To be called critical, the erosion must endanger one of four specific interests - development, recreation, wildlife habitat or important cultural resources. Typically, that means dredging sand, either from channels or from offshore, and dragging or pumping it to the beaches. Although Woodruff is one of the primary state officials charged with trying out alternatives to dredging, he was blunt in his assessment. Most of the projects involve dredging. You restore that area and maintain that area.
Many examples show that dredging is a habit rather than a permanent solution.
Ill. Barring a major storm, the same five miles of beach will need to be renourished in 2004, according to Coastal Planning geologist John Walker. For Coastal Planning, the renourishment of Captiva has resulted in a steady stream of work. But the firm has rendered so many different services since, she said, that she would find it difficult to compute how much Coastal has received in all from Captiva. In the city of Sarasota, Coastal Planning is the consultant in charge of beach restoration as well. Each time the dredgers are called in, they have to go further offshore to mine sand.