Beach Replenishment Plans and Problems
Introduction
Imagine sitting on the beach on a bright sunny day, ocean water dripping and gently being air-dried on one’s skin by the cool ocean breeze. It seems to be a feeling of paradise for many. Year after year, individuals from all parts of the east coast flood to the shore for at least one weekend every summer to rest, relax and create great memories with friends and family. However, nearly every year some form of natural disaster occurs and washes away a good amount of the beaches. There are tropical storms, hurricanes and nor’easters that leave shortened beaches, destroyed jetties and docks, and occasionally flooded houses and buildings. A great amount of worry has evolved that over time these islands will become smaller and smaller until eventually, they are gone.
Most coastal towns and islands rely on tourism to succeed and make a living. There are many family run businesses, restaurants and small shops that keep the islands alive in the summer. These shops attract visitors and locals and thrive off of the money acquired from these guests. If at any time there is a drop in the amount of tourists throughout the summer, there is a subsequent decline in profits within these towns and communities. Since most individuals come to these islands mainly for the beach, there is much worry that with each storm there will be smaller, less enjoyable beaches and tourism rates will fall to a record low.
Governors, mayors, the president and those who live within the affected towns have been discussing the numerous plans that could be initiated to help with beach replenishment. There are cost efficient plans that would take a great deal of time and effort and very costly plans that would t...
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Case Study of Hastings Coastal Management Hastings is a town on the south coast of England approximately 60 miles south of London (see map below). In recent years, the coastline at Hastings has had to face many large scale problems, including the 10 km stretch from Hastings eastwards to the small town of Fairlight. With the coastline at constant exposure to the English Channel, there are many coastal processes which take place along the stretch of beach and cliff. [IMAGE][IMAGE] [IMAGE][IMAGE] Longshore Drift [IMAGE] Fetch [IMAGE]The map on the left illustrates the location of Hastings and also the area of the coastline which is being discussed in this case study.
The whole island is in the shape of a giant square with white sandy beaches full of people sunbathing, swimming and fishing right on the shoreline. From the end of the hot pavement parking lot to shore of the beach is an ocean of soft white sand. The pearlescent white sand seems to know how to invade every nook and cranny almost as if it enjoys it. Walking around the beach on the fluffy whiteness surrounding the parking lot, the seagulls are fighting over scraps of food on the ground. “Sandy beach ecosystems provide invaluable services to humankind. Their functions have been exploited through history, with significant anthropogenic effects (Lucrezi, 2015)”. This white sandy beach is a beautiful refuge from the mundane grind of everyday life. The smell of the misty ocean air mixed with the sound of seagulls hovering above and kids playing is a tonic for the mind. The feel of the sand between their toes and the waves crashing over them as people swim in the water, or the jerk of a fishing pole when someone is catching a fish makes Fred Howard Park one of the best places to relax. Standing on the beach looking out on the water, people are kayaking and windsurfing. The lifeguards watching vigilantly in their bright red shirt and shorts, blowing their whistles when they see someone being unsafe. After a long day of swimming and laying around visitors head back over the soft white sand to the showers, in order to rinse off the menacing sand that clings to everything like a bad habit. Everyone rushes over the hot pavement burning their feet to reach their cars so they can put away their beach paraphernalia which is still covered in the white sand, nearly impossible to completely leave behind, so when they get home it serves as a reminder of where they were that
Longshore drift is a process by which sediments are transported from one place to another. When this process occurs, beaches, spits and sandbars are accreted over time. If the process of longshore drift is altered by factors such as stronger winds and stronger currents, beach erosion begins at a faster rate and this may result in many serious problems. The main stakeholders of longshore drift are resort owners. They rely on people to visit their resorts and enjoy the beach. However, if longshore drift erodes t...
The city of Miami Beach has already tried once to solve the flooding issue. The mayor, Philip Levine took action by “installing enormous pumps underground that will suck water off the streets and dump it into Biscayne Bay.” Levine has already installed six of the fifty-four that he has planned to install around Miami Beach. These pumps are a complete waste of money because regardless of how many will be installed, the sea level rising will just cause the pumps to be ineffective. On her trip, Kolbert meets with scientist Hal Wanless. Wanless shares his opinion with Kolbert about the millions of dollars that Miami Beach has already spent on trying to stop the reoccurring flooding. Wanless states, “So much money down the drain. Sooner or later-and probably sooner-the city will have too much water to deal with.” The state officials must find a different way to solve the flooding if they want to save their state. But the officials have already made up their minds to not invest any further money because of the failure and money lost from the
Authorities at LSU's Hurricane Center and Water Resources Research Institute, and US Army Corps of Engineers lead a discussion of how Louisiana's coastal region is doomed to storm surges. A case in point is the deterioration of the Mississippi Delta, a triangular-shaped deposition of sediment, which works to mitigate flooding and damage caused by storm surges. In fact, every four miles of the delta could knock down a storm surge by one foot. Unfortunately, some areas of the delta like Port Fouchon are losing 40 to 50 feet of land per year. By 2090, experts at LSU have postulated that the delta will be gone - vulnerably leaving New Orleans on the sea. Aside from the delta, barrier islands and marshes are the only other two natural entities which could mitigate a storm surge. The barrier islands' black mangrove trees and the marshes' tall grasses interfere with incoming gulf currents. However, just like the Mississippi Delta, these natural entities are also eroding (Fischetti, 2001).
