One draft of a territory-wide beach management plan has already been completed and is getting revised now, said Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering last night in Cane Garden Bay.
“We’ve reviewed it within the ministry, but I’ve told them that it was too much detail for what we are trying to achieve at this point in time,” said Dr. Pickering, who is the minister of natural resources and labour. “We are working to help modify it in a way that it will be able to be practical.”
A critical first step in managing the beach in Cane Garden Bay, the minister said, is to create ponds that will help filter water that runs down from the hillsides.
“We’ve employed an engineer to look at some of the potential areas here in Cane Garden Bay,” Dr. Pickering said. Initial ponds may be temporary until hydrological and other studies can be completed, he added.
A study completed some three years ago showed that runoff presents a “grave danger” to the CGB beach, according to the minister.
“If we continue to allow this process to go unchecked, the sediment that continues to deposit on the coral in the greater Cane Garden Bay area over a period of time will cause the coral to die off,” Dr. Pickering said.
In turn, the beach’s natural protection from the waves will break down, leaving the sandy beach more vulnerable to rough swells, he added.
“If that happens, the sand will continually be washed away and pretty soon there’ll be nothing left because the beach will be destroyed,” Dr. Pickering said.
See the March 28, 2013 edition for full story.
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