LETTER: County admits it's wrong: from sand to seaweed

To quote a phrase from former Okaloosa County Commissioner Mike Mitchell in a recent letter to the editor: “The Jan. 16 meeting of the Okaloosa County Commission concerning beach restoration demonstrated a meritorious moment in government action.  A previous government act was deemed wrong and was revoked.  This rarely happens."

What he was talking about is that our county commissioners listened to the people and rejected having inferior colored sand placed on our Emerald Coast sugar white beaches.  In other words beaches on Okaloosa Island will remain white — for the time being.

Now there is another issue that needs to be looked at.

That's keeping the beach in its natural state by having the seaweed left on the beaches as the waves have deposited it.  The beach cleaning machines are causing the problem of a lot of the erosion that's going on.  And one side of East Pass is different than the other. Usually on days that there's seaweed on one side there isn't on the other side. 

Don’t forget the jetties, which were constructed in the ’60s, also have an effect on what's going on.  Sea level is rising like it always has. Where we now live used to extend out 28 miles into the gulf many thousands of years ago.  Just because man has settled on the beaches does not stop nature from doing what she's done for eons.

The most drastic erosion that I've seen has been on the north side of Choctawhatchee Bay in the Villa Tasso area, and the Destin lagoon is also eroding on the north side.  Right now seawalls are holding back the erosion... temporarily.

The Intercoastal at the Narrows in downtown Fort Walton Beach has eroded approximately 50 feet in the last 100 years.  Erosion is a natural thing. As far as beaches go, we need to live with nature rather than trying to change it... there are just too many unknowns.

All of you that helped with this issue... thank you so very much for your time.  It took a lot of people a lot of time, research and money but they hung in there for four years.

Anita Kroha

Fort Walton Beach