Salisbury Beach will receive $1.75 million in funding from the state to help build up sand dunes ravaged by multiple winter storms that flooded the area, according to a statement from the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“The investment will help to fund an interim dune nourishment project at Salisbury Beach that will also help to protect a section of Route 1A and nearby infrastructure against flooding,” said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo in the statement Tuesday. “DCR’s currently working to ensure that the public can safely access the beach and is providing at-grade beach access points.”
The news comes a month before the start of the beach season, June 22, and three months after property owners spent $600,000 to build sand dunes, which washed away in three days.
In late April, Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr, Neil Harrington, the Salisbury town manager, and Tom Hughes, an environmental consultant for Salisbury presented a multiphase plan to address erosion at the beach. The first step of the plan was to receive $1.75 million from the state to add about 120,000 cubic yards of sand to the north side of the beach, Hughes said.
The one-time sand dune nourishment project announced Tuesday will include the placement of roughly 30,000 tons of sand, according to the DCR. Since 2007, Salisbury Beach has received more than $2 million from the state for beach nourishment, the DCR said.
“As part of ongoing efforts to implement a regional approach to coastal resilience, DCR and the Office of Coastal Zone Management will work with the Salisbury community to develop a holistic strategy for addressing the impacts of climate change at Salisbury Beach,” Arrigo said in the statement.
The nourishment plan aims to protect a section of Route 1A, a state highway, and a marsh habitat in the area, Tarr’s office said in April.
In other Massachusetts coastal areas , such as Plum Island and Falmouth, sand has been dredged from channels or underground pits that are part of or near the beach system as a short-term solution for beach nourishment.
Hughes said in an interview in April that bringing sand into the beach is “the most cost-effective way” to protect the barrier beach as opposed to dredging or building a seawall.
“Given everything that’s at stake, it’s not only those homes, but the homes behind them, and the homes behind them,” Hughes said.
Tarr said in a statement that “this decisive action moves Massachusetts and the DCR to a stance of proactive management in the face of continuing climate-related threats to public resources.”
“These funds will fuel the execution of a carefully designed project that has been in the planning stages for months if not years, funded by the Town of Salisbury, and it has involved state and local officials, residents, and other stakeholders, through the facilitation of the Merrimack River Beach Alliance and its Salisbury Subcommittee,” Tarr said. “Now the plan can move forward, and not a moment too soon.”
Representative Seth Moulton, whose district includes Salisbury, visited the beach on March 27 to assess the damage. Since then, Moulton has been exploring options for federal help, including meeting with the US Army Corps of Engineers on May 15, according to Moulton’s office.
In a statement this month, Moulton said Salisbury Beach is a state reservation and Massachusetts “bears the responsibility for its upkeep.” But, he is “working hard to pursue every possible federal angle of support,” he said.
“I pressed the Corps on including Salisbury in a study to better understand the impact of the jetties to the north and south on the beach,” Moulton said in the statement. “That study could lay the groundwork for future renourishment resources from the federal government.”
Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. Follow her @Ava_Berger_.