St. Johns County Beach Restoration

St. Johns County beaches have had significant erosion in recent years due to hurricanes and tropical storm activity in the Atlantic. 

These shores are a mainstay of the local economy and protection of this resource is of the utmost importance to residents and visitors alike.  ?Rep. Mica has met with the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the problem and in April 2009 he announced a $452,000 grant from Stimulus funds for the Army Corps of Engineers to complete the shoreline technical study that determines what measures must be taken for beach restoration to get under way in St. Johns County.??With the new federal funds, the Army Corps will complete a feasibility study which will determine the costs and benefits of conducting the beach renourishment project.

The funds will be used to perform preliminary work that will develop restoration plans for the beaches along all of St. Johns County’s oceanfront, with the exception of St. Augustine’s beach where a beach restoration project is already underway.  With Rep. Mica’s assistance, the project has been allocated $870,000 in federal funds to date.

In announcing the funds, Rep. Mica said, “St. Johns County citizens have waited several years for completion of this study and I am hopeful that soon we will have a plan to move forward with protecting our beaches from erosion.  Before we spend millions of dollars for restoring our beaches we must ensure that the sand and taxpayer dollars are not washed away into the ocean.”