Restored beaches make waves
Like a classic car being voted best in show, beaches in Monmouth County can now proudly boast that the years and expense of restoration paid off after they were named among the top six rehabbed shores in the country.
Since 2002, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association has picked beach restoration projects it considers successful, and the 18 miles of replenished beaches between Sea Bright and the Manasquan Inlet made this year's list.
The honor most likely won't speed up federal funding to continue work there or elsewhere on the coast, but it does serve as vindication to designers and planners who were told the project would be a failure, said Anthony Ciorra, chief of the civil works branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency largely responsible for the replenishment projects.
"The performance speaks for itself," Ciorra said at a news conference yesterday in Long Branch announcing the designation. "The success of this project has enabled us to complete and do other projects throughout the state of New Jersey,"
This wasn't the first time a New Jersey shoreline was named to the list. Last year, beaches from Cape May Inlet to Lower Township became the first in New Jersey to earn the ASBPA designation. But the Monmouth restoration work -- encompassing 18 of 21 coastal towns in central New Jersey -- represents the largest replenishment project in the country.
When the project started in 1994, not all the oceanfront communities were sold on the idea of giving up easement rights to the state and federal governments in return for wider and higher beaches.
Deal, Loch Arbour and Allenhurst did not participate in the project. But other communities like Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright -- their beaches decimated and their towns flooded by a 1992 Nor'easter -- became the first to get sand pumped from the ocean floor.
The project created beaches where none had existed beyond sea walls that separated the homes and businesses from the ocean.
Fishermen complained that with the replenishment project, their most productive spots would become inaccessible. Surfers argued the project would create a dangerous shorebreak. Inlanders objected to having their tax dollars spent for the protection of beachfront homes built in environmentally sensitive areas. Others claimed the work was a waste of money because it required touch-ups every six years for the next 50 years.
In the past several years, these objections helped fuel a reluctance by many congressional representatives to support continued funding of beach replenishment projects. So far, President Bush has not allocated any funding in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2007, which begins Oct. 1, Ciorra said.
This year, the $3 million allocated by the federal government and another $1 million by the state for renourishment in Monmouth County will pay for only 500,000 cubic yards of sand to be pumped up on select beaches.
Spring Lake, Monmouth Beach and Manasquan are all in need of touch-ups, but the work will most likely be done in Long Branch, which hasn't had a new round of sand replenishment since 1997 or 1998, Ciorra said. That work should start in September, he said. Ciorra said another $7 million will be needed just to do the other Monmouth County towns in need.
Noreen Bodman, president of the Jersey Shore Partnership, an advocacy group for the state's coastal communities, said the money spent on replenishment has been returned to the state exponentially in tourism and taxes.
Since 1995, New Jersey has received $285.19 million in federal beach replenishment funds -- the highest amount in the country. Florida, with six beaches recognized by the ASBPA since 2002, received the second highest in federal replenishment funding, $234.72 million over the past 11 years.
Harry Simmons, president of the ASBPA, said the annual recognition is to build awareness of and appreciation for restored beaches.
"These beaches are being brought back to health in ways that reflect the unique character and ecosystem of each one, as well as the unique challenges each one faces from nature and from man," he said.
The other recognized restored beaches this year were Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland; Captiva Island in Florida; Gulf Shores/Orange Beach in Alabama; Pinellas County beaches in Florida, and Rehoboth and Dewey beaches in Delaware.
BY MARYANN SPOTO
Since 2002, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association has picked beach restoration projects it considers successful, and the 18 miles of replenished beaches between Sea Bright and the Manasquan Inlet made this year's list.
The honor most likely won't speed up federal funding to continue work there or elsewhere on the coast, but it does serve as vindication to designers and planners who were told the project would be a failure, said Anthony Ciorra, chief of the civil works branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency largely responsible for the replenishment projects.
"The performance speaks for itself," Ciorra said at a news conference yesterday in Long Branch announcing the designation. "The success of this project has enabled us to complete and do other projects throughout the state of New Jersey,"
This wasn't the first time a New Jersey shoreline was named to the list. Last year, beaches from Cape May Inlet to Lower Township became the first in New Jersey to earn the ASBPA designation. But the Monmouth restoration work -- encompassing 18 of 21 coastal towns in central New Jersey -- represents the largest replenishment project in the country.
When the project started in 1994, not all the oceanfront communities were sold on the idea of giving up easement rights to the state and federal governments in return for wider and higher beaches.
Deal, Loch Arbour and Allenhurst did not participate in the project. But other communities like Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright -- their beaches decimated and their towns flooded by a 1992 Nor'easter -- became the first to get sand pumped from the ocean floor.
The project created beaches where none had existed beyond sea walls that separated the homes and businesses from the ocean.
Fishermen complained that with the replenishment project, their most productive spots would become inaccessible. Surfers argued the project would create a dangerous shorebreak. Inlanders objected to having their tax dollars spent for the protection of beachfront homes built in environmentally sensitive areas. Others claimed the work was a waste of money because it required touch-ups every six years for the next 50 years.
In the past several years, these objections helped fuel a reluctance by many congressional representatives to support continued funding of beach replenishment projects. So far, President Bush has not allocated any funding in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2007, which begins Oct. 1, Ciorra said.
This year, the $3 million allocated by the federal government and another $1 million by the state for renourishment in Monmouth County will pay for only 500,000 cubic yards of sand to be pumped up on select beaches.
Spring Lake, Monmouth Beach and Manasquan are all in need of touch-ups, but the work will most likely be done in Long Branch, which hasn't had a new round of sand replenishment since 1997 or 1998, Ciorra said. That work should start in September, he said. Ciorra said another $7 million will be needed just to do the other Monmouth County towns in need.
Noreen Bodman, president of the Jersey Shore Partnership, an advocacy group for the state's coastal communities, said the money spent on replenishment has been returned to the state exponentially in tourism and taxes.
Since 1995, New Jersey has received $285.19 million in federal beach replenishment funds -- the highest amount in the country. Florida, with six beaches recognized by the ASBPA since 2002, received the second highest in federal replenishment funding, $234.72 million over the past 11 years.
Harry Simmons, president of the ASBPA, said the annual recognition is to build awareness of and appreciation for restored beaches.
"These beaches are being brought back to health in ways that reflect the unique character and ecosystem of each one, as well as the unique challenges each one faces from nature and from man," he said.
The other recognized restored beaches this year were Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland; Captiva Island in Florida; Gulf Shores/Orange Beach in Alabama; Pinellas County beaches in Florida, and Rehoboth and Dewey beaches in Delaware.
BY MARYANN SPOTO
