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Please, give the sand some time
During the debate preceding Nags Head’s nourishment project opinions varied. Supporters of nourishment were cautious, as was the engineering firm that designed the project.
Opponents were more confident in their prediction that the project would ultimately fail. If one were to tally comments on the Voice, the most oft-repeated prediction was that one large, or a series of many winter nor’easters would remove the project over its first winter.
The debate and the opinions were valid. What was dismaying was how the naysayers acted over the winter. The project lost what many described as “half the sand” over the winter and after Irene. It didn’t.
Bloggers took pictures of the steep escarpments and drop-offs near the shoreline, even though the project managers predicted that, like the sand loss, was exactly what would occur.
The project survived hurricane Irene and several winter storms. Of course, the naysayers said Irene was a sound-centered so it didn’t really count. And, this year’s nor’easters were not ‘that strong.’
OK. Here is a picture of the Nags Head beach not touched by the project.
And here is a picture from the South Nags Head Outer Banks Fishing Pier north toward Jennette’s Pier, where the project placed most of the sand.
We have a long way to go, so the jury is still out and won’t reach a verdict for five years. But it saddens me the naysayers seemed almost joyful when the winter sand acted as predicted, and then became silent as the sand returned over the summer.
At least for our first full year, the project seems to have done its job.
Just My Opinion appears Wednesdays and Fridays in the Voice.
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Charles Dail says:
I was down at the 20mp area last week and I gotta tell you,that beach is great.Don’t know all the details, but it sure was a pretty wide flat beach like you see in south Fla. And Russ you are right, the nasayers will always bitch and complain about everything,and anybody.Nags Head got it right this time and should be proud,regardless of the cost.
Just-A-Reader says:
Thank you Russ.
Major Hooper says:
A one-time insurance payout for the loss of a structure due to natural movement of the sand makes a lot more sense than to fight the ocean forces. Instead of insuring vulnerable structures repeatedly and forcing higher insurance rates on everyone, cover the loss ONCE. It is much more efficacious in terms of money and conserving the natural ecosystems harmed by pumping sand from offshore to onshore repeatedly. Let’s practice common sense and let nature take its course…it will anyway. People who lose a structure can purchase across the street, if one is available. If not, they had their time in the sun by the sea. This idea of usurping the public time, energy and dollars of everyone to protect a handful of properties is not sustainable.
Robbin Banks says:
Um, it’s supposed to last for ten years (according to every document I’ve read) and there’s a pretty gnarly drop-off in the surf zone in S. Nags Head at high tide (at least there was a few weeks ago).
Also, just because most of the sand is still there a year later doesn’t even come close to justifying the $36 million cost. I bet a valid argument can be made that, even if the nourished beach lasts 10 years, it still won’t be worth it, from an economic perspective, that is.
Geology 101 says:
Quality and repeatable seamless topographic and hydrographic surveys would leave little of a debate. The issue is CSE has a history of poor quality survey data. No overlap in surfzone (that is where a lot of sand resides), no motion sensor, no sound velocity measurements, etc. This leads to survey results that are not repeatable so “real” change is hard to quantify.
As most people understand the beach had a winter and summer profile. Winter the sand is typically chewed off the beach to reside in sand bars, in the summer the sand is typically fed to the beach from the bars. A quality survey, one that shows the surfzone would tell the story.
Why no one has mentioned the reasons CSE was kicked out of Carteret County has always been a mystery to me. Beach looks great BTW.
David Enochs says:
What do we have on the Outer Banks if we have no beach?
Are we all going to go back to commercial fishing?
beach bouy says:
If they want to keep that sand, they better start putting up more sand fences.
I’m just sayin’…
Bill says:
Beach is definitely nice, but I wonder how many years we are going to be taxed for it? Is there a tax year out there where the sand will be “paid off?”
KittyHawkPirate says:
Major Hooper says, “Instead of insuring vulnerable structures repeatedly and forcing higher insurance rates on everyone, cover the loss ONCE. It is much more efficacious in terms of money and conserving the natural ecosystems harmed by pumping sand from offshore to onshore repeatedly.” Sorry but your completely uneducated as far as insurance is concerned. Flood is covered by FEMA and is a government program. It is subsidized by every tax payer across the country and it’s not affected by a local event. It’s the same rate no matter if you’re in Florida, Texas, Ohio, or North Dakota depending on the flood zone and construction of your home. Don’t know if you’re just trying to stir the pot or don’t know any better. Flood insurance and homeowners insurance are two totally different animials. If a home washes away its a flood loss and doesn’t affect anyones homeowners insurance rates.
