After the beach disappeared and as millions of tax dollars are spent protecting Route 1 from the ocean at the northern foot of the Indian River Inlet Bridge, Delawareans are left wondering why steps to remedy the situation weren’t taken sooner.
Representatives of the agencies responsible, including the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state and federal government, have so far provided Delaware Online/The News Journal with boilerplate answers to that question.
The federal Water Resources and Development Act of 2022, which was signed in December 2022, authorized beach replenishment at the inlet. Determining what needed to happen after that to get the beach replenished as soon as possible has been challenging. Answers have come in dribs and drabs via email and by approaching officials at public events.
One such answer was obtained last week at a press conference held by Sen. Tom Carper’s office from the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s director of infrastructure, John Kane.