English Coastal County Confronts Sea-Level Rise With Beach Replenishment – But Says It’s Not Enough
June 4, 2025
A coastal county in England is warning that despite decades of beach replenishment, it may not be enough to defend against the impacts of a projected 1-metre sea level rise by the end of the century.
For more than 30 years, the Environment Agency has been conducting annual beach replenishment along parts of the coast—an engineering effort that involves adding large volumes of sand or shingle to beaches to widen them. The wider beaches act as a buffer, absorbing the energy of waves and reducing the erosion and overtopping that threaten inland communities.
The programme has been a key element of the county’s flood risk management strategy, supporting both hard defences like sea walls and soft defences like dunes and natural barriers. However, new modelling and climate projections have prompted a more sobering assessment.
“While beach replenishment has been a vital part of our coastal defence for decades, the realities of climate change and rising sea levels mean this strategy alone will not protect our coast in the long term,” a spokesperson for the local Environment Agency told reporters.
The county, which has not been named due to ongoing review processes, lies along a low-lying stretch of England’s eastern shoreline—an area long known to be vulnerable to flooding and erosion. It faces particular risk from storm surges and high tides, with many of its towns and farmland areas only marginally above current sea level.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global sea levels could rise by around one metre by 2100 under high emissions scenarios. Even under moderate scenarios, significant sea-level rise is expected. For this county, that means an increasing number of high-tide flooding events and the potential for catastrophic breaches of existing coastal defences.
Local officials say the combination of long-term sea-level rise and more frequent extreme weather events will put “unprecedented stress” on current coastal protection systems. Even with replenishment, the beaches are struggling to keep pace with erosion rates.
“We’re already seeing evidence that more frequent and intense storms are stripping replenished beaches faster than in the past,” the spokesperson said. “This means we’re adding more material, more often, just to maintain the same level of protection.”
This situation has prompted a review of long-term coastal defence plans, with councils and agencies exploring more radical approaches. These could include managed retreat—allowing certain low-lying areas to flood naturally—or the construction of higher and more sophisticated sea defences.
Some experts are calling for a more fundamental rethink. Dr. Emily Barker, a coastal geomorphologist at the University of East Anglia, said that while beach replenishment has bought valuable time, “it was always a temporary measure—an adaptive solution rather than a permanent fix.”
“What we’re facing now is a need to transition from temporary mitigation to long-term adaptation. That could involve redesigning entire communities, investing in flood-resilient infrastructure, or accepting that some parts of the coast will need to change fundamentally.”
Residents in the affected areas are growing increasingly concerned. While many are proud of their coastal heritage, they are also aware of the mounting risks. “You can see how the beach has changed even in the last 10 years,” said Carol Wright, a resident of a coastal village. “We used to feel safe, but now even small storms feel like they’re getting worse.”
Funding remains another major issue. Beach replenishment is expensive, and rising costs could make annual works unsustainable. Local authorities are now working with national government departments to explore future funding models and seek clarity on long-term responsibilities.
As climate change accelerates, coastal communities across the UK and beyond may soon face similar dilemmas: when the sandbags and shingle are no longer enough, what comes next?
