Beach erosion evident on St. Simons
Thu, Aug 2, 2007
By BRANDEE A. THOMASThe Brunswick NewsAs visitors to St. Simons Island's beach splash in the surf, not many think about what the water is taking away as it washes against the shore. But Anita Campbell, an island resident since 1990, knows what is missing – sand.She said she has watched erosion slowly eat away at the beach near the Myrtle Street access point, near the King and Prince hotel, since her first trip to the area."There's not much of it left. Our beach time gets shorter and shorter every day (with encroaching tides)," she said while playing with her 2-year-old grandson, Christopher Wilson.
Anita Campbell plays with her grandson, Christopher Wilson, 2, near the Myrtle Street access to the beach on St. Simons Island Tuesday. Campbell has seen the beach get smaller in the last few years. (The Brunswick News)
| While the beach has gotten smaller, the sandbar located slightly off shore near the King and Prince has increased in size thanks to eroded sand."The sandbar is getting bigger, but if we get some bad weather like a hurricane, it would disappear pretty fast," said Herb Campbell, Anita Campbell's husband. "If the sandbar gets washed out, we'll be left very vulnerable." Herb Campbell said he's been working on beach erosion problems since 1973 and has an idea how Glynn County could preserve St. Simons Island's beaches."An off-shore break water builds sand no matter which direction it comes from," he said. "Water flows over it and it will eventually fill with sand and create more beach area."The system, which Herb Campbell created, is a modular concrete structure with five different elevation levels installed along the shoreline. He said it has been used successfully elsewhere.But any changes to the St. Simons Island beach could be a ways off. The Glynn County Commission has considered renourishing the beach in the past, but opposition or disinterest from residents kept the process from going forward.In renourishment, sand from outside sources – such as the sea floor – is pumped onto an existing beach.County Engineer Jim Bruner said renourishment is not on the agenda."The beach changes daily. Sand comes and goes naturally and the county doesn't have any intentions of any kind of renourishment at this time," he said.And some resident see the changes in the beach as a simple fact of coastal living."Mother Earth gives and she takes away. Beaches are going to erode," said Preston Saunders, a St. Simons Island resident."The beach is smaller now, but hopefully the sand will flow back. A year ago I could sit out on the beach (near the Myrtle Street entrance) at high tide, but now I have to stay behind the rocks (that provide a buffer between the beach and properties behind them)."
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