Georgia seaside vacation mecca renews appeal for federal beach repair funds

Tybee needs $12 million from the federal government to fund its renourishment, and a key permitting and dredging contract deadline — July 31 — is looming.

“We’re making this big, last plea,” West said. “It won’t take much of a storm for us to lose our dunes and we’re hoping to drive home the potential devastation we’ll have here if we don’t get sand.”

The island near Savannah was due for a beach repair later this year, but federal budget cuts led to a shortfall in funding for the Tybee project. The one-year postponement, officials fear, jeopardizes the local tourism economy and shoreline integrity if tropical storms or hurricanes strike Tybee this fall or in 2027.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

The eroded beach has been on stark display this summer, with sunbathers crammed into narrow stretches at high tide. The boulders and large concrete pieces laid beneath the sand decades ago to stabilize the beach are now exposed.

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.

A renourishment sooner rather than later is “imperative” given the rapid erosion, said Tybee property owner and small businessman Michael Hall, who operates The Surfing Goat coffee and bagel shop near the Tybee Pier.

Hotelier Brett Loehr said beach repair is not about aesthetics.

“People often hear the words ‘beach renourishment’ and think we’re asking the government to make our beach prettier,” said Loehr, owner of Hotel Tybee, the island’s largest lodging operation. “Nothing could be further from the truth. This is about protecting homes, businesses, roads, utilities, wildlife, jobs and one of Georgia’s most important tourism economies. The beach is our first line of defense.”

Tybee officials learned in early June that beach repair funds might be available for 2026. The American Coastal Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group that works on behalf of coastal communities, helped negotiate dredging bids for five New Jersey beaches selected for renourishment this year.

Those projects came in under budget, and the coalition’s director, Dan Ginolfi, said that meant “there could be extra money lying around to fund Tybee Island this year.”

West and Tybee’s City Council members learned of the surplus in the middle of a council meeting. West said he “nearly crawled out of my chair” with excitement.

“That was really, really good news,” he said. “We thought it was pretty much over.”

Days later, on June 10, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers encouraging them to allocate federal funding for Tybee. The letter noted Tybee’s project was “shovel-ready” and that the project’s environment review had already been completed.

Tybee leaders have likewise taken up a letter-writing campaign. They’ve petitioned Georgia lawmakers, New Jersey lawmakers and senior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials to rally to their cause.