Starting back in the spring of 2015, the Cape Charles Beach has been the deposit site for over 100,000 cubic yards of dredge material (this total includes the latest 30,000 cubic yards deposited this summer), as part of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ federal harbor dredging project. The additional sand has brought with it additional problems, mainly how to control dune height as well as how to keep and manage the influx of new sand. This spring, Town Council tasked the Dune and Wetlands with researching and coming up with series of recommendations on how approach our dune management problem and come up with a series of best management practices.
The Board conducted thorough research, including contacting Scott Hardaway at VIMS and Lee Perkins, the City of Norfolk, Manager of Environmental Services, who has over thirty years of beach and dune management experience. While there are similarities between Norfolk’s and Cape Charles’ Bay fronts, they differ in layout. Norfolk’s public boardwalk and street is next to dunes with houses buffered in between.
Dune Height
One of the biggest complaints by Cape Charles Residents (actually, only 7 people responded to the Board’s questionnaire) is that the dunes are too high and block the view. While the Board has given “serious consideration to citizen’s requests for establishing a set dune height, e. g, 3’ above boardwalk which is 8.5’ above sea level” , careful review of data, studies and guidelines, as well as input from Mr. Hardaway(VIMS) and Mr. Perkins, the Board found no criteria that would justify lowering the dunes to a specific height.
The basic recommendation is to “leave existing dunes, extend them seaward and plant with American Beach Grass (ABG) to trap sand on beach and prevent the dunes from becoming taller.” [Read more…]