^{Deauville Beach will become part of the Cape Henlopen State Park management unit. DNREC will provide lifeguards, parking, beach concessions, tennis courts, public restrooms and beach maintenance. /Delaware DNREC photo}

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will host a virtual community meeting Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m., to present information about the transition of management for Deauville Beach from the city of Rehoboth Beach. The DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation will share a proposal for daily entrance fees and seasonal pass for use of Deauville Beach. A list of frequently asked questions is available at www.destateparks.com. 

Deauville Beach includes an approximately 600-yard section of state-owned beach between Rehoboth Beach and the Henlopen Acres neighborhood. The Division of Parks and Recreation has assumed management of Deauville Beach for the 2024 season. DNREC and the city of Rehoboth Beach mutually agreed to the change in operations after they were not able to negotiate an extension of a previous lease of the beach to the city, which expired on June 30, 2023.

Deauville Beach will become part of the Cape Henlopen State Park management unit, which includes Gordon’s Pond, Beach Plum, Angola Neck and Cape Henlopen proper.

DNREC will provide lifeguards, parking, beach concessions, tennis courts, public restrooms and beach maintenance.

To join the March 27 virtual meeting, go to de.gov/dnrecmeetings.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation oversees more than 26,000 acres in 17 state parks and the Brandywine Zoo. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn.

 DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation will assume management of the state-owned Deauville Beach and continue all services currently being provided.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today that it will assume day-to-day management of Deauville Beach from the city of Rehoboth Beach for the 2024 season. DNREC and the city of Rehoboth Beach were not able to reach an agreement through negotiations after the city’s current lease of the beach property Deauville Beach expired on June 30, 2023, and mutually agreed to the change.

DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation will assume management of the state-owned beach and continue all services currently being provided including tennis court rentals, beach concession operations and ocean lifeguarding. The division is working cooperatively with the city on a transition plan. The award-winning Delaware State Beach Patrol will provide lifeguard service from Saturday, May 25 through Monday, Sept. 2.

A daily entrance fee will be in effect between March 1 and Nov. 30 annually. The division is currently assessing and reviewing the fee structure.

Deauville Beach was initially leased to the City of Rehoboth Beach by the state of Delaware in 1975. The land will be part of the Cape Henlopen State Park management unit.

About DNREC

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities, and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation oversees more than 26,000 acres in 17 state parks and the Brandywine Zoo. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn.

 Media Contacts: Shauna McVey, shauna.mcvey@delaware.gov; Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov

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DNREC’s completed Bay beach nourishment project in Pickering Beach, showing a wide beach berm and newly planted beach grass. /DNREC photo

Recovery from the Recent Nor’easter to Continue Into Fall

Having recently completed beach nourishment projects in five Delaware Bay beach communities, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control today begins the next phase of restoring parts of Delaware’s coastline, including the beaches that experienced widespread erosion and damage from a May nor’easter.

“Our Shoreline team will be hard at it for the foreseeable future on beach restoration priorities that this storm handed us,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “While restoring the beaches will not be instant nor easy, we are confident of surmounting the challenge ahead. We’re working on making the state’s beaches accessible and in shape for the summer. Of course, we also welcome the communities’ help in restoring the beaches just as they – and we – value our federal partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when expected beach nourishment projects begin in a number of these communities as early as next fall.”

“The damage done to our beaches by the recent nor’easter makes clear that robust federal, state and local partnerships are needed now more than ever,” said U.S. Senator Tom Carper, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “I have been fighting to give one of our key federal partners in this effort — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — several new beach restoration tools in the 2022 Water Resources Development Act legislation. Among the provisions in the bill are: emergency authority to allow the Corps to help restore beaches in the aftermath of storms; a requirement that the federal government pay 90% of the costs of the Bay Beach nourishment project; and a reorientation of the Corps’ civil works program to proactively address climate change and streamline the implementation of shoreline protection and restoration projects. The state of Delaware should be able to count on the support of the Corps and other federal agencies to help restore our beaches and make sure our communities are protected.”

