Are rising sea levels a bigger threat here than hurricanes?

Are rising sea levels the subject of cocktail party chat on Hilton Head Island?

That's the question Clemson University researcher Jim London posed Thursday at a public meeting to gather comment on coastal management, an issue he's studying as a way to address shoreline change.

Sea Pines resident Frank Sagendorph had an answer. "No, but the threat of a hurricane is, and (a hurricane is) less likely (to occur)," he said.

Jill Foster, deputy director of community development for the Town of Hilton Head Island, said rising sea levels can threaten area beaches with erosion, a problem many people simply don't recognize.

"It seems people here have blinders on and think sea level rise is two centuries out," she said. "It's not. It's coming sooner than we think."

London said that as levels rise, local and state governments will have to renourish beaches more often. The current pace, he said, is about every five years.

Hilton Head finished a renourishment project last year which cost about $20 million, Foster said. In the past 10 years, the town has spent $60 million on renourishment to stabilize beaches and protect the tourism economy that depends on them, she said.

But she said local efforts won't accomplish that goal if the state moves the baseline -- the line that acts as a stop sign for beach development -- closer to the ocean.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management is in the process of re-evaluating that baseline, a process it undertakes every eight to ten years.

A state Shoreline Change Advisory Committee, of which London is a member, is studying the issue to make recommendations that could move the line closer to the water. London's study on coastal management is a parallel research project.

Foster said the town opposes the state's proposed reassessment because it would allow newly built dune systems to become the new baseline once those dunes reach three feet or taller. Those new dunes would be much closer to the ocean than older ones.

"The intent of renourishment is never to allow development seaward," she said. " And, frankly, we can't guarantee we can always renourish the beach. I mean, look at this economy." She hopes the state will make more renourishment funding available.

Residents said Thursday the state should not allow construction closer to the ocean and should establish a permitting system that ensures accountability when it comes to beach management.

London said he would include those comments as part of his report, which he will submit to the state in December.