Carolina Beach says it is no longer in a spend-it-or-lose-it situation with federal dollars the town secured for beach nourishment this year.
That’s because the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), signed into law by President Obama last month, authorized an 11th hour extension to the town’s expiring federal contract for shoreline projects.
Carolina Beach Town Manager Michael Cramer said Monday the town has about $4.8 million in federal beach funds on hand, and the town was ready to spend it on sand this year, ahead of the contract’s termination.
“We’re no longer in that pressure situation,” said Cramer.
The town for the past 50 years has had a federal agreement making the town eligible for federal money to support pricey sand projects. That hourglass was on its final grains this year–until WRRDA came along and granted the town three extra years.
Related story: Congress extends funding window for Carolina Beach
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners in May approved $1.86 million in local dollars the town could match with its federal share for the last-ditch beach nourishment project they’d planned for this fall, but thanks to WRRDA the urgency is apparently gone. The town says it can hang onto its federal money per the extension.
The commission is expected to deobligate the local match at its 4 p.m. meeting today.
The town instead plans to stay on its normal beach nourishment cycle and spend those dollars in fiscal 2016.
The town’s beach projects have, historically, rolled out on a three-year cycle; its last was in 2013.
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-7) gave notice Sunday that the project “has been officially extended” per WRRDA, with language he and U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D) wrote into the bill.
WRRDA authorized billions of dollars’ worth of projects supporting dams, ecosystems and port infrastructure, among other resources, nationwide.
The added language specifically authorized a three-year extension for any federally supported beach whose 50-year partnership is slated to expire within the next five years.
The beach-widening, dune-building projects are meant to protect houses, businesses, infrastructure and lives from the storm surge that hurricanes and tropical formations can bring. (The projects’ official terminology is “coastal storm damage reduction” rather than “beach nourishment.”)
Numerous coastal towns have arrangements with the federal government to fund beach nourishment, in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may program up to 65 percent of a single project’s cost. (The $12.5 million it took to renourish the Carolina and Kure strands in 2013 received the full federal helping, while local and state dollars covered the remaining 35 percent).
Carolina Beach’s was the nation’s first scheduled expiration.
(Wrightsville Beach and Kure Beach also have 50-year agreements, scheduled to time out in 2041 and 2047, respectively.)
The three-year extension authorized by WRRDA could lead to another 15-year extension if the federal government sees merit.
The three-year extension would, ideally, give officials enough time to make a case for it.
“We now have a path forward for protecting our homes, businesses, and coastal communities from dangerous storms,” McIntyre said in Sunday’s release.
Past stories:
While nourishment efforts continue, some call it pork spending
Coastal towns strategize for beach nourishment money
McIntyre ‘optimistic’ on federal role in beach funding; state expects ample dredging money on hand
State-federal agreement in place to keep shallow-draft inlets open
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
