The state-of-the-beaches of Alabama has been influenced by management decisions made during the last several decades. The following four recommendations are suggestions for the future management of the beaches of Alabama. The first one is absolutely vital at this time. We must stop throwing beach sand away (i.e. out of the beach system) at Perdido Pass and Mobile Pass.
1. Improve the artificial sand bypassing at each inlet - Sand dredged from inlets should be placed on the adjacent beaches where it is needed and where the waves can continue to move it along the coast to other beaches. For Perdido Pass, the recommended location is over 1½ miles west of the jetties on the beaches of Orange Beach. For Mobile Pass, the recommended location is on the beaches of Dauphin Island or on the shoals around and west of the Sand Island Lighthouse. This practice, called artificial sand bypassing, is a common engineering tool to minimize the impact of inlet dredging on adjacent beaches. Essentially, sand bypassing just replaces the natural process that channel dredging interrupts. Every cubic yard of sand removed from the beach system at the inlets will be a cubic yard of beach erosion somewhere. Its really that simple. Improved sand bypassing is vital to the long-term health of the Alabama beaches.
This paragraph outlines very specific recommendations to each of the three levels of government (local, state, and federal) in order to implement improved sand bypassing in Alabama. The local governments (the 3 beach municipalities and 2 beach counties) could pass resolutions encouraging the state and federal government to adopt improved sand bypassing. This is essentially saying that they support a “no net loss of beaches and beach sands” policy. The State of Alabama could adopt regulations that require better "accounting" and reporting procedures when beach sands are dredged from boat channels and/or placed on the beach. The State of Alabama could also make it clear that offshore disposal of dredged sand and placement of dredged sand where it does not really re-establish the littoral system (e.g. Alabama Point) is not “consistent” with Alabama’s beach management plan. The federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (as amended) makes it difficult for the federal government to act in a way that is not “consistent” with state laws, regulations and plans. The state legislature could pass a law that requires full, adequate sand bypassing at all inlets. Several other states have such regulations and laws. The federal government could administratively determine that adequate bypassing to the beaches is the only disposal option for sand dredged from these passes. The United States Congress could pass a law that requires adequate sand bypassing of all beach sands to the beaches from federal navigation projects. Ultimately, some level of government is going to have to pay the difference in cost between what we are doing with the sand now and improved, adequate sand bypassing to the beach.
2. Consider more beach nourishment - The Gulf Shores beach nourishment project has been successful at restoring the beach. Similar projects could be considered throughout the state. This is particularly important since so much beach sand has been removed from the beach systems by the poor sand management at the inlets in the last several decades. The human impact on the sandy beaches can be thought of like a savings account balance. We “withdraw” sand by removing it from the beach system at the passes without adequate artificial sand bypassing. We “deposit” sand with beach nourishment. When the withdrawals exceed the deposits, we have beach erosion. Where the deposits exceed or match the withdrawals, we have sandy beaches. Alabama’s beaches need fewer withdrawals (i.e. they need better sand bypassing) and more deposits (like beach nourishment).
3. Increase public access to the beach - There are long stretches of Alabama beach that have no public access today. Several decades ago, this was not true. Anecdotal evidence indicates that access across private property was common several decades ago but is severely blocked by parking restrictions and fences today. As property values continue to increase, and people from out of the area buy more of this property, Alabama citizens will have less and less access to their own beaches. The limited public access is an insidious threat to the future health of the Alabama beaches. Because of the interconnectedness of the natural littoral system, the most cost-effective solutions to beach erosion problems (including bypassing and nourishment) require government action. The political consensus needed for such proper action will be much harder to obtain when the general public perceives that its access to the beaches is limited. Methods of increasing public access include acquiring beachfront property by state and local governments for access, requiring access to government supported beach improvement projects, requiring beachfront condo developers to provide public access ways, and constructing parking facilities at existing access points.
4. Begin a comprehensive coastal engineering and planning analysis for Little Lagoon Pass. Little Lagoon Pass is an outstanding resource for the people in many ways. Its flushing has a major impact on the water quality in Little Lagoon, it has significant impacts on the beaches to the immediate east and west, and it is a highly used municipal park. The pass also provides boat access from the Lagoon to the Gulf. However, the access is often severely limited by the shoaling and dredging operations. Navigation is often treacherous. The longshore sand transport along the beach, the tidal flushing of the pass, and the interactions between the two make for a complex situation that is traditionally addressed by coastal engineers. An open, sound, comprehensive coastal engineering and planning analysis for the pass could address the concerns of all the multiple users of the pass and evaluate options to provide better information for management decisions while avoiding the negative impacts experienced in the past.