Latest News & Updates

In a first-time collaboration, the City of Boca Raton, the City of Deerfield Beach, and the Town of Hillsboro, Florida, came together to complete a joint nourishment project. External compound forces like wind, waves, currents, storms, sea level rise, and the manipulation of inlets can cause beach erosion. By itself, the City of Boca Raton has completed over 12 beach renourishment projects—some of which were hurricane repair and hurricane emergency projects. Just south of Boca Raton, a 3.8-mile-long stretch of beach located along Hillsboro Beach and the south extent of Deerfield Beach was deemed critically eroded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

Despite the rather bleak outlook published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) in April, until late September, the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season had proven, by historical standards at least, relatively benign.

As is customary in early June, public officials are now busy issuing communities up and down the eastern seaboard and in and around the Gulf of Mexico with guidance on how to prepare for severe weather events—June 1 marks the official start to the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Beach erosion is a common challenge up and down Florida’s coastline. Shifting currents, tides, and structural engineering tend to accentuate the impacts of beach erosion and trigger problems—this is the case for the Florida Power and Light (FPL) St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, located beachside on Hutchinson Island, Florida. In 2004, Hurricane Frances caused severe erosion to the stretch of coast in front of the plant, resulting in the loss of around 70 feet of beach. With this significant barrier of beach sediment removed, ocean waves were able to reach within 20 feet of the power plant’s water discharge canal.

Florida inlets are busy, multiuse areas often troubled with complex and abstruse issues. Florida beaches and inlet regions have been developed and engineered to support the Blue Economy and tourism revenue but continue to battle inlet’s number one issue—beach erosion and longshore drift.

With Atlantic hurricane season officially underway, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting another busy year. Experts put the probability of an “above-normal” storm season at 60%; the chances of a “below-normal” season at a rather discouraging 10%. The consensus, however, is that storm activity is unlikely to rival the historic level seen in 2020.