Orange County Beaches to Get $15.5 Million Federal Funds for Sand Replenishment

Looking north along Crystal Cove beach in Newport Beach, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Eroding Orange County beaches are getting millions of dollars for sand replenishment thanks to a funding request that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last week.

Introduced by Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), the funding bill will provide $15.5 million for the Surfside-Sunset & Newport Beach Replenishment Project, as part of a larger spending bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 15.

“I’ve been working on this since I was at the State Board of Equalization over a decade ago,” Steel told The Epoch Times. “I’m very excited that our hard work has paid off.”

The funding will aid the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in repairing the coastline through sand replenishment, covering a 17-mile stretch from Anaheim Bay to Newport Bay. Approximately 1.75 million cubic yards of sand will be delivered to the area.

Steel said the beach repair is more than a decade overdue, as sand replenishment should occur every five to six years but has not been done since 2000.

“Our beaches are a beautiful area that we cannot lose, which bring in tourists every year, so it’s also very important for Orange County’s economy,” Steel said.

Orange County beaches’ erosion dates back to a federal project in the 1940s to widen Anaheim Bay and build breakwaters and jetties for new military bases. The project—along with other flood control measures taken to protect the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors—created narrowed beach along the coastline that can cause extreme erosion.

In 1964, the federal government took action to combat the erosion, providing 67 percent of the funding in each stage of repair while local communities shouldered the other 33 percent.

After 10 stages in 1995, the Army Corps of Engineers “abandoned” their responsibilities to Orange County and stopped budgeting, leaving the community on the hook for high repair costs and high flood risk, according to Steel’s statement.

Steel served as the county’s supervisor between 2015 and 2021, during which the county was “practically begging the federal government and the Army Corps to [fund their portion of the project],” she said.

In 2020, ocean waves known as the “king tide” overpowered the coastline due to the erosion and flooded a nearby Newport Beach neighborhood, Steel wrote in a Twitter post with pictures of the flood.

“I’ve known this is an urgent matter that we had to fix,” she said.

Steel said she planned on continuing the fight for sand replenishment to be done every five to six years.