COASTAL OBSERVER

A study prepared for Georgetown County as part of its update of its beachfront management plan recommends creating a fund to pay for up to $20.3 million of renourishment along the Litchfield Beaches to create an “engineered beach” that would qualify for federal disaster aid.

At Garden City, which is part of a 50-year renourishment project by the Army Corps of Engineers, the study says the county should find a way to supplement that work, with estimated costs ranging between $5 million and $20 million.

The study also recommends the county partner with private communities that have funded beach renourishment projects in the past to make them eligible for disaster aid.

The feasibility study was completed last month by Coastal Science and Engineering, which prepared a similar plan for the town of Pawleys Island. The firm also designed renourishment projects on the island and for the Peninsula development on the south end of Litchfield Beach and DeBordieu.

Georgetown County last year proposed an update of the beachfront management plan that is required by state law as an element of its comprehensive plan. The county’s current plan was adopted in 1992.

The beach from Midway Inlet north to Murrells Inlet, which the study calls Litchfield Beach, has long been considered one of the most stable in the state.

But the study found that while stable in the center, the beach at Huntington Beach State Park and at the southern spit have lost sand over the last decade.

“While most of North Litchfield has moderate to healthly setbacks, CSE anticipates that erosion trends over the next 10-20 years will likely increase from historical trends and lead to reduced dune widths,” the study says. “This will likely leave properties with insufficient storm protection.”

At Garden City, the beach gained sand due to renourishment, but lost sand  in the years between projects, the study found.

“Long-term planning for Garden City is more difficult to predict due to ongoing work by the USACE, some of which is subject to the uncertainty of funds being appropriated,” the study states.

The county took up one aspect of the study in requesting that $2 million from a proposed capital projects sales tax be used to construct two groins on the south end of Garden City to trap sand.

The study recommends that the county start setting aside $2.5 million a year for the Litchfield project. It suggests a combination of special assessments, accommodations tax and real estate fees.

It also notes that community support is needed to promote the economic and recreational benefits of a healthy beach.