Adriana Jovanovic clambered cheerfully over the metal railing next to the dunes along Rockaway Beach. She landed in a patch of sand where she and her team, nicknamed the “dune squad,” had sown native roses and goldenrod among other native plants.

“We’re hand watering those that need a little extra help,” she said as about a dozen helpers walked around with large water jugs that they filled from a hydrant across the street.

The local nonprofit Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity (RISE) is restoring a three-mile stretch of beach in Far Rockaway to help battle coastal erosion from sea level rise and storm surge. The dune squad, all local residents, work part time from spring to fall.

But RISE’s efforts on that beach relied on one crucial source that was recently lost: a porti

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