By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
"Three to five foot surf...with the perfect wind, uncrowded. I think to myself this could all be gone," said Ian Blair, a magazine editor and avid surfer for over 15 years, "That's a real heartbreak to think of that."
Like Blair, many area surfers are concerned with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Storm Damage Reduction Project. During a meeting last month, USACE spokesperson said that in some areas the wave action would increase as a result of the $85 million project, while in other areas they may decrease but they don't really know the what the actual effect would be.
The USACE project proposes to refurbish the 15 existing groins, also known as jetties, erect a dune measuring 15-feet above sea level in front of the boardwalk and add a 110-foot berm of sand. The beach would be built up to ten feet above sea level, USACE officials said, and the new dune would stand five feet high and would be two feet less then the boardwalk. "Finger boardwalks" would be built as a walkway over the dune.
Although The City of Long Beach has a large surfing community, some surfers believe the fate of local waves has been over looked. A portion of revenue that is generated from the beachpark comes from surfers, both local residents and out of towners, and some longtime surfers think that the loss of waves could have a crashing economic effect.
"Communities often don't view [surfing] as a resource, but if they did and they tried to quantify the amount of money that a resource like this draws to the community, maybe they would see it in a different view," said "Chenzo," owner of TB Surfboard in New Jersey.
Some surfers, though, think the dredge work that will be done could have a positive effect on local waves. Five-time New York State surfing champion Albert Prisco of Long Beach, who has been surfing for 20 years, said, "The only reason that I would go some place else is if the waves actually stopped breaking because of the work they did. I found in the past when they have dredged out and done other things it has actually helped."
Prisco is remaining optimistic for now that the massive work will help to actually improve the surf in Long Beach. Others, though, are less sure. Blair has seen other USACE projects that have not, he says, left positive results. Blair said beaches like Monmouth, N.J. and Ventura, Calif., which have been touched by the USACE, are a disappointing sight.
"The back filling of the beach was replenished with sand that basically destroys a natural gradual slope of the immediate off shore bottom," Blair said. "Rather then getting the gently spilling, peeling wave that breaks off shore and rolls in you just end up with a totally unrideable type of wave that you call a shore pound."
Diane Rahoy, a USACE representative acknowledged that some of the surfers' fears are warranted.
"Generally, when we build a project with a lot of beach fill, we smooth out everything. That makes for less surfing waves."
The length of the jetties has become another concern that could alter the waves. The USACE says it is not planning to extend the jetties, rather it would just refurbish them, said Rahoy. "The seaward ends of a number of them [jetties] were damaged quite a while ago. The tips of the most seaward end of the groins are tilted." The jetties would only be extended "by a stone or two" if needed, Rahoy said.
Thus, when the sand berm is built, the jetties will basically remain the same length. The jetties are designed to prevent major erosion, according to Rob Raab, Long Beach's Commissioner of Public Works. Raab feels that even if the jetties are not lengthened, they will be effective.
"I think the thing is that it's not so much the length of the jetties, it's just the combination of the elevation of the beach, plus the jetties, plus the dune. In other words you can't take just one component alone. It's an intricate system," Raab said.
The USACE dredging would be a mile off shore, which Raab said is far enough not to disturb the sand bars under the surface, which contributes to wave action.
At least one surfer agreed. Charles Bernowich, who has lived in Long Beach for 37 years and has surfed for 29 years, said, "I think over time the ocean will do what it wants to do. I think where we're
located, it breaks pretty well and I don't think that's going to stop."
