study: NJ beaches 30 to 40 feet narrower after Sandy

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPERSTORM_BEACH_EROSION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-20-03-30-45

SPRING LAKE, N.J. (AP) -- The average New Jersey beach is 30 to 40 feet narrower after Superstorm Sandy, according to a survey that is sure to intensify a long-running debate on whether federal dollars should be used to replenish stretches of sand that only a fraction of U.S. taxpayers use.

Some of New Jersey's famous beaches lost half their sand when Sandy slammed ashore in late October.

The shore town of Mantoloking, one of the hardest-hit communities, lost 150 feet of beach, said Stewart Farrell, director of Stockton College's Coastal Research Center and a leading expert on beach erosion.

Routine storms tear up beaches in any season, and one prescription for protecting communities from storm surge has been to replenish beaches with sand pumped from offshore. Places with recently beefed-up beaches saw comparatively little damage, said Farrell, whose study's findings were made available to The Associated Press.

[Submariner]

1. Beach renourishment costs big bucks

many millions of our federal tax dollars are spent annually to shore up beach community tourism by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

For example, the beach at Cape May, New Jersey, has been renourished
10 times between 1962-1995, at a total cost of $24,669,771(Duke University Program
for the Study of Developed Shorelines). Ocean City, New Jersey’s beach has been
renourished 22 times between 1952-1995 at a total cost of more than $83,104,502
(Duke University Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines).

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoastalmanagement.noaa.gov%2Fresources%2Fdocs%2Ffinalbeach.pdf&ei=Y2SrUIC8JeHs0QGW04D4CA&usg=AFQjCNHXfqujIBMyPOdrHw8z9nlyz3pPGA&sig2=jXvB5NUVZ3LDm8-caYzO2Q

[Nihil]

2. What a waste of money & resources.

If only they'd learn from Canute.