Sagaponack isn't the fastest-eroding reach on the East End — it's the most relentless. 98% of the USGS transects here are losing land, almost the entire shore, which is why its oceanfront owners taxed themselves roughly $26 million to pump their own sand. Here's the record.
Rates are the USGS National Assessment of Shoreline Change (Open-File Report 2010-1118/1119, Hapke et al.). Westhampton has faster single transects, but Sagaponack is the reach where almost every transect is eroding — a uniformly retreating shore. For the exact rate and base flood elevation at a specific parcel, see the address certificate.
Is Sagaponack losing its beach?
Yes, almost everywhere — about 98% of USGS transects along Sagaponack erode long-term, the most consistently eroding reach on the East End, averaging about −0.36 m/yr and reaching about −0.71 m/yr (−2.3 ft/yr) at the worst.
What is the Sagaponack shoreline-change rate?
The USGS long-term rate averages about −0.36 m/yr (−1.2 ft/yr) and reaches roughly −0.71 m/yr (about −2.3 ft/yr) at the fastest transect.
Who paid for the Sagaponack beach nourishment?
The 2013–14 Bridgehampton–Sagaponack nourishment was largely homeowner-funded, roughly $26 million, raised through special Beach Erosion Control Districts that tax the ~122 oceanfront owners by assessed value and oceanfront footage.
What FEMA flood zone is Sagaponack in?
The oceanfront is mapped Zone VE, the coastal high-hazard zone subject to breaking-wave action, in the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer.
Sagaponack sits outside the big federal nourishment program, so when the shore kept retreating, its oceanfront owners did something unusual: they created a taxing district and paid for their own beach — one of the largest privately funded nourishment efforts in the country.
This page is the Sagaponack reach. The $99 Psammite certificate reads your exact address: the long-term erosion rate at your parcel, your storm-surge and FEMA exposure, the uncertainty band, and whether a licensed site review is warranted — built from the same federal record.