![]() Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted subsidizing beachfront building. This does not protect or maintain the beach - it only protects the buildings, temporarily. Unfortunately, what has often been done in the past has been to armor the coastline with rocks, concrete and steel. In the face of eroding beaches, owners of beachfront property will often try to use their political influence to demand that "something be done." The intelligent action would be to move the building away from the ocean. A public resource essential for our beaches is instead sold for private profit. The sand that collects behind upstream dams and reservoirs is often "mined" and sold for concrete production. Sand production stops when coral reefs die from pollution, when coastal bluffs are "armored" by sea walls and when rivers are dammed or channelized (lined with concrete) upstream for flood control and reservoir construction. ![]() When natural processes are interfered with, the natural supply of sand is interrupted and the beach changes shape or can disappear completely. However, most of the sand along the world's beaches comes from rivers and streams. Sand can also come from ocean organisms such as coral. Beach sand is primarily a product of the weathering of the land (such as natural erosion of coastal bluffs). Ocean currents cause beaches to move constantly. As an environmental group committed to maintaining the natural shoreline and beach equilibrium, we are usually opposed to construction that will disrupt the balance of forces that shape our coastline.Įvery winter, the newspapers show pictures of oceanfront buildings falling into giant surf. As beach lovers and environmentalists, we need to understand the consequences of shoreline structures so that we may be able to effectively influence decisions on the impacts, placement or necessity of these structures. However, in many other areas shoreline construction has ruined wildlife habitat, destroyed surfing waves and caused beaches to erode. In many cases, seawalls, jetties, breakwaters and groins have caused down-coast erosion problems with associated costs that have greatly exceeded the construction cost of the structure.Įvery surfrider knows that there are groins and jetties that have incidentally improved wave riding. Other times they are constructed to shelter boats in calm water. ![]() Sometimes they are built to redirect rivers and streams. They are usually built to "protect" buildings that were built on a beach that is losing sand. Shoreline structures are built to alter the effects of ocean waves, currents and sand movement. Seawalls, groins, jetties and other shoreline stabilization structures have had tremendous impacts on our nation's beaches. ![]()
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