State & Regional Interest	Wednesday, May 21, 2003
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S.C.'s beaches in good shape after another mild year By BRUCE SMITH, (Published April 17‚ 2003) CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's beaches are in good shape after a year in which the state was brushed by two tropical storms and a summer storm system that whipped up northeast winds for several days. "The past year was a fairly mild one for the beaches of South Carolina," oceanographer Bill Eiser wrote in the annual State of the Beaches report. "During the hurricane season, only Isidore moving in from the Gulf of Mexico and Kyle coming in from the Atlantic, both during September, had any measurable impact on South Carolina's beaches," said the report, compiled by the state's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. Both storms caused only minor erosion, it said. Eiser noted a cold front last August brought stiff northeast winds to the coast for several days and "probably caused more dune and upper beach erosion than either named tropical system." Because of the state budget crunch, there were no major beach renourishment projects last year. Renourishment is when sand is brought from offshore or inland sources to help rebuild beaches. There was a small renourishment project at the south end of Garden City on the Grand Strand, using sand dredged from the Murrells Inlet navigation channel, the report said. Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort County, Edisto Beach in Colleton County and Folly Beach in Charleston County are priority areas for renourishment, the report said. Hunting Island State Park has some of the best public beach access in Beaufort County but suffers chronic erosion, the report said. About 1.5 million cubic yards of sand was placed on the beach in 1991, but virtually all it has washed away. A proposed $9 million renourishment project would put another 1.5 million cubic yards of sand back on the beach. At Edisto Beach, about 150,000 cubic yards of sand was put on the beach in 1995, but most of that, too, is gone. Renourishing the beach in front of both the town and a neighboring state park would cost about $7 million, the report said. Folly Beach, including the county park there, was renourished in 1993 but there has been extreme erosion at the park in recent years. A renourishment project for Folly Beach may required within three years because the 1993 project was designed to last only eight years. There is no cost estimate for a new project. The report noted several areas along the coast are at high-risk of erosion. They include the southeast end of Fripp Island, all of Hunting Island and the northeast end of Harbor Island in Beaufort County. In Colleton County, the most at-risk area is the north half of Edisto Beach, including the state park. Areas of concern in Charleston County include the central portion of Seabrook Island, which is protected by a rock revetment, the park on Folly Beach and the northeastern end of Sullivans Island at Breach Inlet. The southern end of Debidue Beach and the south end of Pawleys Island in Georgetown County are at-risk as well as areas in Horry County including Garden City Beach and the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach, the report said.

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