Prepare for narrower beaches this summer

Ron Steen said he looked over storm-damaged Bethany Beach following January's pounding coastal storm and felt a sense of deja vu.

Years ago -- before beach renourishment  brought wide beaches and protective dunes to Delaware's ocean coast -- he was a lifeguard at Bethany and he has made his living at this beach ever since.

Back then, the beach was low and narrow, the same beach he saw after the storm and continues to see with the start of the summer season six weeks away.

For Steen, who operates a beach concession that rent chairs, umbrellas and other must-haves, the condition of the beach is worrisome.

"That's an understatement," he said.

The tens of thousands of people who come to the 25-mile ocean coast are so accustomed to wide beaches that when they see the storm-battered shoreline, they may be sent into shock.

Even in Rehoboth Beach, high tides bring the water up so far, there can be as little as 50 feet of dry sand between what remains of the dune and the high tide mark.

Still, said Anthony P. Pratt,  the state shoreline and waterway administrator, it's been worse – much worse – going into the summer season. In May 2005, the swath of dry sand at high tide was half what it is today and there was no dune between beach and boardwalk. But that was before the first federally sponsored renourishment project in Rehoboth Beach.

With the summer season weeks away, Pratt and his team of heavy equipment operators are working to push sand up and rebuild the beach after the damage caused by two nor'easters. One was in early October and a second hit in January with near-hurricane force winds, record-setting high tides and waves as tall as two-story buildings. In northern Delaware, the same storm brought nearly a foot of snow.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said.

Rehoboth Beach city officials are waiting to hear when the Army Corps will come in to repair the beach. Rehoboth and Dewey Beaches are in line for routine maintenance of their beaches.

In a normal 3-year maintenance cycle, the 2.5 miles of beach that include Rehoboth and Dewey would get an infusion of 360,000 cubic yards of sand a year.

STORY: Rehoboth Boardwalk repair estimate: $150,000 - $400,000

STORY: In Rehoboth, work begins on ocean sewage project 

This year, thanks to the storm, it is estimated 704,000 cubic yards is needed, said Stephen Rochette, a spokesman for the Army Corps Philadelphia District.

Rochette said there are two key words in the sand need estimates: "repair," which means to bring the beach back to pre-storm conditions; and "restore," which means to bring it back to the 2005 design template of a 125-foot wide beach in Rehoboth and 150-foot wide beach in Dewey with 6-foot tall dunes in both towns.

The corps plans to advertise the Rehoboth-Dewey project next month and award bids in June, he said.

When sand pumping could start is still a question.

The bigger problem is there may not be enough money to replace the additional sand lost.

Pratt said Delaware has already provided the corps with a check for its local share and said it could provide additional local support if more money is needed.

Last month, Sen. Tom Carper asked corps officials if they could tap into money left over from Hurricane Sandy projects to help with recent coastal storm damage.

"In recent years, we’ve seen how the dune system works to shoulder the brunt of major storms and mitigate damage to our homes, businesses and infrastructure," Carper said. "But after doing their job during this winter’s historic nor’easter, our dunes require repair. DNREC has done what it can to rebuild the dunes and crossovers with the material at hand, but more is needed."

Carper said he continues to work to find money to bring the beaches and dunes back to "their optimum design.”

A major concern, he said, is that the beaches are such an economic and tourism driver for the state.

Carol Everhart, chief executive officer for the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce agreed.

"We've had this before" with a severely depleted beach, she said. "And it's certainly been much worse."

Everhart said it would be ideal to have a wider beach to coincide with the peak of the summer season when the largest crowds arrive.

In the past, Everhart said people have spread out when there is less dry sand. Rather than concentrations of chairs, there were blankets and umbrellas on the beach off Rehoboth Avenue and the two blocks to the north and south.

"The beach is the draw" and that's why repairs are so important, she said. "We hope the earlier the better" for sand pumping.

For Bethany and South Bethany, a federal project is still a year away. The routine maintenance year, for the three-year repair cycle is 2017.

In Bethany Beach, crews have been pushing sand from the water's edge at low tide to help rebuild the beach and structure a sand dune where the 16-foot tall one was chopped off or cut away entirely.

The drop off from the boardwalk to the beach is so steep that at most of the municipal crossings, there are now barriers blocking access.

"Most of that work this year has to be done by Mother Nature" as west winds and less extreme weather patterns help the beach begin to rebuild, said Bethany Beach Town Manager Clifford M. Graviet.

The Alliance of Bay Communities, a group that represents both Delaware Bay towns and unincorporated communities, is seeking a new funding source for beaches: An accommodation tax that would be levied on short-term, vacation rentals, which aren't subject to the accommodations tax levied on hotel and motel stays.

The organization leader, Jim Bailey, of Broadkill Beach, said the state is losing millions in revenue and points out that coastal communities in other states collect a similar tax.

"We have houses going in now that are specifically for rental," he said.

Meanwhile, the bay beaches are more than a tourism destination, he said.

"They protect a very valuable ecological system and the agricultural fields" just to the west, he said.

Pratt worries that in the near future, there may not be enough money to cover future upkeep needs.

Up to now, the state has covered the entire local share of beach repairs, said David Small, Secretary of the State Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

"Right now," Small said, there is "enough money for beach maintenance. But it has implications in the future. . . . that's my concern. . . . The question is sustainability."

While the Bay Beach Alliance is looking at a new tax, Small said, he and his staff are beginning to look at whether local and county government should be helping pay the cost of beach nourishment in the future.

With the summer season just weeks away, Steen, owner of the umbrella and chair rental business, said he believes if we can get through the next few weeks without a major storm, the beaches should be OK come Memorial Day.

Even if it's a little breezy, with say 18 mile per hour winds, the beach rebuilds a little, he said.

But 30 miles per hour, Steen said, "that's when I see my storage sheds are in jeopardy."

Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.