ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. — Three years ago, the beige condominiums and pastel beach houses on the north end of this South Carolina resort island were guarded by hundreds of sandbags as waves rushed toward their foundations.
Now there's about a football field-long reach of sand between the structures and the gray-green Atlantic Ocean, thanks to a $10 million beach renourishment project.
But about 60 miles to the northeast, on Pawleys Island, rock and wood groins reach into the ocean trying to trap sand for the beach in a community that has tried for four years to get money to rebuild its beach with sand. At high tide, the water washes up to the wooden steps leading to weathered beach bungalows.
While there has never been enough money to meet the nation's beach renourishment needs, the end of congressional earmarks should mean more federal dollars this year to rebuild beaches than at any time since the 1990s, according to the American Beach & Shore Protection Association.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work plan for the fiscal year 2011 includes $148 million for coastal projects. Of that, $125 is for beach renourishment, about $25 million more than in recent years.
Because of the moratorium on earmarks, the agency established its own priorities. The budget includes more for coastal projects than in the House, Senate or administration budget proposals.
"I don't know that it's a better approach. Certainly it has generated more dollars for beaches in fiscal '11 than we have seen for beaches since 1995," said Harry Simmons, the mayor of Caswell Beach, N.C., and the president of the beach protection association.
In years past, Congress might set aside only $3 million for a project that would cost $12 million — meaning it could take several years to cobble together enough money for that project, Simmons said.
"In this case, they are at least trying to fund those projects that are essentially shovel-ready and can be built," he said.
Despite the modest increase in money, the nonprofit group says there are more beach needs than dollars being spent. About $450 million is needed yearly to rebuild beaches, and only about $300 million is spent each year. That figure includes both government and private money.
In Virginia Beach, Va., $9 million in federal funding will allow city officials to replenish sand along the city's hotel-lined resort area for the first time since 2002.
The city was supposed to get additional sand every three years as part of a federal cost-sharing agreement, but no federal money was forthcoming.
Deputy City Manager Dave Hansen said city leaders feel fortunate to get the money, but have learned they won't count on the federal government pick up the tab for 65 percent of the cost in the future.
"We realize we need to develop a long-term funding strategy that will require the local cost share to go up significantly," he said.
The new sand will provide much-needed protection from storm surge in the event of a hurricane or a strong winter storm. City officials estimate the property value along the stretch of beach that's slated for replenishment by next spring at $3 billion.
"We'll breathe a sigh of relief where our fingers are crossed if we get through this year," Hansen said. "We've got one good storm left on the beach, and after that we're naked."
Hansen said some portions of the beach are so narrow they can't protect the city's seawall, which doubles as a boardwalk and is needed to stop storm surge from a hurricane or winter storm.
At the Isle of Palms, erosion was so bad three years ago the city decided it couldn't wait to go through the lengthy, multi-year process of seeking federal money.
"We talked to everybody we could and they said the federal process would take years, and even then we did not have a lot of probability of success," said Mayor Dick Cronin.
So the renourishment was paid for with city, state, county and private money — most of it, about $7 million, from the Wild Dunes resort and the resort's property owners.
The revamped beach is expected to last 10 years, and the city has been monitoring the beach and the sand just offshore to gauge when another renourishment may be needed. The project not only restored the wide, sandy beach, but dunes covered with vegetation are building near the houses and condominiums.
The city and county share of the project came from accommodations taxes paid by visitors, and the project has almost paid for itself by now, Cronin said.
"More people are coming to the beach, and more people are enjoying it," he said.
Pawleys Island has a renourishment plan in hand for four years, but has not been able to get federal money to help pay for the $8 million project, said Mayor Bill Otis. The town is smaller and doesn't have the extensive resort development of the Isle of Palms.
"Given the state of the country and given the state of what is going on in Washington, I would not use the word optimistic" about getting money for the beach.
He said the beaches are "holding their own" but worries what will happen to the island and its homes in the event of a hurricane.
Howard Marlowe, the director of government affairs for the beach protection association said that money for rebuilding beaches is a bargain. In 2007, tourism at beach communities generated upward to $35 billion in federal tax revenues.
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Associated Press writer Brock Vergakis contributed to this story from Virginia Beach, Va.