Mother Nature is targeting Libbey Beach, employing her wiles to incrementally erode and ultimately threaten the popular recreation area.

Bill Oakes, Island County Public Works director, explained the dire situation to the county commissioners at a Wednesday staff session.

“This whole beach is moving backwards,” he said. “It’s eroding and people are concerned.”

The problem did not arise overnight. The county placed markers on the beach years ago and has kept close tabs on the erosion.

“In the last five years or so, we’ve watched this erosion occur and it’s occurred one to two feet per year,” Oakes said. “Every year we lose more of the beach there.”

Two bulkheads are succumbing to the erosion – a county-owned, deteriorating wall on the north end of the beach and an existing private bulkhead in the south.

“The erosion is starting to work its way behind the bulkheads,” Oakes said.

A portion of sand exposed at high tide is exacerbating the situation. The public works director said the sand is so fine that one could excavate the area by hand if he or she was so inclined.

“The sand layer exposed at the face of the bluff is also seeing accelerated erosion,” he said.

Libbey Beach’s location makes it especially vulnerable to waves crashing in from the west.

“The Strait of Juan de Fuca sits with its gun barrel point at it,” Oakes said.

The problem is further compounded by a 100 to 150-foot gap situated between the two bulkheads. A large project is planned to reestablish pedestrian beach access, but it will require significant marine engineering to stand-up to winter waves common at the beach. The project will also be costly, with a multitude of significant permitting hurdles to cross.

Oakes proposed a “partial solution” to the beach erosion quandary. He said personnel from the Island County Parks Department and Public Works have met with Jesse Allen, a skilled bulkhead contractor.

“What he is suggesting is tying the two bulkheads together,” Oakes said. “He feels he can fill in the gap and get the permits to get it done.”

The cost of the construction project has not been determined, but Oakes said he is hopeful the total would come in under $30,000.

“And Jesse’s willing to take on the permitting process,” he said, adding that the parks department is willing to take on the management of the project. “I think we should move forward with this. This needs to be done by somebody with high energy marine experience.”

Commissioner Mike Shelton agreed with Oakes and recommended expediting the project. He underscored the seriousness of the erosion problem around the bulkheads.

“Hopefully with the connecting of those two bulkheads it won’t seep around the end,” Shelton said.

Richard Hartman, who lives directly above Libbey Beach Park, designed the southern bulkhead and observed construction when Allen undertook the project in 1991. He has walked the beach for years and witnessed firsthand the beach’s deterioration.

“Everything that’s happening on that beach is what I predicted,” he said, commending the county on their decision to tie the bulkheads together. “This is the only solution to the problem. I know Jesse and he’s good.”

Massive sand slides and ominous overhangs have made portions of the beach dangerous for children and other visitors to the scenic stretch.

“Kids play under 12-foot overhangs,” the longtime Whidbey resident said. “The top of those banks collapse when they are undercut by waves. It’s dangerous.”

Hartman would like to see Libbey Beach Park the destination site it once was. The county’s project should help.

“This used to be a busy little park,” he said. “We don’t have many beach access parks on Whidbey and this is why we live here. I think this is one of the finest.”