INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The final major shoreline restoration project tied to the 2022 hurricane season is now underway in Indian River County, targeting a heavily eroded stretch of Atlantic coastline known as Sector 5.
“The Sector 5 Project will repair coastal erosion caused by hurricanes Ian and Nicole from 2022,” said Quintin Bergman, the county’s coastal resources manager. “Work includes placing beach quality sand and planting native dune vegetation to restore storm protection and habitat along approximately three miles of shoreline.”
The project follows earlier restoration work completed in Indian River Shores and Wabasso Beach. Sector 5 covers about 3.1 miles of coast that lost substantial sand and dune volume during the storms. Plans call for roughly 153,300 cubic yards of beach-compatible sand and more than 117,500 native, salt-tolerant dune plants. The county’s estimated $3.3 million share is being funded through local Tourist Development tax revenue.
Beyond storm recovery, Bergman said erosion poses growing risks to both private and public assets.
“Storms and sea level rise … cause coastal erosion. Coastal erosion threatens upland infrastructure. That infrastructure can be private, but right behind that private infrastructure, you have a lot of public infrastructure. Think roads and power lines and water utilities as well as our beloved beach parks,” he said.
Tourism is also closely tied to shoreline conditions, he added.
“The beaches also serve as an economic engine for our communities. It attracts a lot of tourists. It attracts a lot of people,” Bergman said.
Environmental protection remains a central focus of the project.
“Lastly, beaches provide critical habitat for marine life, including our endangered sea turtle species,” he said. “Shorebirds will also benefit. Shorebirds that migrate great distances, you can find them loafing a lot of times along our shoreline.”
Before construction began, the project underwent a lengthy permitting process.
“We have two construction permits, one is from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the other is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It takes about a year to acquire that permit,” Bergman said.
Monitoring will continue long after construction ends.
“There's actually three to five years of environmental post-construction monitoring that occurs,” he said. “The folks on the ATVs, the folks that are out on a boat diving the reef, all of them are ensuring that we are in compliance with our permits, and that is to make sure that the sea turtles are not negatively impacted, that the reef is not negatively impacted.”
Bergman said beach nourishment is a temporary but necessary tool for managing erosion.
“These projects are designed to last anywhere between five to seven years, so we do know that beach re-nourishment is not a solution to coastal erosion, it is a management strategy,” he said. “The solution to coastal erosion is a much larger topic on the global scale, and that this is the best way for Indian River County to maintain its beaches.”
Other hardened shoreline protections, he said, do not replace lost sand.
“The other strategies to deal with coastal erosion don't quite add sand to the system,” Bergman said. “There's a lot of infrastructure like seawalls or rock revetments, jetties or groins. Those structures don't actually add any sand to the material. They help slow the rate of erosion, but if we want to have the long sandy beach that we're known for, we're going to have to continue bringing in that sand.”
Construction began in early November and is currently focused near JC Park and the Conn Beach Boardwalk.
“Construction started early November, so we're a healthy month into the project. The contractor has finished up about 1,200 feet of the project and is bringing in a lot of sand and making some adjustments to pick up the pace,” Bergman said. “We're going to have two sites operating soon, if all goes well. Right now we're working out around JC Park or the Conn Beach Boardwalk. Folks can expect to experience some temporary inconveniences.”
Work is scheduled around sea turtle nesting season.
“We have to be done and off the beach before May,” Bergman said. “April is the drop-dead deadline. May is when the sea turtles really pick up their pace on nesting.”