Marco Island beach berm restoration continues after storms

The Tigertail Lagoon Sand Dollar Island restoration project, which began in 2022, will continue after Hurricane Milton paused it.

That area of Marco Island is protected by a natural sand pit that extends over two miles.

“We’re standing here on the north side of the sand dollar island that’s in the background,” said Mohamed Dabees, the project engineer, “but the western side is the area that gets affected and impacted by tropical storms.”

The restoration project began after hurricanes Irma and Ian. It consisted of moving a lot of sand to rebuild the protective berm.

“It’s our first line of defense, like the bumper and fenders of the car,” said Dabees. “They are intended to be a disposable line of defense that breaks with an event or an accident or a storm, to protect the integrity of the vehicle or the engine, as well as the occupants of the car, and then following an accident, it’s a lot easier to replace a bumper or a fender than to replace the whole car.”

The initial project cost $4.5 million.

But each time the berm is knocked down by storms like Debby, Helene and Milton, the prices of repairs increase.

“The cost of repairs after a sequence of storms like that is only 5% to 10% of that,” said Dabees.

Linda Ryan, Chair of the Hideaway Beach Tax District, ensures that the regular Marco Island taxpayer does not pay for this.

“It’s only the residents within the hideaway beach tax district that contribute tax dollars to the repairs for this project,” said Ryan.

As a hideaway resident, she believes it’s worth it.

“All of the storm and wave energy from the storms that hit us this summer would have fallen directly upon our coastline here,” said Ryan.

Dabees said Debby, Helene and Milton had significant impacts, but Dabees notes the berm did its job.

“In this case, the damage was limited to that barrier, so it’s basically nature took one for us, and then what we owe back nature is rebuilding it,” he said.

Dabees said you don’t create barriers and walls unless you have exhausted all nature-based solutions.

“It is very beautiful nature that is not only good for the occupants of Marco Island and the human side of it, but also for the other species that call this natural system a home,” said Dabees.

They plan to start work on Nov. 15 and finish before bird nesting season starts on Feb. 15.