The Problem of Critically Eroded Areas (CEA): An Evaluation of Florida Beaches

&!!!!!:. ESTEVES, L.S. and FINKL, C.W., Jnr., 1998. The problem of critically eroded areas (CEA): An evaluation of Florida beaches. Journal of Coastal Research, SI(26), 11-18. Royal Palm Beach (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Beach erosion is a worldwide problem that has increasingly impacted Florida shorelines. Government studies classified 225 km of Florida beaches as critically eroded in 1985, while critical erosion was observed along 370 km in 1993. Critically eroded areas (CEA) increased 145 km (64%) in eight years despite coastal protection works implemented in Florida. Three hypotheses that may be related to the increase of CEA are analyzed: (1) protective efforts have been insufficient to reduce erosion in Florida, (2) methods of erosion mitigation have not been effective, and (3) identification of CEA depends on the definition of critical erosion used. Evaluation of these three hypotheses is based on the identification of CEA, distribution of coastal protection works, and the official definition of critical erosion as applied by government agencies in Florida. This study estimated that about 124 km of Florida beaches are CEA and approx imately 280 km of beaches are protected although reduction has been implemented along eroded and non-eroded beaches. Significant differences observed between official data and this study reflect the importance of the definition of erosion used to classify CEA. This study is based on long-term shoreline changes while government documents consider anthropogenic factors in the definition of the CEA.