A Visionary Future for Beach Management

Abstract

A visionary beach management program is discussed in which local government plays an active role in data collection, analysis and monitoring of the entire coastal system. Advantages of the new approach involve the use of innovative partnerships or techniques to solve beach management issues. The proposed approach requires on-staff expertise and has been developed as an alternative to the project-by-project studies that are usually conducted by outside consultants. A major focus of the program is to not only monitor long-term beach changes, but also to quantify short-term beach changes including pre-storm preparedness and post-storm documentation. INTRODUCTION Risk assessment and mitigation of damages caused by coastal disasters has received increased attention in the past few years on the Federal, State and Local levels. One lightning rod for the attention has been the recent study regarding the costs of coastal hazards conducted by the Heinz Center. In Florida, the State's Office of Beaches and Coastal Systems has incorporated the documentation of coastal storm impacts to the beach and dune systems of the state for many years, and is currently requesting local municipalities to include emergency response plans into their overall beach management programs. In Walton County, Florida, local government has created a beach management program that has a dedicated funding source and is actively coordinated by an on-staffmarine scientist. I Beach Management Coordinator, Beaches of South Walton Tourist Development Council, PO Box 1248, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459, bpickel@beachesofsouthwalton.com