Inland Bays Beach Grass Planting

The Division of Soil and Water Conservation’s Shoreline Management Branch and Dune Maintenance Program held its 15th Annual Beach Grass Planting on March 27, 2004.  The day started out a little wet, but it ended up being a beautiful day for planting.   This year the volunteers planted about  80,000 units of Cape American Beach grass along 2 miles of Delaware's Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay coastlines.

Why do we plant Beach grass:

Planting ‘Cape’ American beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata) is the most effective way to stabilize existing dunes and build new dunes along our coastline.   This vegetation is easy to plant and it spreads rapidly.  It reduces wind velocity near the ground and traps windblown sand around the grass.  As the sand deposits accumulate, the grass grows up through it maintaining a protective cover. 

We need to protect and maintain our dunes because they act as natural barriers to the destructive forces of wind and waves and are our first line of defense against coastal storms and beach erosion.  Dunes absorb impacts of storm surges and high waves, preventing or delaying flooding of inland areas and damage to inland structures.  Inland flooding can cause erosion and runoff which contribute to water pollution concerns in the environmentally sensitive Inland Bays region.  Dunes are also natural storage areas that supply sand to eroded beaches during storms and buffer nearshore areas from windblown sand and salt spray.

You can learn more about the importance of beach grass and how you can help support the quality of our beaches at the Division of Soil and Water Conservation's dune protection and improvement page.