The following letter was sent to Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, with a copy provided to the Cape Gazette for publication. 

We are experiencing severe dune scarping and beach erosion over the past nor’easter and beyond.

The erosion continues to decimate the beach, creating steep 6- to 8-foot dune cliffs and preventing public beach access points and loss of 2 to 3 feet of sea-to-land protective dune. This sand loss ends up on sandbar islands just offshore about 10 to 20 yards seaward. I encourage you to take a look for yourself. This sand ultimately migrates easterly, drifting laterally to the beach at Pilot Point, where it is trapped by the long jetty next to the Delaware river pilots’ station and the ferry terminal. This trapped sand extends the Pilot Point beach seaward about 1 foot each year.

Both Port Lewes and Cape Shores have been annually importing sand at homeowners' and taxpayers' expense. Their lost sand is just offshore on massive, expanding low-tide sandbars that should be recycled for beach and dune restoration.

Solution: Bulldozer beach and dune restoration – a cost-effective Delaware coastal recycle commitment.  

On multiple occasions after other similar extreme storms, including March 1962, which I survived on Lewes Beach, several DNREC bulldozers arrived to restore the beach and dunes by pushing the lost sand landward from low-tide sandbar islands just offshore. This bulldozer beach/dune restoration process is swift, cost-effective and recycles the lost sand. 

Other less-desirable, costly, permitted and delayed options include: 

• Expensive beach replenishment: importing foreign sand by dump-truck transport and DNREC bulldozer leveling/distribution. This process has been used multiple times with the same outcome (lost sand) and it was limited (due to extreme costs) from Roosevelt Inlet to Children’s Beach House, neglecting three-quarters of Lewes Beach. The most precarious portion of the beach is the stretch beyond the Children’s Beach House

• Unlikely expensive sand bypass from Pilot Point back to where it’s needed, Lewes Beach, Port Lewes and Cape Shores. This requires heavy equipment, logistics, pumps, pipelines, permits and Pilot Point HOA approval

• Expensive and delayed dredging sand spoils from the bay and/or Delaware River channel, which requires delayed permits, dredging contracts, scheduling and extensive equipment

• Maintenance: Rehabilitation and extension of multiple Lewes Beach groins exposed at low tide extending perpendicular from the beach seaward. These groins will help mitigate the beach/dune erosion by trapping some of the sand migration.  

I trust you will consider/support our proposed solution for Lewes Beach, Port Lewes and Cape Shores as an effective, swift and tax-saving event to preserve one of Lewes’ most valuable assets.