CHARLESTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — The beaches in Charlestown have been eroding at an accelerated pace over the past decade.

Last winter's losses, however, were devastating.

The Charlestown Breachway was breached, with a portion of it being destroyed.

Here is a look at the Breachway in 2021 from Sky Drone 12.

Below is the Breachway after a winter storm tore through the wall. Notice the gaps in the rock wall and the loss of beach to the right.

"Well, we had a lot of erosion this winter," state Rep. Tina Spears said.

"This winter, we really saw the wall get breached and continue to erode this area," added Spears, who represents District 36 in Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly and New Shoreham.

The Charlestown Breachway was made so that water flows continuously into Charlestown Pond to keep the water clean for aquaculture, to allow vessels to navigate more easily, and for recreation.

The entire strip of sand from the Breachway to farther east along Charlestown Beach had significant damage this past winter. Storm surges and heavy waves eroded the beach and destroyed many dunes. Ocean water went under raised coastal homes onto streets, washing out driveways.

Accelerating erosion rates

"We've definitely seen erosion rates increase over the past 20 years or so," said Steve McCandless, who works in the Geographic Information System department for the town of Charlestown.

McCandless attended the University of Rhode Island and said he has studied the coastline for the past 25 years.

He said the erosion is becoming more evident now. The beaches are smaller and the water is getting closer to a lot of the houses and other structures. The erosion is also being scientifically measured with older aerial photos and drones.

McCandless shared some devastating stats about erosion in Charlestown: "Erosion rates from 1939 up until 2014 were right around three feet per year. Since then, we've increased to about seven feet per year, and two years ago, we lost about 49 feet. Then, this past winter and through the summer, we lost 135 feet."

"I come here pretty much daily, and I've been watching this just consistently erode away," Spears said. "The hope was that that we would see some recovery, but we haven't seen that. We've just seen continued erosion."

Studying the coast

Erosion is a natural process. Strong waves and coastal flooding can carry rocks, sand and soils into the water. Sometimes the sand can be replaced by natural wave action. The erosion rates in Charlestown have been too much for nature to take its course, however.

The slow and steady rise of sea levels is partly to blame. Data for Newport provided by NOAA shows a sea level rise of about 10 inches since 1930, with an accelerated rate in recent decades.

"But of course, superimposed on that sea level rise are these storms. And these storms, depending on their strength and their direction, will cause those impacts in terms of high water and waves," URI oceanography professor J.P. Walsh explained.

Walsh studies the changing Rhode Island coastline in a number of ways, including with the use of drones.

"We can take images of the land and sea, and from those images, we can create three-dimensional models of the coastal zone," Walsh told 12 News.

"By doing this, over time, we can see how the topography changes, particularly in response to the storm events," he added.

Saving our beaches

Some protective dunes along Charlestown Beach have been repaired, but many are still vulnerable to future storms. The Breachway remains badly damaged with continued erosion of the barrier beach.

According to Charlestown Town Administrator Jeffrey Allen, the town is working with the state of Rhode Island and its congressional delegation to get funds to repair the Breachway and dredge the channel for easier navigation.

Spears recently co-sponsored a bill with state Sen. Victoria Gu called the Act on Coasts.

The bill "instructs the infrastructure bank to solicit vendors to assess our coastline, see what we've already assessed, because we've done a lot of work already through the Coastal Resources Management Council, the University of Rhode Island and the Army Corp of Engineers," Spears told 12 News.

Spears added that we really need to predict what's going to happen in the future.

The bill allocates $750,000 to look at the entire coast of Rhode Island to recommend long-term and short-term plans for climate change resilience and adaptation. Engineers will look at the power grid, water and sewage systems, seawalls and emergency shelters, among other vital pieces of infrastructure.

A draft of the plan from the Act on Coasts is due to the General Assembly by December 2025.

"What we can see is by doing nothing, it actually is destroying the habitat," Spears said. "So, we have to protect this."