Will there be beach nourishment in Corolla’s future? Well, that’s hard to say.
The Currituck Banks, the last holdout on beach nourishment along the North Carolina coast, and most of Virginia as well, just completed a three year study of beach conditions. The study, tracking trends for the years 2020-2022 found some surprising trends and some troubling information.
One of the most surprising facts identified was accretion or gaining of sand in some areas of the Corolla shoreline. That is a reversal of a well-established trend, and the study’s authors noted they were surprised by the finding.
However, they cautioned that there was no way to know if the beach was moving toward a long term accretion or if what was happening was short term situation created by temporary conditions.
Of concern, though, depending on the interpretation of the language, there were around 40 homes that were identified as at risk. There were some caveats in the language but the findings were consistent over the three year period.
These are just two of the finding the report cited leading the authors to recommend a number of step going forward. Perhaps most importantly, a Beach Management Plan was suggested.
Noting that currently Currituck County, where Corolla is located, has not directly addressed how to protect homes and infrastructure along the shoreline, the study outlined a plan that would include, “… various management concepts, which may include beach nourishment, sand fencing/dune vegetation, beach bulldozing (dune push), targeted buyouts, etc.”
The study also suggested working with Dare County to identify regional sand resources. That’s a very significant suggestion. One of the complicating factors in beach nourishment projects is finding suitable sand for the beach. Typically the sand is mined from the nearshore ocean, but there is a limit to how much can be used.
It’s an interesting situation and we’ll have to monitor it going forward.
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