Malnourished San Clemente beaches will receive sand from the City of Oceanside beginning in November, after the Army Corps of Engineers and San Clemente city officials approved in May a 50-year sand replenishment project.
Sand—2,500 tons of it—will be relocated from the ocean floor west of the Oceanside Harbor to replenish a 3,400-foot stretch of San Clemente beaches between Linda Lane and T Street, according to a City of San Clemente 2022 staff report.
The sand will be moved by a barge after being scooped from the ocean floor.
According to Andy Hall, a spokesperson for San Clemente, sand loss on shores is caused by natural processes such as waves and changes in river flow that reduce the amount of sand transported to the ocean. Building sea walls to protect infrastructure has also played a factor.
Hall told The Epoch Times that the Army Corps of Engineers chooses specific locations to pull sand from based on studies it conducts.
Because the sand will naturally shift south overtime back to Oceanside, the project includes transporting more sand to San Clemente every six years.
The work will be ongoing for 50 years, at a cost of $256 million, according to San Clemente city officials.
Of the needed funding, approximately $130 million will be provided by the federal government and another $125.5 million will be paid for by the city with grants from the California Department of Boating and Waterways, a state agency that oversees recreational boating regulations.
U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, (D-San Juan Capistrano), said in a May press conference the project will help reduce storm damage, improve safety, and provide recreational benefits.
“My number one focus is delivering results on our local priorities, and I am thrilled that these projects will now begin to take shape,” Levin said at the press conference. “The sand replenishment work will address some of the biggest coastal and infrastructure challenges facing our region.”
According to Levin, the project may additionally provide support for the rail tracks running along the San Clemente coast—which have been halted several times recently due to landslides—by widening the beach by 50 feet.
Oceanside is currently undergoing a sand nourishment and retention pilot project, which started in 2021, to prevent sand from shifting away from their sand-starved beaches as well.
