Living with Florida's Atlantic Beaches

From Amelia Island just south of Georgia to Key West's southern tip, Florida's beaches are its greatest asset. Yet Florida's dynamic Atlantic coast is a dangerous brew of rapidly proliferating structural development on highly erodible shores periodically hit by some of nature's greatest storms. The same development that has been driven by the attraction of beautiful beaches and coastal amenities, now threatens those very resources. In turn, coastal structures are vulnerable to sea level rise, shoreline retreat, winter storms, and hurricanes. Most of the methods for reducing losses associated with storms as well as slower processes such as shoreline retreat and sea level change only protect property in the short term and at a growing cost in dollars and loss of natural habitat in the long term. Living with Florida's Atlantic Beaches is a guide to mitigating or reducing losses of property, human life, and natural resources by living with, rather than at, the shore. This illustrated volume provides an introduction to coastal processes and geology along with a brief history of coastal hazards and the short sighted human responses. This is the first volume in the series to discuss the significant long-term impact of dredge and fill beach construction on the living marine resources. Guidance is provided for longer term risk reduction in the form of tips on storm resistant construction and site evaluation; including maps for evaluating relative vulnerability to hazards. A brief review of coastal regulations will help property owners understand and navigate the various permit requirements for developing coastal property. Living with Florida's Atlantic Beaches is an invaluable source of information for everyone from the curious beach visitor to the community planner, from the prudent property investor to the decision making public official.