DNREC recently completed beach nourishment project in the Pickering Beach, Kitts Hummock, Bowers, South Bowers, and Slaughter Beach communities. This project used approximately 52,650 cubic yards of sand – enough to fill almost 11 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The next restoration phase spans the majority of the state’s coastline and will require DNREC to partner with the Army Corps of Engineers and affected communities to restore the coastline.

“The long duration of the storm and the post-storm wind direction mean we may not see a rapid natural rebuilding of the beach,” said DNREC Shoreline and Waterway Section administrator Jesse Hayden. “The dunes did their job protecting our communities from being inundated, but by absorbing the impact of the storm they suffered damage that affects people’s ability to access the beach. Our immediate goal is restore as much safe beach access in as many communities as possible so that beachgoers can enjoy a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. Our partners are a big part of that.”

DNREC’s post-storm work is set to begin this week in South Bethany, the community worst hit by the storm, and restoration work will then move south to north. At each juncture, DNREC will clean up debris such as smashed dune fencing and will re-grade numerous access crossings. DNREC also is working on a nourishment project north of the Indian River Inlet which lost significant sand from the dune critical to protecting the roadway and the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

“The first pass made by our team will focus on cleanup and restoring access,” Hayden said. “When that work is done, we will begin repairing the damaged dune fence.” Both post and rope and wooden dune fence do the job of keeping people off the sensitive dune. But where wooden dune fence can trap wind-blown sand at its base, a post and rope system allows a more natural exchange where vegetation covering the dune can trap wind-blown sand over a wider area. DNREC uses both types, depending on the management needs in each area.

DNREC’s beach nourishment projects introduce sand into the shoreline system to offset the effects of erosion. The beach and dune are an important natural line of defense between the ocean or bay and inland public and private infrastructure, including houses and roads. Both the Delaware Bay and Atlantic beaches and dunes also provide crucial habitat for migrating shorebirds, including several threatened species, and other wildlife, such as spawning horseshoe crabs – which, under ordinary circumstances, means beach nourishment projects must be completed by April 15 or by March 1 at some beaches, with beach nourishment not permitted again until Oct. 1.

However, after Pickering Beach was impacted by a nor’easter on April 18, the Shoreline and Waterway Management Section requested and received approval from DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife to replace sand that had washed onto the road there back onto the beach. The sand was then reshaped into a dune at Pickering. The other Bay beach communities experienced some erosion of newly placed beach and dune sand, but none of the towns where the nourishment was made experienced overtopping of the dune from the most recent nor’easter.

Several bay beach communities experienced minor impacts from the more recent nor’easter that caused widespread erosion on the both coasts – some of the truck-hauled sand from that project was moved around and lost because of the storm. But the winter beach nourishment at South Bowers, Bowers, Kitts Hummock, Pickering Beach and Slaughter Beach largely held its ground and worked to protect the communities in the face of high tides and winds. Future nourishment is planned along both the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay coastlines. Along the Atlantic Ocean, large scale nourishment projects in partnership with the Corps of Engineers will include Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, South Bethany, and Fenwick Island. Along Delaware Bay, DNREC will perform small-scale nourishment to further fortify the most vulnerable sections of shoreline.

More information about the work of the DNREC Shoreline and Waterway Management Section can be found at de.gov/shoreline. More information on beach nourishment in Delaware available from Outdoor Delaware, de.gov/outdoordelaware.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship develops and implements innovative watershed assessment, monitoring and implementation activities. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

DART First State will be providing bus service to the Rehoboth Beach Independence Day Fireworks display on Sunday, July 1. Celebrate Independence Day with a spectacular firework display beginning at approximately at 9:15 PM.  Visitors can take the Beach Bus 201 Red Line to the fireworks from either the Rehoboth or Lewes Park & Ride lots, which are open all day. Riders will be dropped off at the Henlopen Hotel located on Surfside Place. We encourage individuals to purchase a Daily Pass on the bus.  The fireworks are launched from the beach south of Rehoboth Avenue; depending on the weather the fireworks may be launched any time after 8 PM.

