In this installment of my award-winning* series on beach nourishment lets take a look at the recreation benefits. The US Army Corps of Engineers is not supposed to consider these (Nothing shelled out for beaches):
Beach nourishment is controversial.
Proponents say the cost of the sand is worth the benefits it provides when hurricanes and nor'easters gnaw the dunes that protect homes, roads and utilities. The Army Corps of Engineers, which constructs the new beaches, won't take on a job unless a study proves that the benefits in storm protection are worth the costs.
But they do. The reasoning is roundabout. If the USACE puts sand on a beach with federal money, then the beach must have decent access. In order to determine if there is decent access, they consider the peak demand for beaches. If existing parking doesn't allow for peak demand then the towns that enjoy beach nourishment must make sure there is parking. All this requires a beach recreation study.
As it turns out, I've had a "minor role" in a beach recreation study for the USACE ("minor" ... long story but I'm happy to tell tales after a beer or two). We have been estimating the demand for beach trips to 4 out of the 5 southeastern NC coastal counties (the missing one is the most popular beach destination county).
My latest TCM model estimates indicate that the value of a beach trip increases by about $7, from a baseline of $94 (if you are a TCM geek: it's high, I know, but it is for the 4 county site), with a beach nourishment program that guarantees a nice beach. The number of trips increase by less than one each year, from a baseline of 9 annual trips. The annual benefit of the beach nourishment program, then, is about $60 to each household that thinks about going to the beach.
If you conservatively add this up for about 1/3 of the study region (eastern NC) households then the annual benefit is $15 million. Given 68 miles of beaches in the 4 counties, that is about $220,588 per shoreline mile.
An estimate of the cost of nourishment is $1.8 million per shoreline mile. The recreation benefits don't exceed the costs. They aren't even close. But the benefits to the shoreline property owners must be considered as well. I hear that this work is ongoing so maybe we'll get a more definitive answer in several years!
Countdown: one week to spring break and a half week at the beach!
