A project monitoring the movement of sand along the state’s coastline gets a green light from the Lewes Economic, Environment and Resiliency Commission.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the commission heard from Robin Mattheus, a scientist with the Delaware Geological Survey who has been heading up the project. In its pilot form, the project expired in April, but Mattheus was in front of the EERC in May and again on Wednesday, making the case for an extension.
The project has cameras deployed up and down the Delaware coast, including several in Lewes. Two of those cameras, at Johnnie Walker Beach and Savannah Beach, are mounted on city-owned light poles, and require permission - but not funding - from the city to continue.
The cameras, similar to trail cameras, do not shoot video. Rather, they take a single still photo every half hour.
Mattheus explained that the cameras are gathering data to help understand how sand migrates during weather events like storms. What his team learns could have ramifications for beach replenishment projects.
“The idea is to have cameras staggered along the shore, so maybe we can capture in footage how sand is moving along the shore,” he said.
Kathleen Berault, the committee’s new chair, questioned Mattheus on the size and scope of the project.
“How long are you looking to extend it?” she asked. “And also, my other question would be, eventually, how many cameras are you looking to migrate to?”
Mattheus replied that more data points are better and that he would ultimately like to see a network of cameras, some more permanent in nature and others that could be moved to different locations based on what data the project needs.
Vice-Mayor Khalil Saliba, an ex-officio member of the EERC, was supportive of the project and addressed concerns from a May meeting about privacy.
“Personally, I don't see any downside to it,” he said. “Originally, there were concerns about privacy issues involving people being captured on camera, but it sounds like it happens rarely.”
Mattheus noted that the cameras on public beaches could actually be turned off during the busy season to further allay any privacy concerns.
“Nor'easters and those events that are responsible for most of the sand movement tend to occur outside of the summer season,” he explained.
Deputy City Manager Janet Reeves added that the city had received no queries or complaints about the cameras, which have signage explaining their purpose and ownership.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Lewes council grant permission to extend the project, something the council is set to take up on Monday.
