South Padre Island Receives $3 Million From GLO

By Elizabeth Pierson Hernandez, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

Oct. 24–AUSTIN — South Padre Island will get about $3 million from the state to rebuild beaches that have washed into the Gulf of Mexico, a state official announced Tuesday.

The grant is one of several from the Texas General Land Office, which awarded more than $17 million to improve beaches over the next two years. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson made the announcement at a conference on coastal issues in Galveston.

More than two-thirds of the money awarded to the island, about $2.1 million, will pay to move sand from another source, possibly offshore, said Mayor Bob Pinkerton. Officials are still working on finding the sand, and once they do, they will pipe it to the island and spread it with bulldozers, he said.

“We’re not tied to one particular source,” Pinkerton said.

The restoration will likely begin at the north end of town, near the La Quinta Inn, and proceed south for another quarter mile to half mile, he said.

Pinkerton said GLO officials have assured him they will be flexible with how the money can be used. It must be spent by Aug. 31, 2009.

Another $600,000 awarded Tuesday will pay for the Island to continue working with the Texas Department of Transportation to move sand from highway rights-of-way to the beach, Pinkerton said. And $300,000 will go to study possible sources of sand offshore, he said.

Beach erosion causes problems for home and business owners near the beach, and makes beaches less accessible to the public. Texas relies on beaches to attract tourists, and rebuilding coastlines protects important utilities like water lines, said Jim Suydam, spokesman for the GLO.

“They’re not cheap, but it’s cheaper to do them than to not do them,” he said of the restoration projects.

The largest grant awarded Tuesday was for $13.5 million to Galveston to restore three miles of beaches.

Pricey re-nourishment projects are the only way to keep beaches alive since rivers are dammed, preventing sediment from making it to the coast to naturally build up beaches, said Pat Suter, chairman of the Coastal Bend Sierra Club.

But no matter how much money is spent, the beach will disappear at nature’s whim, she said.

“People need to realize that re-nourishment is temporary,” she said. “One storm and it’s going to take it away.”

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