The town of Kiawah Island, South Carolina—a gated residential community with 1,685 residents that includes a resort—faced one of its biggest challenges in 2006. Severe beach erosion threatened its primary asset, the pristine Kiawah Beach.

The erosion was so extensive that it jeopardized a portion of the prestigious 18-hole Ocean Course golf course. Exposed irrigation lines and sod floating off with the tide was hardly the makings for a pleasant day of golf. Both the beach and the golf course are major contributors to Kiawah Island’s economy.

To tackle the problem, the town endeavored to complete its first beach restoration project. With support of the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah Island Community Association, and then real estate developers Kiawah Development Partners, the town began the tedious process of applying for state and federal permits.

A Complicated Process

We applied to the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Management; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin the work. Since I had been town administrator for only three months, this task was not envisioned as a first major project, but it did become one.

The permitting process was a daunting task that lasted nearly six months and required several concessions from the town. These concessions focused around the beachfront wildlife, including loggerhead sea turtles as well as piping plover, least terns, and Wilson’s plover shorebirds.

The town worked with its expert biologist and beach consultants Coastal Science and Engineering to redesign the East End project and reduce its scope to minimize impact to the habitat. The project, however, consisted of moving 550,000 cubic yards of sand from an adjacent sand shoal.

The sand would be used to “lend Mother Nature a helping hand” and complete the attachment (of the sand shoal) by placing the sand in the fill areas affected by erosion. The completed project was designed to stabilize and smooth out the shoreline and allow sand to move naturally down the coastline over time.

A condition of the permit included a five-year monitoring program to count the bird populations, in particular the piping plover, along the beach in the project area.

Another was a condensed work schedule that would limit construction to a two-week period of time.

The construction schedule was further constrained by the turtle nesting season, such that no vehicles were allowed on the beach until the “all clear” was issued, meaning no loggerhead sea turtles’ tracks or nests were identified in the project area. After working through these details, the town was prepared to begin work, but instead was greeted with a lawsuit from the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, a local conservation organization.

Our Day in Court

The town then consulted with an attorney who specialized in defending similar cases. We engaged Ellison Smith, who had a style and comical demeanor that kept us on our toes, but he helped prepare the biologist and myself for our day in court.

We sat patiently, waiting to be called to testify and support the East End beach project. The tension in the court room was thick, and it was obvious that the two opposing attorneys had faced off before. For us, it was more than disarming an opponent; the future of the town’s single largest asset rested with us.

After a day of deliberations, testimony, and questioning, an administrative law court judge concluded the session and rendered a decision to allow the town of Kiawah to proceed with the project. Finally, we were authorized and prepared to begin work.

Arriving at the work site by 5 a.m. each day, with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees, the crews moved truckloads of sand from one area to another. Bulldozers filled truckload after truckload until the inlet breach was closed and all 550,000 cubic yards of sand were successfully moved.

The wildlife, however; were not convinced that having all the people, bulldozers, and trucks in their beach sanctuary was a good idea. In particular, a species of birds called least terns took exception to our presence and launched an aerial attack as they dove towards us with their long sharp beaks. This was a daily greeting as we attempted to walk through the project area that bordered their protected bird habitat and nesting area.

Despite the varied challenges ranging from permitting, wildlife concessions, lawsuits, and soaring temperatures, the project was a huge success for Kiawah, the wildlife, and the golf course. The total project cost the town approximately $3.6 million and has stood the test of time.

There now are hundreds of added yards of beachfront for seabirds, turtles, golfers, and beachgoers alike to enjoy. And no more aerial attacks by the terns.