Griggs, G., 2024. Beach nourishment: A critical look. Journal of Coastal Research, 40(5), 962–971. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208.
Beach nourishment has been the main strategy for responding to shoreline recession along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts for a century. During the last 100 years, $15.7 billion, primarily with federal funds through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been spent placing 1.2 billion m3 (1.58 billion yd3) of sand on the beaches of 475 coastal communities. More than half of this has gone to the states of New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Florida. The sand volumes, extent of beach nourished, and costs have all increased over time. Despite the expenditures, the life span of individual nourished beaches has been relatively short in most cases, as evidenced by the frequent repeated replenishment of most sites. Three North Carolina beaches have had sand added more than 20 times, and one of these has been nourished 31 times. Although beach nourishment has been beneficial in terms of recreational value and coastal property protection, the short life spans and the need to continually renourish most beaches, along with the environmental impacts, land subsidence, occurrence of short-term extreme events, and an accelerating rise in sea level, provide a strong rationale for terminating federal expenditures and dependence on short-term beach nourishment and planning for the inevitable long-term necessity of moving back from the shoreline.
