The Coast Line

Summer 2020 Newsletter

!S.O.S.Oceanside!

Save Oceanside Sand

Local Advocates for Sustainable Beaches

This Issue Includes

  • SOS South Oceanside Beach Walk, by Matt Caulfield

  • SOS Participants in Coastal Resiliency Webinar, by Steve Maschue

  • Citizen Scientist Opportunities, by Bob Ashton

  • More Sand for Oceanside Beaches, by Dirk Ackema

Members and Meetings

While our community is under gathering restrictions, SOS has postponed our public meetings at Bagby Beer Company. If you are a new member or want the latest information, visit SOSOceanside.net . During the restrictions, the SOS board members have held meetings on Zoom to continue efforts to Save Oceanside Sand.

South Oceanside Beach Walk

Led by Director Dirk Ackema, several members of the board together with City representatives had a first-hand view of the sand erosion issue.  The walk along the beach from Wisconsin Avenue to the Carlsbad border at Buena Vista Lagoon was more akin to navigating a wet obstacle course than a balmy beach walk. No one needed any further convincing that sand replenishment is an urgent issue with the very survival of our beaches at stake unless extraordinary action is taken, and taken with the understanding that time is of the essence.

Following the beach walk the group assembled for a productive and straightforward discussion of current issues of concern with Jonathan Borrego, Deputy City Manager and Russ Cunningham, Principal Planner. After expressing our appreciation for their joining us on the walk, we expressed our concern that the current recertification of the Local Coastal Program with the Coastal Commission seemed to be proceeding without pubic input. We were assured that was not the case and that we would have ample opportunity to express our views. In regard to the substance of the LCP, we recommended that it contain a provision that the City be granted broader approval authority over minor beach repair and maintenance projects. We cited reasons why it would be in the best interest of the Coastal Commission, the City, and the public.

The City representatives indicated that the sand study is proceeding as scheduled and should be completed by the end of the year with stakeholders’ input, including, SOS, being part of the process. 

In the broad-ranging discussion that followed, there was consensus that Oceanside is a unique beach compared to other California beaches. It is well documented in the US Army Corps of Engineer studies that sand erosion in Oceanside was caused by the construction of the Camp Pendleton Boat Basin and exacerbated later by the construction of the Oceanside Harbor. The federal government has assumed the responsibility and remediates annually by dredging the harbor mouth and depositing sand on our beaches.  It is an inadequate solution. The Boat Basin and Harbor continue to block and divert the natural shoreline movement of sand to Oceanside’s beaches. We all agreed that Oceanside should have priority with the Federal Government to restore our beaches.

The discussion concluded with an agreement that Oceanside has an opportunity to find a solution that goes beyond a temporary annual replenishment of sand. It requires a vision that using today’s technology and tailored to the unique situation in Oceanside a more effective solution is feasible.  SOS is working to insure that Oceanside will be an innovative leader to restore our beaches and prepare for sea level rise. 

SOS Participates in Coastal Resiliency Webinar

Recently several SOS members attended a webinar on Coastal Resiliency, sponsored by the San Diego Foundation, the Alumbra Innovations Foundation, and hosted by Resilient Cities Catalyst. Highlights of the webinar included video and discussion of how communities solved beach sand and coastal erosion problems. The sponsors produced a video about each area that you can view at this link: https://www.rcc.city/resources  

The Cardiff Living Dunes, shown above, were discussed by Jayme Timberlake from Encinitas and Brian Leslie from GHD. Because there was so much sand available from dredging the San Elijo Lagoon and obtaining approvals for a revetment or groins would be more difficult, they opted for this dunes design.  It turned out to be an award-winning success!  Jayme said that the only maintenance required so far was pulling out (non-native) weeds.  

The Waikiki Hawaii presentation seemed to have some lessons for our North County beach situation.  Dolan Eversole, one of the project leaders explained that Hawaii has no natural sand, and needs to import all of it.  The Waikiki beach needed sand, and replacement of an aging concrete groin. They used University resources to perform studies showing the financial benefits of the beach, and modeling their need for the groin to be rebuilt.  Starting with “seed money” from a hotel, they were able to build a coalition of City, County and State to establish an assessment district which funded the successful project.

The Dutch “Sand Motor” consisted of an immense amount of sand (50 Million Cubic Yards) being pumped onto a greatly expanded beach. The natural tidal action distributed the sand over time to create more beaches over the entire coast. They accepted initial environmental harm, to restore the natural habitat for up to 50 years without frequent dredging.

SOS Attendees were able to meet many San Diego region “movers & shakers” and believe we will be able to work with them to further our objectives of getting more sand on Oceanside’s beach --and keeping it there.

SOS Needs Citizen Scientists

Looking for a way to get involved in the process of restoring our once great Oceanside beaches? Look no further!

SOS Oceanside is working to develop an Oceanside Citizen Science program to complement and augment the Oceanside sand replenishment and retention study effort.  This will provide the ability to better inform proposed beach solutions as well as assisting in the critical element of longer term monitoring of potential decided upon solutions to restore and retain sand on our Oceanside beaches.

What is Citizen Science? Citizen Science is the collection and analysis of data by the general public, typically as a part of a collaboration project with professional scientists.

Citizen Science projects world-wide continue to team “citizen scientists” with the scientific community in improving the ability to collect large amounts of significant data to better understand and our natural world.

What would an Oceanside citizen science program look like? It would involve small teams of citizen scientists collecting specific beach data and providing it to the key engineers and scientists for analysis. 

We are currently a first phase of the effort and are working closely with the Oceanside contracted engineering firm GHD and scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to define key science questions relevant to our better understanding our Oceanside beach sand behavior.  

This discussion involves focusing on the one or two key areas where citizen scientist teams can work together and collect frequent data sets and then provide the data to GHD and Scripps for analysis. Two initial identified potential areas of data need are beach width measurements and shore current measurements.  

There also may be other opportunities to engage data collection in areas such as recording surfing activity at key points along the Oceanside shoreline and measuring sand levels and catalogue the pre and post storm event beach environment.

SOS Board members, Bob Ashton and Serena Milne are heading up our Oceanside citizen science program. We are looking for volunteers to be a part of this amazing opportunity to better understand our coastline and be a part of the potential solutions in restoring our once robust shoreline!

Would you like to volunteer or know more about Citizen Science?

Please reach out to contact Bob and Serena at SOSCitizenScience@gmail.com

More Sand For Oceanside Beaches

The Oceanside Harbor will receive a special fall dredging to clear sediment which has created shallow sand bars at the entrance. The Army Crop of Engineers has contracted with Manson Corporation to begin work in September or October, which will bring more sand to our beaches,

The dredging in March, earlier this year was disrupted by the Covid-19 outbreak. It was planned that the harbor would be dredged to a depth of 30 feet, with 400,000 cubic yards of sand deposited on our beached. Work was halted at a 25 foot depth after 250,000 cubic yards, so employees would isolate with their families. A series of late winter storms in April and May turned the San Louis Rey channel into a torrent bringing sediment and sand which caused the entrance of the harbor to be only 8 feet deep with breaking waves along the jetty.

Elise Wetherell - Publisher
Dirk Ackema - Editor, Director
SOSOceanside.org