SANDWICH – Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matt Beaton was in Sandwich Monday to see the progress made in re-nourishing Town Neck Beach.
Town officials gave a detailed presentation to Beaton about how the beach is progressing and what nourishment efforts are needed to make sure Town Neck remains stable.
The beach received 130,000 cubic yards of material dredged from the Cape Cod Canal and was re-graded in 2016 with help from the state through Coastal Resilency grants from the office of coastal zone management.
Beaton says the last time he saw the beach was after it was ravaged by winter storms a few years ago.
“It’s great to come out to see the before and the after,” Beaton said. “Now to come out and actually see the fruits of the labor, having this all come to fruition is very exciting because your eye tells you all you need to know that it’s clearly working.”
Beaton said it is always great to see firsthand the investments made in coastal erosion projects and to actually see them working.
“Obviously there is a lot more work to be done here but it is a great first step,” Beaton said.
Beaton said the problems with Town Neck Beach are unique because of it’s proximity to the Cape Cod Canal.
Sandwich Town Manager Bud Dunham reviews the Town Neck Project Monday with state and local officials
“On top of mother nature we are dealing with human made elements that are complicating the natural flows that Mother Nature would bring,” he said. “It’s going to take a collaborative effort and I think the big take away for us is we need to be there to support the local community, to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and all our local partners to make sure we are proper advocates.”
The jetty on the other side of the Cape Cod Canal is preventing the natural flow of sediment which would natural sustain Town Neck Beach.
Sandwich Town Manager Bud Dunham said the beach is performing well, but efforts need to continue.
“We only got about one-third to one-quarter of what we needed to do the full project,” Dunham said. “So it does sort of give us hope that if we built the full project, hopefully, it would be more sustainable and reliable moving forward.”
Dunham said there are a few more projects that the state has been helpful with that need to be seen through to the finish.
Dunham said the priority is receiving a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to borrow sand from the Scusset Beach on the other side of the canal.
“That would be huge for us to permit and it gives us hope for the future as well,” Dunham said.
The beach did gain over 2,500 cubic yards of sand in net volume from March 2016-March 2017 after the nourishment.
The federal government is conducting and funding a Section 111 survey that will look the extent and impact of the Canal on the beach with the amount of sand lost and how much needs to be placed in the future.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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