Tourism, Water and the Dunes
A 2 km stretch of beach backed by low dunes has 400 hotel rooms and is the island's main income source. Hotels pump groundwater for pools, laundry and gardens. The dunes have been flattened in places for beach access and sunbeds. Surveys show the foredune has retreated 8 m in 10 years, and the beach is narrower at the busiest access points. Groundwater salinity near the hotels has risen, and native dune grass has been replaced by bare sand in trampled areas. The government wants more rooms but also wants to protect the beach, which is the main attraction.
1. Explain how the hotels' water use and the dune damage are connected to beach loss.
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Two linked processes are at work.
Water use: pumping groundwater lowers the freshwater table. Near the coast that can draw in saltwater, which is why salinity has risen. It also reduces the fresh water that supports dune vegetation.
Dune damage: flattening dunes and trampling removes the grass that traps wind-blown sand and holds the dune together. Bare sand blows away or is washed out, so the dune cannot rebuild after storms. With a lower, broken foredune, waves reach further inland, which fits the 8 m retreat.
Together, the hotels are weakening the natural coastal defence that protects the very beach they depend on. The narrow beach at busy access points is a local sign of this.
2. The government proposes 150 more rooms. Advise on conditions that should apply.
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More rooms will add water demand and trampling pressure, so approval should be conditional:
- Water: no increase in groundwater pumping. Require rainwater collection, pool covers, low-flow fittings, and possibly a desalination or mains supply for new rooms. Set a metered cap per room.
- Dunes: ban building on the foredune, set buildings back, and use raised boardwalks instead of flattened paths. Fence and replant bare areas with native grass.
- Access: concentrate access at a few boardwalk points and limit sunbed density.
- Monitoring: annual dune and beach surveys and groundwater salinity checks, with penalties if limits are exceeded.
- Funding: a tourism levy to pay for replanting and monitoring.
Judgement: 150 rooms can be allowed if water is not drawn from the aquifer and dune access is controlled. Without those conditions, the expansion would undermine the beach and the industry itself.
3. A hotelier argues that beach loss is caused by storms, not by the hotels. How would you test this?
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Compare evidence that separates storm effects from human pressure:
- Pattern: storm erosion is usually widespread and recovers in calm seasons. Human damage is often concentrated at access points and near pumping wells. The narrowing at busy access points supports a human cause.
- Time series: compare beach width before and after major storms. If width does not recover, something is preventing natural rebuilding, such as a damaged dune.
- Control sites: compare an unfenced, trampled area with a fenced, replanted area. If the fenced dune builds up, human trampling is important.
- Water data: check whether salinity rise matches pumping increases rather than storms.
Conclusion: storms are a trigger, but the lack of dune recovery and the localised narrowing point to human pressure as the reason the beach is not healing.