Panama City Beach, Fla

Panama City Beach, Fla:

The world’s most beautiful beaches will soon be getting a little bit of cosmetic work. The Panama City Beach Tourist Development Council and Convention and Visitors Bureau have approved a plan to renourish the beaches. Beach renourishment is basically taking sand from offshore and using it to repair the beach where erosion has occurred. The TDC began renourishing the beaches back in 1999 and the last dredging took place back in 2006. And with tourism being a huge part of the beach’s revenue source, the TDC says it’s one of the most important projects they fund.

Crystal clear water and paper white sand make Panama City Beach the world’s most beautiful beaches. Part of making sure they stay the same sugary white means renourishing the beach. Mike Bennett with the TDC believes that “The beach itself supports the largest industry in bay county. 6 million tourists a year come through here.”

That’s why the TDC has given the go ahead for engineers to begin the permit process. Dan Rowe, the TDC president says they’ve now “...approved for our coastal engineers to start moving into the permit phase of getting two new sand sources..you know…for future projects.” These two sand sources will help supply renourishment for the next fifteen to twenty years. The areas considered are off the coast of Thomas Drive and off the coast of Shell Island.

Panama City Beach is famous for its white, sandy beaches. The challenge with a beach renourishment is to find the whitest sand for the cheapest cost…and any sand dredged from Shell Island will be the whitest. But will cost a lot to transport. And of course funding is always an issue.

The third penny of the TDC bed tax is used for beach renourishment activities and that will be a major source of funding for it, but the TDC also gets a cost share from state revenues. The TDC expects some trouble getting a permit to dredge near Shell Island, but the area off Thomas Drive is expected to sail through the permit process.