Don't meddle with Mother Nature

The Oct. 31 Post and Courier article titled 'Underground wall OK'd' challenged readers to see for themselves Capt. Sam's Spit. The following day over 50 kayaks, most carrying two observers, traveled down the beautiful Kiawah River and realized how dependent Capt. Sam's Spit is on the ebb and flow of tides via the Kiawah. At the mouth of the river, an even more powerful force could be seen running perpendicular with waves driven by a northeast wind and incoming tide.

One could almost see sand from all the renourishment projects on Folly Beach washing south. You could imagine it building while the river tried to cut it back to expand the inlet. The ebb-tidal delta was evident as were swash bars that looked like they would block the inlet at low tide. This sand, without man's intrusion, would work its way to Seabrook Island.

But at the same time the marginal flood channel, which transported the tremendous amount of sand south, also appeared to want to cut Capt Sam's in two.

It is hard to imagine the state Office of Ocean Resource and Coastal Management approving anything that attempts to stop Mother Nature. Every major storm with any washover seeks the path of least resistance. Over and over they have cut breeches to allow water ingress and egress. A little wall here or there means the storm tide goes there or here.

But the bigger issue is, why try to protect a spit of sand, no matter how big, without protecting the natural barrier island maritime forest that backs it up. No development, regardless of how tasteful it is, can use heavy equipment to cut trees without destroying important root systems that hold sand and provide habitat.

Friends of the Kiawah River cite various species that would suffer from their habitat changing. Friends of fiscal responsibility wonder why any bank would give a $50 million mortgage on a piece of shifting sand. That sum might come close to what has been spent at Folly and what it will cost taxpayers over the future years to bail out unwary homebuilders.

I doubt the developers want that legacy. Hopefully they remember the win/win story of the Beidler family and Congaree National Park or have witnessed the success of the Sea Island Initiative of the CAWS (Cooper, Ashley, Wando, Stono) Basin and the Lowcountry Open Land Trust. Hopefully they are watching how Sullivan's Island manages its accreted trust.

RICK REED
Flag Street
Sullivan's Island