Coastal Science Panel continues review of inlet areas

The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel will meet next to continue reviewing inlet hazard area boundaries.

Inlet hazard areas, or IHAs, are shorelines especially vulnerable to erosion and flooding where inlets can shift suddenly and dramatically. 

Ten of North Carolina’s 19 active inlets are developed, including Tubbs, Shallotte and Lockwood Folly in Brunswick County; Carolina Beach, Masonboro, Mason and Rich in New Hanover County; New Topsail and New River in Pender County; and Bogue Inlet in Carteret County. Hundreds of acres of land at those inlets are designated IHAs.

The panel, which is an advisory board to the Coastal Resources Commission, identified a need to update these areas after the panel was formed in the late 1990s.

The commission sets rules on the size and location of buildings within IHAs.

Since the 1990s, the science panel has discussed how to best predict inlet erosion and accretion rates at IHAs and recommended updated boundaries.

The panel is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Dec. 5 by video conference. 

A listening station will be set up at the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management headquarters office at 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City.

The public may submit comments to DCMcomments@deq.nc.gov. “Science Panel” should be noted in the subject line.