Doc. 



N0RTH mem* 



University of North Carolina 

 Sea Grant Program 



NEWSLETTER 



OCTOBER, 1975 



The 



eternal battle 



against 



erosion 



PAMLICO BEACH— Ed Miller stomped 

 through the tall grass to the edge of his river-front 

 property north of this coastal community where 

 the Pungo and Pamlico Rivers roll together. He 

 trained an eye on the ground to look out for rattlers 

 some of the boys said they'd seen. 



But it wasn't the fear of a sudden, unexpected 

 snake bite that had Miller worried that hot after- 

 noon. What bothered him was more subtle and 

 more deceptive than the hollow sound of a rattle or 

 an ugly head poised for strike. Ed Miller, you see, 

 has anguished for years as he watched his land 

 crumble little-by-little into the Pungo River. Iron- 

 ically, the River's sparkling waters — the very 

 attraction that is bringing more vacationers and 

 second-home seekers to North Carolina's mainland 

 shores — are chiseling away at the real estate, and 

 the dreams, that belong to Miller and hundreds like 

 him. 



Erosion is one of those forces with which people 

 everywhere must deal. But for Pamlico Beach 

 property owners — and others along the state's 

 mainland shores — erosion is literally rapping at 

 their back doors. In fact, East Carolina University 

 scientists studying and mapping erosion in north- 

 eastern North Carolina with UNC Sea Grant fund- 

 ing say that erosion lops off an average two to 

 three feet per year along the estuarine shores. In 

 some places it can be more than 10 feet per year, 

 they say. 



1235 Burlington Laboratories 

 NCSU, Raleigh, N.C. 27607 Tel: (919) 737-2U5U 



One way to slow erosion: Pile tons of concrete 

 slabs on river-front banks. Note the tree in the 

 water that used to be on land. 



It's nothing new. Mrs. Mary Sawyer, a 58-year 

 resident of Pamlico Beach, pointed a finger toward 

 the Pamlico River. "I can remember when the 

 road was way out yonder. And I used to pick corn 

 where that cottage is," she said, nodding toward a 

 summer home that stands only about 50 yards from 

 the water's edge. The hard-top state road that runs 

 by her mobile home now is the third built since 

 she came here, she said. Today, the River fills the 

 forgotten tracks of the other two. 



While they don't like what erosion is doing, those 

 who have lived here most of their lives have ac- 

 cepted it. James Daniels summed up local philoso- 

 phy about the community's future between swigs of 

 soft drink. "It's like so many things. It'll be gone 

 someday," he said. 



Fighting Back 



In spite of their acceptance, Pamlico Beach prop- 

 erty owners aren't willing to let erosion run rough- 

 shod over them. They and newcomers, who soon 

 come to the rude awakening that their lots are 

 slipping into the river, are fighting back — mainly 

 with bulkheads, walls that slow the water's erosive 

 power against the loose bank soils. In the long 

 (See "Scientists ," page 3) 



