The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has signed an agreement with St. Johns County, Florida, granting the county up to 2.2 million cubic yards of sand from federal waters for beach and dune restoration along almost 9 miles of Ponte Vedra Beach.
By restoring and protecting its beaches, St. Johns County is addressing threats from storms and erosion to infrastructure such as roads (i.e., Ponte Vedra Boulevard and Florida Highway A1A), homes, and businesses. The project will improve resiliency of the beach and dunes against future storms, bolster environmental habitats, and maintain recreational opportunities in St. Johns County, whose beaches serve more than 100,000 area residents plus regional, national, and international visitors.
“Erosion along U.S. coastal beaches presents a serious problem affecting our nation’s natural resources, energy supply, defense, tourism industry, and public infrastructure,” said BOEM director Amanda Lefton. With climate change leading to rising sea levels and stronger storms, we need to act quickly to make our coasts more resilient to these impacts. As the sole federal agency responsible for leasing sand and gravel on the Outer Continental Shelf, BOEM works hard to partner with coastal communities like St. Johns County to address serious threats from erosion along the Nation’s coastal beaches, dunes, barrier islands, and wetlands.”
A construction date has yet to be identified. However, the agreement gives St. Johns County up to 3 years to access the specified sand resources, which will come from federal waters about 4 miles offshore Ponte Vedra Beach.
This is the second agreement BOEM has signed with St. Johns County this year. BOEM granted access to 1.1 million cubic yards of sand for work on South Ponte Vedra Beach in April 2021. Both sand projects address damage that occurred in 2016 and 2017 from Hurricanes Matthew and Irma and other erosion.
The final Environmental Assessment and related documents are available on BOEM’s Marine Minerals Program’s Florida project page.
BOEM has the sole authority to convey Outer Continental Shelf sand resources for shoreline resiliency and beach or wetland restoration projects undertaken by federal, state, or local governments. BOEM uses the findings of more than 30 years of scientific research to inform its leasing decisions.
For more information about BOEM’s Marine Minerals Program, visit the website.
By BOEM
