Beach update: March 3

I just went over to the beach. It's low tide but holy moly! I didn't have my camera w/me because it was raining - but holy moly!

The "groin" (big stone structure) is starting to look like a mountain, splitting the north side of the beach from the south side and the south side is looking pretty bad, erosion-wise.

I couldn't help but think back to about 4 yrs. ago, when I was out there on a raw spring day with the Newbury Beach Committee as members replaced and repaired snow fencing and talked about how much they needed donations to buy beach grass. There's a whole lot less dune now than there was then.

A pretty much ignored group (which I believe has disbanded). Who can tell if anything would be different if the efforts of this group had been supported by residents back then? I know that Doug Packer, Newbury's conservation agent, was pretty much right out there with them but they really got no support. When push came to shove, the PI Foundation was formed and as far as I know, no input was solicited from this dedicated group of residents.

By the way, as Ward 1 City Councillor Allison Heartquist has reported, there is a Newburyport beach group that was formed as part of the city's beach plan (the plan was required for public assistance with beach re-nourishment efforts that are on hold for now).