Thank you to everyone who attended the Living Shoreline Implementation Presentation hosted by the Town of Sunset Beach Environmental Resource Committee (ERC) on Monday, July 28, 2025 at Town Hall.

This special session featured guest speakers Whitney Jenkins from the NC Coastal Reserve and Georgia Busch from the North Carolina Coastal Federation, who shared valuable information on nature-based solutions for stabilizing shoreline areas.

Topics covered included:

• The science and benefits of living shorelines

• Best practices for design and installation

• Regulatory guidance and support resources for property owners

• Case studies and examples from across the North Carolina coast

Living shorelines offer a sustainable approach to erosion control while enhancing habitat and improving resilience to coastal storms and sea level rise.

If you were unable to attend or would like to review the material, the presentation slides are available below:

📄 View Presentation – Whitney Jenkins, NC Coastal Reserve
📄 View Presentation – Georgia Busch, NC Coastal Federation

We encourage all waterfront property owners, environmental advocates, and interested residents to explore these resources and consider how living shorelines can contribute to a healthier Sunset Beach.

For more information or follow-up questions, please contact the Environmental Resource Committee.

The ERC began its study of shoaling in Jinks Creek and Tubbs Inlet in April 2023 after Charter Captain Tim Disano hosted a tour of Jinks Creek in his fishing boat. He showed Town representatives how difficult navigation had become and shared his knowledge of the history of the waterways. 

The Tubbs Inlet Aerials 2011-2023 slideshow file shows aerial images of the Tubbs Inlet area to see how conditions have changed in the past decade.

The boat tour was followed with drone photos images captured between May and October of 2023. The ERC Drone Slideshow and Shoaling Study Observation files were presented and discussed at the November 15, 2023 ERC meeting.

Shoaling is not a new issue in Jinks Creek. The build up of sand in the navigation waters has been happening for more than a decade. The Town of Sunset Beach has been dredging portions of Jinks Creek and the canals throughout the East end of the Island since 2022. Planning for this work began in 2016.

This information is not the final Shoaling Study Report. We offer this as an update of the work accomplished in 2023. We will continue to monitor changes in Jinks Creek and Tubbs Inlet in 2024.

Town of Sunset Beach 2021 Resiliency Study
DCM has partnered with Moffatt & Nichol, our selected contractor, with the Town of Sunset Beach to conduct a Risk & Vulnerability Assessment. This website will function as a storing house of all project-related information and a means for you to contribute in a meaningful way.

This website is intended to serve as place to share of all project-related information and a means to support meaningful contributions to the study by Town of Sunset Beach residents, visitors and business operators.

Introduction & Background
Building resilience to natural hazards is vital for communities to help maintain quality of life, healthy growth, durable systems, and conservation of resources for present and future generations. However, several barriers to developing resilience to coastal risks exist, including economic and capacity constraints that have been exacerbated in recent times. Resiliency refers to not only the ability of a community to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threats, but to thrive amidst changing conditions or challenges.

A risk and vulnerability assessment is a key component to building resilience in a coastal community. Risks are assessed as multi-hazard threats to communities such as flooding, storm surge, or sea level rise that may occur amidst storms and a changing climate. Vulnerabilities are assessed as the degree of exposure to these risks, and the means to cope with stressors or disasters that arise from them.

Building a more resilient Town of Sunset Beach requires careful, thorough planning efforts using sound, locally relevant data. Sunset Beach has been awarded financial assistance in the form of technical resources from the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s (DCM) Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP). The RCCP will advance coastal resilience efforts throughout the 20 coastal communities in North Carolina. The objectives of this program include:

• Address barriers to coastal resilience in North Carolina at the local level, such as limited capacity, economic constraints, and social inequities;

• Assist communities with risk and vulnerability assessments and developing a portfolio of planned and prioritized projects;

• Advance coastal resilience projects to shovel-readiness, or ready for implementation; and

• Link communities to funding streams for project implementation.

The Process
The following project milestones outline our estimated planning process and highlight specific timeframes when our public meeting and other public involvement opportunities are expected to occur. These dates may change as the project moves forward so please check back for updates.

• Public Survey – Mid-September to Mid-October 2021
• Community Action Team Worksession - October 7, 2021 at 10:00 AM

• Public Input Meeting Open House – October 26, 2021

• Community Action Team Meeting #2 – November 4, 2021

• Draft Presentation – November 2021

• CAT Meeting #3 – January 6, 2022

• Final Presentation – February 2022

• Final Report

Stay Connected
Below are several ways you can stay engaged in the project:

1. Subscribe to our mailing list. Sign up to receive the latest Town news via the Town’s home page here.

2. Visit our project website often. We will continually update the project website with the latest information and news, including the project schedule and resources available for download.

3. Participate in our Environmental Resource Committee meetings held monthly.

Program Sponsor
The N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM)’s North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) provided technical and financial assistance to advance coastal resilience efforts for the Town of Sunset Beach. This program is funded in collaboration with North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR); Sea Grant North Carolina; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF); The Nature Conservancy North Carolina and US Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).