Size matters, it turns out, in all sorts of situations, not
least in judging grains of sand. Beach nourishment projects need to match the
size of the imported grains as closely as possible to the existing sand on the
beach, and it’s not always easy to find a good match.
So residents of Estero Island, off
southwestern Florida, would seem to be in luck: A suitable source of sand has
been found less than two miles away. The plan is to dredge and pump about a
million cubic yards of it to nourish 4.6 miles of the island’s eroding Fort
Meyers Beach. The project would widen the beach an average of 160 feet, creating
vegetated dunes.
Not everyone is happy about the
find, though. Of the 226 properties along this stretch of beach, a third of the
owners don’t want to grant access to their land to allow the project to be
completed.
There are different reasons for
the objections. Some property owners just don’t think the erosion problem is
that bad. (A study by the state’s Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems calls
the beach “critically eroded” and says the erosion is “threatening development
and recreational interests.”) Others feel the $10.5 million beach nourishment
effort is a waste of money. (It’s only indirectly their own money, however; the
work will be funded by the town of Fort Meyers Beach, bed taxes from the Lee
County Tourist Development Council, and the state’s Department of Environmental
Protection. The bed taxes in particular are out-of-towners’ money, levied on
hotel rooms for the tourists who come to enjoy the local beaches.) Still others
are afraid that building dunes will change the fundamental character of the
beach.
No matter how bad, or not, the existing situation is,
adding sand and building dunes will no doubt change the dynamics of the beach
and the future patterns of erosion. The bigger question here is whether property
owners should have the right to opt out of a project like this one. A spokesman
for the city of Fort Meyers Beach says that if some owners deny access to their
property, those parcels will be passed over, with dunes rising on either
side—potentially creating a worse problem for them as water is directed in
between the dunes.
You can find more details in this article
from the Fort Meyers News-Press. Public discussions on the project are ongoing.