South Florida beaches deemed "critically eroded"
MIAMI - South Florida's beautiful beaches are what we love about living here and it draws tens of millions of visitors each year.
But up and down the state, like in Flagler Beach and in coastal areas around the country, our beaches are suffering from erosion.
"The southern section of our beach is deemed 'critically eroded' by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection," said Patrick Bardes.
He is the Coastal and Waterway Coordinator for the City of Deerfield Beach.
He explained that the southern section of the beach alone loses 14,000 cubic yards of sand each year.
That's enough sand to fill up just over 4 Olympic size pools.
A prime example of disappearing sand is the piles of large boulders we see protruding out of the ground along the shore at Deerfield Beach.
"These rock groins that were constructed in the 60s and 70s were buried in our last beach re-nourishment project and as you can see due to erosion they have become uncovered and we plan to bury them again in the winter," Bardes said.
Another indication of erosion is seeing large chunks of sand along the shoreline gone, leaving a large step to get from the water to the beach.
"As soon as we came in we noticed that there was some erosion," explained Alma Abdel-Moty, who was enjoying a day at the beach.
Professor Samual Brody is from Texas A&M University.
"I like to point out that there is not one variable that's causing the erosion problem," said Brody.
He has research showing climate change is one factor, but so is development so close to the water.
He also points to construction on barrier islands that disrupt the sturdy sand needed to protect the mainland.
"The synergy between the two is what worries me over the next couple of decades," he said.
Back in Deerfield Beach, the city has plans to build up parts of the beach again.
"We plan to raise the elevation of the beach 6 - 8 feet and extend it 70 feet during our next nourishment project.
Coastal communities all over South Florida have beach renourishment programs.
Here in Deerfield Beach, they do it every 5 years.
The next one is set to begin in January and last until March.
The cost of that is up to $3 million.