The Rehoboth Park & Ride is located on Shuttle Road, just off of DE Route 1, north of Rehoboth Avenue. The parking rate is $10 per day and up to 4 occupants of the vehicle receive a free daily pass valid for the Fireworks and all Beach Bus routes. The Lewes Park & Ride is located near Five Points, south of DE Route 9. The parking is free, and the cost to ride the bus is $2 per trip or $4.20 for a Daily Pass.  Visitors can also take any of the Beach Bus routes to either Park & Ride lot to connect with the fireworks buses.

DART to the fireworks and everywhere this summer with the Beach Bus!

The Delaware Transit Corporation, a subsidiary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), operates DART First State.  Real-Time Transit Information is now available on the free DelDOT App (iOS and Android), as well as DART’s Trip Planner on DartFirstState.com.  For more information, please call 1-800-652-DART.

Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DPH) is warning residents of the King’s Creek community and surrounding areas in Rehoboth Beach of a positive case of rabies in a raccoon who bit a human last week. The raccoon was captured and brought to the DPH Lab, where test results confirming it had rabies came back on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. The victim, who was putting up holiday decorations in his yard, was bitten by the raccoon who was hidden in some bushes. The individual has begun treatment for the bite.

Anyone who thinks they might have been bitten, scratched or come in contact with a raccoon should immediately contact their health care

provider or call the DPH Rabies Program at 302-744-4995. An epidemiologist is available 24/7. Also anyone who thinks their pet may have been bitten by this raccoon should call their private veterinarian or the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) at 302-698-4630.

Residents should take precautions against rabies by:
• Avoiding wild and feral animals, regardless of whether or not the animal seems “friendly.” Not all rabid animals exhibit the classic signs of the rabies illness, such as aggression, depression or other abnormal behavior.
• Ensuring their pets are up to date with rabies shots.
• Keeping pets indoors or, while outside, supervising them on a leash.

Since January 2017, DPH has performed rabies tests on 137 animals, 17 of which were confirmed to be rabid, including five raccoons, seven cats, two dogs, two bats and one fox. Six of the positive rabies cases involved a bite to humans. DPH only announces those rabies cases in which it is possible the animal had unknown contacts with humans.

Rabies in humans and animals cannot be cured once symptoms appear. If the animal is of unknown origin, or unavailable to be quarantined or tested, the Division of Public Health recommends that people receive post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment, a series of four vaccinations, as a precautionary measure.
Rabies is an infectious disease affecting the nervous system of humans and other mammals. Infection can occur through the bite or scratch of an infected animal or if saliva from such an animal gets into the eyes, nose, mouth or an opening in the skin.

Fortunately, rabies is also almost 100 percent preventable. DPH recommends that members of the public take the necessary steps to stay clear of exposure to rabies. Rabies prevention starts with the animal owner. Vaccination of pets and livestock is a crucial factor in rabies prevention.

• All dogs, cats and ferrets 6 months of age and older are required by Delaware law to be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian. Consider
vaccinating livestock and horses. It is recommended to consult with your private veterinarian if you have any questions regarding whether your animal(s)
should be rabies vaccinated.
• Pet owners can reduce the possibility of pets being exposed to rabies by not letting them roam free.
• Spaying or neutering your pet may reduce the tendency

to roam or fight and thus reduce the chance they will be exposed to rabies.
• Do not keep your pet’s food or water outdoors; bowls can attract wild and stray animals.
• Keep your garbage securely covered.
• Do not handle unfamiliar animals, including cats and dogs, even if they appear friendly.

For more information on the Delaware Division of Public Health’s rabies program, visit: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/rabies.html or call 1-866-972-9705 or 302-744-4995. For more information on rabies, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.