Today, with our understanding of how fragile the coastal areas are, there are many study and restoration projects underway. Since the implementation of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) in 1990, there have been 151 coastal restorat...
Additionally, the majority of Puerto Rico’s critical infrastructure occupies the coast. Rising sea levels can affect infrastructure, freshwater resources, agriculture, ecosystems and the economy. In Rincón, a coastal town in Puerto Rico, the rising sea levels are eroding the coastline at a rate of about 3ft per year.3 Coastal erosion is damaging to the numerous buildings located on the island’s coastline, but even more concerning is that several of Puerto Rico’s historic sites (i.e. the Spanish forts in Old San Juan) are located on that coastline. The erosion could cause not just structural damage, but complete loss of these sites, as well as loss of beach area. In 2009, 3.5 million tourists spent $3.5 billion on the island.3 The picturesque beaches are an attraction for those visitors. Without the beaches, Puerto Rico could take a major hit to their tourism
Although it has been years since our most recent visit to the shore side of Ocean City, New Jersey, the memories and senses never abandon my mind. All I can recall is the wondrous combination of the scorching heat, the grainy sand in between my toes, and the overwhelming smell of salt and delicious foods . . . I feel as if I am standing right there right now! Who could ever relinquish the beauty of the shore, the healing the shore accomplishes, and the tastes of the wondrous foods?
Tourism impacts can be generally classified into seven categories with each having both positive and negative impacts. These impacts include; economic, environmental, social and cultural, crowding and congestion, taxes, and community attitude. It is essential for a balance on array of impacts that may either positively or negatively affect the resident communities. Different groups are concerned about different tourism impacts that affect them in one way or another. Tourism’s benefits can be increased by use of specific plans and actions. These can also lead to decrease in the gravity of negative impacts. Communities will not experience every impact but instead this will depend on particular natural resources, development, or spatial patterns (Glen 1999).
With Puerto Rico’s economy already not doing so well, this hurricane only made matters worse. The estimated damage done to the island is about $30 billion. Many businesses are already putting together plans and figuring out all the damage. Manufacturing makes up about 49% of the island’s Gross Domestic Product. Many businesses may not be able to start up again because they don’t have the money for it. Tourism in Puerto Rico is going to be majorly affected. Just recently, the tourism in Puerto Rico had gone up from 7.3% of GDP to 8.4% and was expected to rise to 10.7% in 2027. Many hotels, as well as resorts, contemplated whether or not to shut down because the generators were only going to last a few days.
Pattullo, Polly, Last Resorts: “The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean”. Kiniry and Rose 590-598. Print.
The timing of the storm’s landfall coinciding with a high tide and full moon led to catastrophic damage on the New Jersey coast, an estimated $30 billion. A third of NJ transportation was damag...
Over the past year there has been over a million pounds of trash and debris filling up our landfills. This trash and debris have been found all over the beaches and found in the water killing ocean life and killing our reefs. This problem can cause our ocean food supply to plummet. It can also affect our economy ultimately by affecting our tourism. I am interested in this issue because, living in Hawaii and going to beach everyday I see beautiful beaches being trashed. So I would like to do anything I can to help the beaches and prevent this from happening.
Fletcher’s article helps to provide more of an insight on why these Caribbean countries rely on the tourism industry, giving a greater perspective of the workings of capitalism as in order to survive it must continually grow. While it is important to note that looking at one small area in the Caribbean and its impact on the tourism industry, cannot lead me to draw any general conclusions– as not every Caribbean country will react to the tourism industry in the same way - the study discussed on Jamaica’s Ocho Rios still can provide perspective as to how this heavy reliance on the tourism industry can affect the social, cultural, environmental, and economic standing within such countries. Further research must be conducted on all different effects and within tourist sites in order to come to a general conclusion. Many researchers have offered frameworks on how to prevent such negative impacts from occurring, and this can be helpful for the future of this fast-growing industry. As a person who has travelled to the Caribbean quite frequently (as I have family members who reside in Barbados), because I stay with family members and thus can see the island from a local perspective, I have witnessed first hand the small ways in which the tourism industry affects a big Caribbean tourist destination such as Barbados; not just with those deemed as outsiders with the tourism industry, but those working within it.
The problem with contaminated beaches will soon take effect on everyone. The main causes that pollution creates in the beaches are from heavy rainfall, natural disasters, and plant malfunctions. Government agencies cannot control the weather, but they can control what goes into the water. In the United States, the number one reason why beaches are closed down are due to contamination in the water that may be harmful and are left untreated. The arising problem with the beach is that the industries are producing toxic chemicals and tossing the unwanted waste into the ocean. Also, the public are recklessly throwing their trash out into the streets. A prime example to demonstrate this is, if someone was trying to throw a bottle into a street trashcan but missed, he/she is unlikely to pick up after himself/herself if no one was around to see it. This scenario causes pollution to the sidewalks. When mother nature disasters occur, these waste products will end up in the storm drains and into the sewage system. The overflow of debri from the cities can flow into the rivers and if not preserved, it can flow into the ocean. The rivers will then carry these human caused waste into t...