The Restoration Of Surfside Beach's Natural Dunes...And Thinking Of The Gowanus Canal

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Surfside Beach, South Carolina

I am sure that there used to be natural dunes on Surfside Beach, here in South Carolina. But then, beach houses were built too close to the ocean's edge, and destroyed them. When my family came here for the first time twenty years ago, there was not one dune left and high tide brought the ocean's water ever closer to the houses.

Thankfully, Surfside Beach along with neighboring beach communities embarked on an ambitious beach replenishment project. A few years ago, sand was dredged from the seabed further offshore and pumped onto the beach through giant pipes. Then, dune fencing was installed all along the beach, and recently, sea grass has been planted to stabilize the dunes. The effort has been successful. The dunes have gotten higher and higher. Sea grass now grows on them in abundance. Birds and other beach critters seem to love this re-created habitat as well.

Yesterday morning, crews from Earth Balance,Inc., an environmental consulting company, were planting rows and rows of Panic Grass plugs to fill in some of the bare spots. Hopefully, these little shoots will take and further protect the beach. It is an incredibly fascinating process.

As I was watching the planting of this native grass, I couldn't help but think of the Gowanus Canal. I hope that in my lifetime, I will witness the restoration of some of its natural wetland.

A blogger girl can dream, right?

The Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn

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