No sand for you! Popular Georgia beach loses fed erosion funds to New Jersey.
TYBEE ISLAND ― Georgia’s most popular beach is thinning and the federal funds to fatten up the shore won’t be coming as scheduled.
Tybee Island officials learned Tuesday the island’s periodic beach renourishment project has been cut from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 2026 work plan in the wake of funding reductions, with the remaining dollars going to New Jersey instead.
The federal agency has pledged to prioritize the Peach State beach, 20 minutes east of downtown Savannah, in 2027, according to Dan Ginolfi with Warwick Group Consultants, a Washington D.C., lobbying group. But the delay means Tybee faces two hurricane seasons before a full-scale sand replenishment.
The suction dredges used to move sand from offshore onto the beach only operate in the winter and spring because of sea turtle migration patterns. Assuming Tybee receives federal dollars for renourishment next year, dredging would begin in December 2027 or January 2028.
“We will be a skinny beach this summer, and if we have any storm activity in the Atlantic this hurricane season, we’re in trouble next summer,” Tybee Mayor Brian West said.
The funding delay forces Tybee to explore options to shore up the most vulnerable part of the beach in the meantime. The island has lost 54% of its sand since the last renourishment in 2020, with erosion accelerating at a 15% annual pace, according to researchers with the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography who track the beach’s erosion with aerial drones.
With the renourishment delay, the erosion is projected to top 70% — and any significant storm activity could breach the dunes that protect the island.
Two areas in particular experience severe erosion, and without more sand to fortify those spots, ocean water could fill parking lots, streets and possibly even the ground floor of homes.
The city council met Wednesday afternoon with their lobbyists. Ginolfi said the current focus is surplus disaster funding from 2025 that Tybee could be eligible for.
Another option is a process called backpassing, in which sand is moved by truck from one area of the beach to another. Tybee has excess sand at the southern tip of its beach.
“We want to spend a little more time to see if there’s a solution there or to re-engineer the project in other ways,” said Bret Bell, Tybee’s chief administrator.
Tybee officials had been bracing for bad news since the federal government withheld all beach funds last year and announced a 70% reduction in the program for 2026. Tybee typically renourishes every seven years and works with the county, state and federal governments to fund the work — with only 40% coming from the Army Corps.
But the federal budget tightening left Tybee and a cluster of other communities along the Atlantic coast due for sand replenishment in 2026 to compete for approximately $30 million in unallocated dollars. Tybee officials traveled to Washington, D.C., in March to make their case.
The money went to a larger $99 million project on New Jersey’s South Jersey Shore.
For decades, beach towns across the country have relied on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ nourishment programs to maintain the sandy shores their economies depend on. Nourishment also helps protect the towns from the ocean itself, increasingly important in an era of stronger storms and rising sea levels.
About the Author
Adam Van Brimmer is a journalist who covers politics and Coastal Georgia news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
