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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY BEACH RESTORATION Project Description: In 1980 the Corps of Engineers released a study which recommended renourishment of 3.42 miles of eroded beach in Indian River County. The Corps specified two areas for restoration: 1.68 miles fronting Sebastian Inlet Park and 1.74 miles fronting the City of Vero Beach. The plan for the Sebastian Inlet State Recreation Area provides for stabilizing the park shores with periodic nourishment. Sand will be placed along the section of shore extending from a point 1,500 feet south of the inlet south 8,860 feet. The cross-sectional configuration of the stabilized beach fill shortly after placement would show a 25 -foot Wide berm at an elevation of ten feet aabu-va mean low water (MLW) with a seaward slope of one vertical to ten horizontal (1V to 10H) to an elevation of about two feet below MLW, thence 1V to 50H until the section intersects the existing bottom. The plan for the Vero Beach area provides for a beach fill extending 9,162 feet along the shores of the City of Vero Beach and for stabilizing the new beach with periodic nourishment. The cross-sectional configuration of the restored'beach would show a 20 -foot -wide berm at an elevation of 15 feet above MLW, with a seaward slope of IV to 8H to about the mean low water datum, then 1V to 35H until the section intersects the existing bottom. Project Need: Indian River County has a history of erosion problems. The Corps of Engineers found that sea level rise and Sebastian Inlet are the major causes of beach erosion. Sea level rise contributes a loss of 1.25 feet/ year to the Indian River County Beaches. In the vicinity of Sebastian Inlet the loss increases to 1.7 feet/year. During a storm with a frequency of occurrence of once in ten years the bluffline recession was computed at 55 feet in Sebastian Inlet Park and 20 feet in Vero Beach. Providing protection against a ten year storm would ber:fit the county and its residents by $660,000 annually. County beaches are of primary importance to the local tourist economy. The total annual beach visitation is expected to increase from 2.6 million to 5.3 million visitors by 2035. The present beach area is inadequate to handle the increase in demand and with continuing erosion the situation will worsen. Construction of the proposed project would provide $507,000 annually in recreational benefits.