December 26, 2016

John Mullen The Islander Editor 901 N. McKenzie St. Foley, AL 36535

RE: Letter to the Editor Concerning "Lagoon Pass a Constant Struggle in Gulf Shores"

As President and on behalf of Little Lagoon Preservation Society (LLPS), I thank you and your staff, LLPS Board Member Steve Kichler, and Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) engineer Vince Calametti for the recent article "Lagoon Pass is a constant struggle". Recent cooperation between LLPS, ALDOT and the City of Gulf Shores (COGS) has been unprecedented. ALDOT is to be commended for their prompt response to shoaling at the mouth of the pass and has kept the pass open. I would also like to clarify for your readers several points mentioned in the article.

Mother Nature and east to west long shore sediment transport does relentlessly try to close Little Lagoon Pass. ALDOT, the COGS and LLPS work constantly trying to keep a minimum channel open at the pass to maintain circulation and flushing in a gem of a coastal lake known as Little Lagoon. The lagoon is under pressure from being so popular and nutrients, bacteria, and phytoplankton blooms are threats which can be at least partially remediated with adequate circulation and flushing. Maintaining the opening to the Gulf is also critical to the fishery which historically has maintained impressive diversity and abundance of shrimp, fish and crabs, etc. All involved parties are equally concerned with any potential negative impacts on beach owners west of Lagoon Pass caused by interruption of the east west moving, long shore, "river of sand".

A group of West Beach homeowners west of Lagoon Pass were the originators of the late 1980's lawsuit mentioned in your article. LLPS intervened on their behalf and prevailed in the lawsuit. The court ordered maintenance process mentioned by Mr. Calametti was the product of a Coastal Engineering study and was designed to not only maintain circulation and flushing in the Lagoon but to also minimize starvation of down drift beaches west of the pass. Again, all parties involved (LLPS, COGS, ALDOT) prioritize protecting those beaches from erosion as much as maintaining circulation and flushing. ALDOT and LLPS recently modified the court order to allow dredge spoils from Lagoon Pass to be taken as much as 1.5 miles west of the pass to be used where necessary to remediate pocket beach erosion.

LLPS is concerned that the current design of Little Lagoon Pass is causing more frequent problems with shoaling and decreased circulation than anticipated, and is resulting in more time, effort and expense by ALDOT to keep the pass open in compliance with the Court Order. While it is clear to us why a particular pass design was selected in the design phase of the pass reengineering process, we still do not understand why pass "walls" were not extended to the edge of the beach or slightly into the Gulf as was recommended by ALDOT coastal experts (Webb, Douglas, 2013), as shown in preliminary blueprint designs, and as discussed at length in preconstruction planning meetings involving ALDOT, COGS and LLPS. While Mr. Calametti correctly mentions in the article that the problem existed with the old pass, we feel strongly the problem was exaggerated by beach renourishment extending the beach south of the terminus of the old pass. LLPS has encouraged ALDOT to continue to consider and promptly implement alternative designs that would be more practical and less expensive to keep the pass open to provide circulation to maintain water quality in the lagoon while remaining responsive to the needs of beach home owners west of Lagoon Pass.

Also as mentioned in your article, LLPS has been urged by ALDOT, and their coastal experts, to be patient and wait for the new pass to equilibrate. Having observed the new pass performance since April of 2015, it appears to us and our membership that the bar formation problem is chronic, expensive, and will not abate as long as the beach is significantly seaward of the terminus of the pass walls.

Sincerely,

Dennis Hatfield President, Little Lagoon Preservation Society