Every waiter, carpenter, realtor, and trinket sales person depends on those beaches. Without them who would come to this place. I wish the Town of Kitty Hawk had enough balls to do the same as Nags Head and I would be glad to pay a few dollars a year more. Our beaches are pitiful. I’m tired of putting my towel either on the dune or shore break because Kitty Hawks beaches are pathetically narrow. Needless to say I applaud the Town of Nags Head. At least they are trying to be proactive.
Jon says:
Yeah, the sand’s still there . . . and so are a bunch of sandbags. Dunno why those aren’t gone by now, shouldn’t they be getting fined for that?
I don’t favor the nourished beach profile, very long steep drop to the surf. I’ll stick with the beaches north of the nourished area, they are much nicer. Also don’t like the longer walk to the beach. The beach critters don’t seem to have recovered yet either.
Anybody ever notice that there is always plenty of sand at Coquina? And so there always was in Nags Head too. There just happened to be houses in the middle of it.
Ray Midgett says:
Russ, you say “Bloggers took pictures of the steep escarpments and drop-offs near the shoreline, even though the project managers predicted that, like the (50+%) sand loss, was exactly what would occur.” The real truth is this fact was never mentioned during all the years of talking about the project (from the county or town level), until after CSE and the dredge company got their contracts. Incidentally, the permit requires the town to grade those drop-offs any time they exceed 18 inches. Has the town ever done that? Nada? Actually, this situation will continue to exist, due to the extreme high profile of the new beach until such time a hurricane or major storm overwashes the beach and restores it to a more natural level. Otherwise, you can count on continued bad drop offs, deep water immediately off the beach (unsafe for swimming), no natural swash zone, very few shells, no pebbles, fewer seabirds, and poor surf fishing. I can’t count the number of locals and visitors I’ve heard this summer saying they wish they had their old beach back. It was a high price to pay just to protect a few cottages down south whose owners, for the most part, were disobeying every environmental law they could. JMO.
MichaelAP5 says:
I live on the west side in Nags Head but visited some friends who were renting in Duck a couple of weeks ago. The Duck beach is nearly gone in some places. I’ll take our beautiful new PUBLIC Nags Head beach anyday! Thanks to all who supported the project and all those helping to pay for it.
Ray Midgett says:
Michael, the section of Duck beach you are talking about is about 1/3 mile north of the Army Corp Pier. Right? That section has been heavily bulldozed for years, pushing up the high berms there and they’ve had problems in that small 1/4 mile section ever since. In my opinion, the beaches from Southern Shores north are the best on the northern Outer Banks. JMO.
MichaelAP5 says:
No, Ray. The home my friends rented was at the end of Charles Jenkins Lane. I do agree that the Duck beaches are great but they face the same threat as ours to the South. While nourishment is expensive and not a perfect solution, Nags Head has proven, at least for now, that it can be an effective way to preserve the assets that support our economy.
Bob O says:
We were actually fortunate that Irene came along and overwashed the beach to reach a natural equilibrium quickly. The critters, from ghost crabs to mole crabs to turtles are doing well too, so well recovered that we may not have to do all the proposed benthic monitoring. The engineer has been consistent in his projections from the start, and most of his work is on the town website. http://Www.nagsheadnc.gov
Harold says:
Good for the Town of Nags Head officials, good for the town itself and good for Russ for having the nerve to speak the truth.
Let the naysayers wear themselves out. If it weren’t for the beach, there would be no local economy.
ekim says:
We all know that the the weather is the maker & the breaker of the TAX payers EXPERIMENT, The last year the OBX weather has been very very QUIET, One year means nothing, WE shall see.
Betsy says:
The widened beach is wonderful. My taxes went up significantly but I feel worth it as the beach is everything to this area. I applaud those who had the vision to give replenishment a try.
MichaelAP5 says:
I’m glad we did what we did for the beach. But, we should all buy the “naysayers” a beer once in a while. It’s important to listen to all sides of an issue. Nobody is always right and nobody is always wrong.
Catherine says:
We’re here visiting Kitty Hawk for the first time. We usually go to Sandbridge. I’m really missing the beach critters. Does anyone know if the lack of beach critters has anything to do with sand ‘replenishment’?