INDIAN RIVER INLET, Del. - Less than a year after emergency repairs restored dunes on the north side of the Indian River Inlet, sand is washing away again, and longtime visitors like Jim Price are taking notice.
“We come over here quite often. We frequent the park here,” said Price, who enjoys biking through the area. “It’s happened quite a few times coming across there, and it’s unfortunate that it’s eroding the beach. We need to come up with a solution to get it fixed.”
In August 2024, powerful ocean waves broke through the dunes, breaching all the way to Route 1.
Price was there when it happened. “I guess my first reaction was, can I get across?” he recalled.
In the months that followed, repair crews brought in large pipes to pump sand back onto the beach and planted dune grass in hopes of stabilizing the area and preventing further erosion.
In the months that followed, repair crews brought in large pipes to pump sand back onto the beach and planted dune grass in hopes of stabilizing the area and preventing further erosion.
But while the grass remains in place, most of the newly added sand has since disappeared.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control says recent storms and high wave activity are to blame for the setback. Officials hope that some of the sand will naturally return over time, but acknowledge that more durable solutions are likely needed.
“It’s unfortunate with the storms that come in here that the sand, I think, is going to continue to erode,” Price said. “So there needs to probably be a more permanent fix at some point.”
DNREC says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to move forward with the second phase of a nourishment project, which will involve pumping another 300,000 cubic yards of sand from the ebb shoal offshore.
Until then, local users of the park like Price remain hopeful, and concerned, that the next storm won’t undo more of the progress already made.