If erosion wears away and destroys an economically important beach in a tourist area, one possible alternative to closing the area is to nourish the beach. This is accomplished by pumping sand onto the beach from just offshore, a huge and expensive operation. As with most undertakings there are at least two diametrically opposed sides to the story. For a good overview of the question of maintaining our coastal heritage Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Georgia, and Institute of Ecology - Ossabaw
An example of the pronourishment side is the American Coastal coalition, a group of businessmen and women in favor of putting the sand back on the beach for the tourist industry. Their web site is http://www.coastalcoalition.org
A number of groups are not in favor of beach remediation, and many base their stance on research conducted at Duke University by Dr. Orrin Pilkey. For a review of the subject see the web pages related to the Duke Program for the Study of Developed Shore Lines.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013