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Beach Preservation/Restoration
Florida has 1,350 miles of coast of which 825 miles of sandy beaches fall within jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's beach management program. The department has a wide-ranging program to develop and update the statewide beach management plan; regulate coastal construction; monitor physical changes along the coast; respond to storm damage; and fund local government projects to protect, preserve, and restore the beach and dune system. Established in 1970 and updated several times, the regulatory program is designed to prevent improperly designed or sited structures from causing erosion. The Florida Legislature provides, on average, $25 million for the annual funding program, underwriting projects to restore critically eroded beaches, which result from natural forces and, more significantly, from the consequences of historical development, including the construction and maintenance of navigation inlets that disrupt the natural flow of sand along the beach. Critical erosion is the level at which substantial development, recreational, cultural, or environmental interests are threatened. Of the 825 miles of beaches managed by the department, 397.4 miles are currently designated as critically eroded.
Why Is This Important?
Florida has 825 miles of sandy beaches fronting the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Straights of Florida. Beaches are vital recreation areas and provide storm protection for public infrastructure and private development as well as coastal habitat for wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Out of state beach tourists have an estimated $50 billion annual impact on Florida's economy. For many people, Florida is defined by its beaches; therefore, beach protection and restoration are essential to Florida's quality of life.
How Is Florida Doing?
The department's most recent assessment of Florida's beaches identifies 397.4 miles as being critically eroded. Through cooperative efforts between the department and its local and federal partners to implement Florida's statewide beach management plan, 208.6 miles (52.5 percent) have been restored. Because the area of critically eroded beaches changes as a result of natural forces and imprudent development, the department must routinely reevaluate this situation.
Scorecard
What Influences Beach Preservation/Restoration?
Erosion is caused by natural forces, including tidal effects and storms, and by development and construction too close to the coastline, whether individual homes, condominiums, armoring structures such as revetments and seawalls, recreational facilities, or roads. Significant erosion is also directly attributable to the construction and maintenance of navigation inlets. Florida has more than 60 inlets, many of which have been dredged to accommodate commercial and recreational vessels and which employ jetties to prevent sand from filling in the channels. The jetties and inlet channels interrupt the natural flow of sand along the beach, causing an accumulation of sand in the inlet channel and at the jetty on one side of the inlet and a loss of sand to the beaches on the other side.
What Is the State's Role?
The department implements the statewide beach management plan to address the impacts of inlet channels, jetties and other obstructions to natural sand drift along the coast; tropical and winter storms; and historical development too close to the water. The department provides $25 million or more annually to help local governments improve critically eroded beaches through restoration and nourishment, inlet sand transfers, research, and biological and physical monitoring. The department also conducts a regulatory program for coastal construction and provides extensive technical assistance to help local governments understand coastal processes, find compatible sand, and solve specific environmental and engineering problems.
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