San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
OCEANSIDE TO ADVANCE CONTENTIOUS BEACH PLAN, ASK FOR $2.6M
A controversial plan to keep sand on Oceanside beaches by building rock groins or an artificial reef returns to the City Council on Wednesday for the approval of more planning expected to cost $2.6 million.
“Anything we do to introduce more sand and help out our down-coast neighbors is a win,” Oceanside Councilmember Ryan Keim said Thursday. “Beaches are regional issues ... we want to get everybody on board with it.”
An Oceanside study in 2020 determined that a consistent source of high-quality sand coupled with the construction of retention structures such as rock groins or an artificial reef were needed to preserve the city’s eroding beaches.
Retention structures prevent sand from flowing with the ocean’s predominantly southern current. While that may be good for Oceanside, cities to the south fear the devices would stop sand that otherwise would end up on their beaches. As a result, city councils in Carlsbad, Solana Beach and Del Mar voted last year to oppose the Oceanside project.
Since then, Oceanside has tried to reach out to the cities and assure them that what’s good for Oceanside is good for all, Keim said.
Oceanside’s beach erosion increased after the construction of the Camp Pendleton boat basin in 1942 and the city’s harbor in 1963, which together created an obstacle to southward sand migration. The two facilities share an entrance, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges annually to keep it open for navigation, and the sand is piped onto nearby beaches.
Beaches south of the city’s pier get little of the harbor’s dredged sand and have eroded to cobblestones and rocks. The first phase of the sand project recommended a system of groins, which are walls of boulders extending into the ocean, to retain the sand in those areas.
Groins, jetties and artificial reefs may help preserve the coastline, but environmentalists see their downside.
The California Coastal Commission and nonprofits such as the Surfrider Foundation oppose the devices, saying they contribute to erosion and cause more harm than good.
“We certainly empathize with the people of Oceanside who want sand back on their beaches,” Surfrider said in a statement posted last year on its website. “However, Surfrider is opposed to groins due to the detrimental effect they have on surrounding beaches.
Oceanside residents in support of the idea have formed a group called Save Oceanside Sand.
“Save Oceanside Sand applauds the City of Oceanside’s bold and continued efforts on a path to return sand to our beaches with a plan of sand nourishment and retention,” said Bob Ashton, the group’s president and CEO, in a written statement issued Friday.
“The phase 2 approach ... is a well thought out plan that once executed will bring back our beaches and re-establish resilience on our shores,” Ashton said.