BEACH EROSION BOARD

The Beach Erosion Board was organized under authority of section 2 of the River and Harbor Act approved July 3, 1930 (Public Law 520, 71st Cong.) which authorized and directed the Chief of Engineers under the direction of the Secretary of the Army to cause investigations and studies to be made, in cooperation with public agencies of the various States, to devise effective means of preventing erosion of the coastal and Great Lakes shores by waves and currents. To furnish the technical advice and assistance required in this program, the Chief of Engineers was directed to form a board of seven members to assist in the conduct of studies, review the reports on such investigation and submit recommendations. By executive ruling the agency applying for a cooperative study under this act is required to contribute 50 percent of the estimated cost of the investigation. Each study results in a report containing plans and specific recommendations as to methods or means to improve or remedy a condition at a particular locality. A summary of such cooperative studies follows: Number of applications for studies approved prior to July 1, 1949 Number of applications for studies approved during fiscal year 1950 Number of reports completed prior to July 1, 1949 Number of reports completed during fiscal year 1950 Number of studies remaining to be completed (1)

70

5

55

8

16

This basic law was supplemented by section 5 of the River and Harbor Act approved August 30, 1935 (Public Law 409, 74th Cong.) which provided that every report submitted to Congress looking to the improvement of the entrance at the mouth of any river or at any inlet for navigation contain information concerning the configuration of the shore line and the probable effect of the proposed improvement on the coast line for a distance of not less than 10 miles on either side of the entrance. Another supplementary law was the act approved July 31, 1945 (Public Law 166, 79th Cong.), which made it the duty of the Chief of Engineers, through the Beach Erosion Board, in addition to participating in cooperative investigations under the basic law, to make general investigations with a view to preventing erosion of the shores of the United States by waves and currents and determining the most suitable methods for the protection, restoration and development of beaches; and to publish from time to time such useful data and information concerning the erosion and protection of beaches and shorelines as the Board may deem to be of value to the people of the United States.

Federal participation in the cost of protecting the shores of publicly owned property was established in the act approved

1 These studies involve 30 localities and will result in 30 reports.

which declared t in the construcimprovement and nts of the shores

August 13, 1946 (Public Law 727, 79th Cor it to be the policy of the United States to as tion, but not the ma tenance, of works for t protection against erosion by waves and cur of the United States that are owned by States, municipalities, and other political divisions; provided, that the Tderal contribution toward the construction of protective works shall not in any case exceed one-third of the total costs and that the plan of protection shall have been specifically adopted and authorized by Congress after investigation and study by the Beach Erosion Board. The word "shores" as used in the act includes a the shore lines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, estuaries and bays directly connected therewith.

At the end of fiscal year 1950 the Board was composed of the following members: Col. D. O. Elliott, U. S. Army, president; Col. Earl E. Gesler, United States Army, district engineer, Philadelphia, Pa.; Col. Walter D. Luplow, United States Army, district engineer, Los Angeles, Calif.; Col. Richard W. Pearson, United States Army, district engineer, Jacksonville, Fla.; Mr. Thorndike Saville of New York, dean of the College Engineering, New York University; Mr. Morrough P. O'Brien & California, dean of the College of Engineering, University of California; Dr. Lorenz G. Straub, engineering consultant, Division of Waterways, Department of Conservation, State of Minnesota. ƒ

In addition to the foregoing, the following were also detailed for various periods during the year to membership on the Board: Mr. Richard K. Hale of Massachusetts, director, Division of Waterways, Massachusetts Department of Public Works; Col. Frederick F. Frech, district engineer, Philadelphia, Pa.; Lt. Col. William B. Stelzenmuller, assistant resident member.

During the fiscal year 1950, the Board carried out studies and investigations in cooperation with appropriate agencies of various States and territories and with the field offices of the Corps of Engineers to develop efficient works for the protection and stabilization of the shores and beaches of coastal and lake waters. The Board completed the review of cooperative beach erosion control reports on Atlantic City, N. J.; Presque Isle Peninsula, Erie, Pa.; Lynn-Nahant Beach, Mass.; Revere Beach, Mass.; Nantasket Beach, Mass.; Quincy Shore, Mass.; Lake Erie shore of Lake County, Ohio; and Lake Michigan shore of State of Illinois. The report on Atlantic City, N. J., printed as House Document No. 538, Eighty-first Congress, recommended Federal participation in the cost of protecting and improving portions of the shore within the study area. The Board also completed 1 report on preliminary examination with a view to shore protection, 1 survey report on protection of Federal property, and 30 reports on the beach-erosion aspects of navigation improvements as provided in section 5 of the River and Harbor Act approved August 30, 1935.

The following cooperative studies were in progress on June 30, 1950:

The Board has continued general investigations of means of protecting shores and beaches against erosion in accordance with the authorization ontained in the act approved July 31, 1945 (Public Law 166, 7 h Cong.). Publication of the quarterly bulletin to disseminate r. pidly pertinent information to the public was continued. Four technical articles prepared by the research staff were published in the technical press. Six technical research papers were published by the Board and seven papers reporting results of research were in preparation. The construction of a large wave tank and a coast model test basin on a site adjacent to the Board office building was completed. Equipment of these facilities for testing is in progress. Three contracts with universities for research to supplement the staff activities were expanded and continued.

At the end of the year, studies were in progress on the littoral movement of beach material; the determination of the equilibrium profiles of beaches; model scale effects in shore phenomena; the design and development of wave-measuring instruments and techniques, and sand samplers; the forecasting and measurement of waves on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts; methods of bypassing sand at inlets; and the structural design of shore structures.

This Commission, consisting of three officers of the Corps of Engineers appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate, was created by the act of Congress approved March 1, 1893 (27 Stat. L., p. 507), was organized in San Francisco, Calif., on June 8, 1893, and has jurisdiction and duties extending over the drainage area of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, comprising the great central valley of California and extending from the crest of the Sierra Nevada on the east to that of the Coast Range on the west and from Mount Shasta and the Pit River Basin on the north to the Tehachapi Mountains on the south. These rivers empty into the head of Suisun Bay, ultimately discharging into the Pacific Ocean through the connecting bays and straits and the Golden Gate.

The duties prescribed by the act creating the Commission are: First: To regulate hydraulic mining in such a way as to permit its resumption and continuance under such restrictions as to prevent the resulting debris from being carried into navigable waters or otherwise causing damage.

Second: To study and report upon general hydraulic and hydraulic-mining conditions and matters affecting or affected by them and to make surveys, mature and adopt plans for the purpose of improving the navigability, deepening the channels, and protecting the banks of the rivers, and affording relief from flood damages.

While the Commission was to "adopt" plans as a result of its study, the act creating it did not provide means for directly carrying them out. Congress, however, has from time to time adopted certain of the plans formulated by the Commission and charged it with their execution, under the direction of the Secretary of the Army and the supervision of the Chief of Engineers.

During the past year, the Commission consisted of the following officers of the Corps of Engineers: Col. Dwight F. Johns, president, to December 31, 1949; Col. Joseph S. Gorlinski, secretary, to March 31, 1950; and Col. S. N. Karrick, member, to July 31, 1949; Col. Walter D. Luplow, member, since that date. Col. John S. Seybold, South Pacific Division Engineer, and Lieut. Col. C. C. Haug, Sacramento District Engineer, have been nominated president and secretary, respectively, by President Harry S. Truman. The nominations must be approved by the Senate. The secretary has immediate supervision of the work of the Commission.