Monitoring possible impacts of beach nourishment on the Avon and Buxton 2026 construction projects

Beach nourishment is the practice of adding sand to a shoreline to rebuild beaches that have been eroded by waves, storms, and rising sea levels. It is often considered a ?soft? engineering solution because it works with natural materials rather than hard structures like seawalls. In places such as North Carolina, where hard coastal defenses are restricted, nourishment is one of the main options available to protect communities and infrastructure from ongoing erosion. While beach nourishment can help maintain wider beaches and reduce storm impacts, it also has environmental trade-offs. Adding large amounts of sand, sometimes several meters thick, buries the organisms that live in the beach, such as small invertebrates, leading to temporary local losses of these species. The new sand, often brought in from offshore or other locations, can differ in grain size and composition, which changes the beach environment and may make it harder for native species to return. Over time, plants and animals may recolonize the nourished beach, but recovery can take months to years and may not fully restore the original ecosystem. These changes can ripple through the food web, affecting animals like shorebirds and fish that rely on these smaller organisms. Because of these impacts, it is important to monitor beaches before and after nourishment projects to better understand and manage their ecological effects.

VIVO