Improving coastal resilience with ASBPA’s water level observing network
- How many beach restoration projects have there been throughout the United States?
- What’s the biggest project by volume? By distance?
- What’s the oldest project? The newest?
- Which state has done the most projects? The fewest?
Communities searching for information to make coastal management decisions often want to know the answers to these and more questions. Coastal scientists looking for good data also want to know, as does the media when they’re researching stories.
Until now, there wasn’t a source of easily-accessible national statistics online. But, on Feb. 28, the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) rolled out a new online National Beach Nourishment Database – featuring data on projects comprised of nearly 1.5 billion cubic yards of sand placed in nearly 400 projects covering the continental U.S. coastline.
The new database is online at www.asbpa.org.
In addition to the total volume and the number of projects, the database includes the number of nourishment events, the oldest project, the newest project, the known total cost, the total volume and the known length. The information is broken into both state statistics and those of local or regional projects. Every coastal continental state is included (so Alaska and Hawaii are still being compiled), and projects along the Great Lakes are similarly waiting to be added.
It can also be updated as appropriate, both as new projects get under way and as more information on existing projects is unearthed. In fact, coastal professionals are encouraged to submit any data they have access to that would expand the database’s scope and accuracy.
Under the leadership of Nicole Elko, Ph.D., ASBPA’s Science and Technology Committee – a group of more than 25 coastal professionals from across the country and spanning a range of disciplines – spearheaded the collection and verification of data. ASBPA collaborated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Regional Sediment Management Program and CB&I to develop this resource, which draws on nearly 70 data sources as diverse as Western Carolina’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines to the U.S. Army Corps’ of Engineers Dredging Information System.
“ASBPA is an appropriate multidisciplinary organization – comprised of state beach managers, industry professionals, universities and communities – to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide us with a broadly sourced resource,” said Elko, ASBPA Vice President for Science & Technology. The projects included those with “captured” sand (e.g. inlet, offshore or upland) which was placed on the beach.
Three different kinds of projects were considered:
- Restorations undertaken as authorized federal beach nourishment projects;
- Those from navigation channel dredging (also known as beneficial use or sand bypassing); and
- Projects sponsored by the private sector or local or state governments.
“This inventory is critical for a small beach community that feels like it is dealing with a complicated issue all alone.” Elko added. “Those communities can now see that there have been projects constructed since the early 20th century in every coastal state in the continental U.S. These projects are coastal infrastructure that protect people, communities, other infrastructure, and jobs and are nesting, resting and feeding places for wildlife.”
The database was compiled from many sources nationwide and then reviewed for duplication and error (an ongoing process, but one which is being addressed here by cross-referencing and review by an array of coastal professionals). Work on assembling this database began in 2004.
So, to answer those coastal questions at the beginning:
- How many nationally: 374 projects comprising 2,321 nourishment events (since a single project or location can undergo a number of nourishments or restorations during its lifetime). That has restored over 750 miles at a known cost of $5.5 billion.
- Most volume in a single event: Project is Panama City Beach, Initial Nourishment 1998-99, 9.1M cy
- Most sand placed by a coastal state: California at nearly 400 million cubic yards of sand.
- Longest project: Sea Bright to Manasquan, NJ at 21 miles long
- The oldest: Coney Island, NY, with the first project in 1923. Rockaway and Jones Beaches are close behind with 1926 and 1927 respectively.
- The newest: Since projects are being started every month, that will be an ever-changing question.
- State with the most: State with the most: Florida lead in both projects (80) and nourishment events (549).
- State with the least: Oregon, so far, with a few that are trickling in… but results may change as more data is confirmed.
Founded in 1926, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that advocates for healthy coastlines by promoting the integration of science, policies and actions that maintain, protect and enhance the coasts of America. From its formation, ASBPA has worked with Congress to pass significant legislation to define and refine a strong and necessary role for the federal government in the management and preservation or our nation’s shorelines.
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ABOUT ASBPA: Founded in 1926, the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that advocates for healthy coastlines by promoting the integration of science, policies and actions that maintain, protect and enhance the coasts of America. For more information on ASBPA, go to www.asbpa.org, Facebook or www.twitter.com/asbpa. For information, to change your email address or to unsubscribe from this list, contact us at managing@asbpa.org. A complete collection of Beach News Service articles is available for media access online at. https://asbpa.org/publications/american-beach-news-service/