CHATHAM – Cockle Cove Beach is eroding and Chatham town officials are worried that a planned dredging project at Mill Creek this fall won’t be enough to help.
It’s been nearly two years since the beach received a significant amount of sand and the town wants to create an additional buffer between Nantucket Sound and the beach parking lot.
Around 100 cubic yards of sand was dumped on the beach last week.
But it’s not expected to last through the summer.
“The erosion is still progressing so it was getting to the point where we really needed to do something before it started potentially impacting the parking lot and access to the remaining beach that’s there,” said Chatham Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon.
A lack of sand along the beaches to the west and strong winds over the winter have led to the erosion.
“Now we’re in a very severe deficit mode, so you really have been seeing strong erosional trends over the last number of years, and the only way we’re able to maintain the beach now, is to artificially provide sand,” said Keon.
Chatham has requested that Barnstable County dredge Codfish clear out the shoals later this year and pump the sand to Cockle Cove Beach.
That should provide up to 6,000 cubic yards of sand which could buy the town some time before a major project can be completed.
By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter
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