structure and the sand plume will push migratory fish away from our coast line. This project will only last a month according to the schedule but the after effects on fishing will be felt or seen for up to a year. The killer fishing structure in Rehoboth beach will be gone, one of my favorite places to cast and walk the jetties looking for fish. One thing for sure, the beaches in Cape Henlopen state park are going to get wider, especially Herring point, and I bet the point will get bigger or change shape a little with all this new sand that is about to wash north over the winter. It would have been nice for the fishermen in Delaware, which number over three hundred plus thousand, if the ACOE and Rehoboth Beach had waited until the fall run was over, but we are anglers not tourists, and apparently don’t count or are ever considered. Then again that would require anglers getting organized, and fighting things like this, but that is another issue. We have the technology and intelligence to do better, the question is when will we start that process. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am not a fan of replenishment.
Fish On!
Rich King