This is a series of articles and updates related to the effort by the residents of Fort Lauderdale and surrounding communities to rescue their shrinking beach from the ravages of tidal erosion. The ramifications of our beach disappearing are staggering. The beach not only frames a wonderful "environment" in which our families live and thrive, it provides the financial wherewithall that supports our schools, maintains the civic necessities that nourish our neighborhoods, and is the single greatest protection for our coastal infrastructure from the ravages of storms and hurricanes! The articles are offered in chronological order. As such, they represent the historical progress of the project.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, has completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Segments II and III of the Broward County Shore Protection Project. They assert that the “proposed Broward County Shore Protection Project will be in the National interest and can be constructed while protecting the environment from unacceptable impacts.” Click Here to read the General Reevaluation Report with Final Environmental Impact Statement. The final Record of Decision is the last step with which the Army Corps of Engineers' participates in the process. It strongly recommends immediate implementation. Click Here to review the details of the FEIS or Click Here to understand the official Record of Decision. (Please Note: Requests to notify officials of your opinion regarding the Project should be considered in their relative temporal context!) To familiarize yourself with the details surrounding the overall history of how it came about, read on!

ONE HURRICANE AWAY?

As the least observant of us are already keenly aware, our beach is rapidly dwindling from the effects of natural erosion in the form of high winds (hurricanes) and tidal impact. Many of the buildings on the Galt have sacrificed large portions of their beach to this onslaught. Broward County's 24 miles of beach are uniformly under attack as the State of Florida has declared 21 miles of the county's beaches to be "critically eroded". Broward County has pledged nearly 50 million dollars to help mollify this impending disaster.

The county's plan divides the critical target area into three zones. The North Zone is about a mile of shoreline in Pompano Beach. The Middle Zone Includes the roughly 5 miles of beach running from Lauderdale-By-The-Sea to Fort Lauderdale Beach. The South Zone ranges from John U. Lloyd Beach State Recreation area for 6 miles through Dania, Hollywood Beach, and Hallandale Beach. The plan entails the Army Corps of Engineers supervise the pumping of sand dredged from seven areas north of Pompano Beach to the target zones after being transported by ship to the areas awaiting renourishment. This herculean effort will add in excess of 2.5 million cubic yards of sand to our shrinking beaches while widening them from 50 feet to 150 feet depending on the degree of need. The county anticipates recovering almost half of its outlay from the Federal Government.

There are several hurdles that require overcoming for this project to progress. They are environmental and political. Two areas of environmental concern center on the nesting habitat of the Sea Turtle and the general health of the coral reefs that line the barrier island. The Sea Turtle would benefit from the enlarged nesting areas that a widened beach would provide. The Coral Reefs were addressed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) developed by the Army Corps of Engineers to study the effects of the dredging upon the environment. The DEIS demonstrated that by carefully restricting the dredging zones and recognizing a substantial buffer between the dredge sites and the reef, the project could proceed with negligable (if any) adverse impact to the coral reefs. This information was publicly released and reviewed at the previously mentioned hearing at the Hollywood Beach Community Center on April 30, 2002. It was at this meeting that the 100 plus residents of Galt Ocean Mile in attendance learned about the OTHER obstacle to the project. The Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection, while being congratulated for its efforts in saving our beach from extinction, came under attack from an organized assortment of outside interests who, despite claims of being indigenous, gave as their "home address" New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, even The Bahamas.

Politics reared its heretofore faceless head. There are certain businesses that draw sustenance from unrestricted access to the reefs. Understandably, they seek to avoid any potential "down time" that this project would infuse into their balance sheets. There is also a radical group of environmentalists (as opposed to mainstream environmentalists, like most of the Galt residents) who feel that it would be beneficial if the people that inhabit the barrier island were to move to Tulsa! By placing their resources behind the faction that supports watching helplessly as the beach evaporates, they hope to delay or derail the project. They are actively garnering support from any political source seeking an opportunity to be "environmentally correct" absent the need to examine the facts assembled by Broward County and The Army Corps of Engineers.

The science that forms the basis for this project is what it is. The project was carefully planned, was determined to be safe, protects the environment, and enjoys widespread local support. The plans include the strict oversight warranted to ensure that the project is properly executed. The Shore Preservation Project protects our coral reefs, increases scarce nesting areas for the endangered Loggerhead, Green, and Leatherback Sea Turtles, and affords the human population a last opportunity to save the source of Fort Lauderdale's “lifesblood”, its beach. The widened beach will also provide additional storm protection for billions of dollars in property and thousands of lives. By "cherry picking" data from this issue, the opposition to rescuing the beach has introduced enough confusion to threaten the projects implementation.

From a fiscal perspective, consider this financial rationale. Broward’s beaches attract 7.2 million visitors a year, who spend $422 million annually in Broward County. Broward’s beaches contribute $548 million annually to Broward County’s economy, including the creation and sustenance of 17,700 full-time equivalent jobs in the County. Broward’s beaches add $1.4 billion to County property values. Our Broward beaches increase local government tax revenues by $29 million annually, of which the largest beneficiary is the Broward School District, which collects about $10 million annually in that regard. Broward’s beaches result in an $803 million annual input to southeast Florida regional economy, and create 26,000 jobs in the region. Out-of-State visitors to Broward’s beaches have a $598 million annual impact on the economy of the State of Florida, create 19,000 jobs in the State, and produce $19 million in annual State tax revenues. More than 60% of overnight tourists said that they would not have come to Broward County if there were no beaches, and a further 14.3 percent said they would come less frequently (Attention: those businesses that rely on unimpeded access to the coral reefs...how would a 75% decrease in tourist dollars affect your digestion?). Broward’s beaches protect over $4 billion in upland property, structures, and infrastructure. In Florida, beaches protect $150 billion in shorefront structures and infrastructure. Florida’s beaches alone contribute an annual increase of about a half billion dollars in Federal income tax revenues. Florida’s beaches attract 2 million international tourists, who spend about $1.1 billion annually in the State. Need I say more? If so, go to the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection, Biological Resources Division (Click Here) and verify this FIRST HAND!

We need to take a cue from this opposition. By firing copious correspondences toward a wide spectrum of issue-craving politicians, they were bound to gain some success. The project is on a judicial hold while the science is being "negotiated"??? It behooves us to draw to the attention of our representatives the depth of our concerns and the resolve of our convictions in view of the distinct possibility that at this time next year, Fort Lauderdale may not have a beach!

Stephen H. Higgins is the Beach Erosion Administrator for the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection (DPEP), Biological Resources Division, 218 S.W. 1^st Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Phone: (954) 519-1265, Fax: (954) 519-1412. He is a staunch advocate of replenishing the beach and could use your support. The person managing this project on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is Yvonne L. Haberer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, P.O. Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232-0019. You can also surf to the Report Card section of this site where you'll find ALL of your representatives. You might consider sending Governor Bush, Senator Graham, Senator Nelson, Congressman Shaw, Senator Atwater, Representative Bogdanoff, Representative Seiler, and Commissioner Scott a friendly E-mail letting them know how you feel! Once there, simply browse down to the representatives information section and click the E-mail link. Even easier, just click on the name under the representative's picture and WHAM...you're there!

Click To Top of Page