SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. -- While beach replenishment in Rehoboth Beach will finally begin on Saturday, the rest of Delaware's beaches remain on a long wait list.
The project, originally set to begin in the winter, has been delayed and pushed back several times since being announced by state lawmakers in December 2022.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, dredging at each beach is expected to take at least two weeks to complete. This means beaches in Bethany Beach, South Bethany Beach, and Fenwick Island will not be dredged until well into the busy spring and summer months.
Real estate and rental agency owner John Kleinstuber has lived and worked in Fenwick Island for years. He says the late start of the project is nothing new in Fenwick Island and causes a lot of disruption during the summer.
"There are eight other months that it can be done," says Kleinstuber. "Having this project continuing to be done in the middle of summer is unconscionable. It just doesn't make sense. People come to Fenwick because they want a small quiet town, and during that time when the replenishment is being done, it's everything but quiet. It's very, very disruptive."
Business owners in Bethany Beach, like Rachel Custer of Turtle Beach Café, expressed similar concerns.
"Construction can kind of turn people off from wanting to be at the beach and relax, and all the loud noises," says Custer. "It's just a little unsightly."
Others aren't as worried.
"Some people come from out of town, or even the West just to see the ocean, so I don't think it's really deterring them from seeing the ocean," says Richard Holton of Comics and Gaming in Bethany Beach.
Officials in some of the beach towns say they have not been notified of when replenishment will begin. As of right now, they can only wait in line.