Stretches of beach along the San Clemente and Dana Point coastlines are shrinking, some at extreme rates.
But in areas where human intervention has placed sand with nourishment projects, beaches have grown wider, sand is sticking around and some grains are migrating to restore other areas.
A State of the Beach report by Coastal Frontiers, a consultant that has spent the past few years measuring San Clemente beach widths and analyzing data dating back to 2001, and UC Irvine research findings in nearby Dana Point were presented to San Clemente’s Coastal Advisory Committee on Nov. 21.
The reports come as the South County beach towns have ramped up efforts in recent years to manage the shoreline against excessive erosion.
The goal is to find trends where beaches are fairing well or other areas where there has been significant beach loss through the years, and to monitor whether beach nourishment projects are actually working.
Using a grant from the California Coastal Commission, San Clemente revived a shoreline monitoring program in 2022 that is now conducted in the spring and fall.
It covers 12 areas from Doheny Beach to San Mateo Point and measures the amount of sand not just on the beach, but offshore near the shoreline.
The State of the Beach update reported Linda Lane, North Beach and T-Street had beach width gains, growth that coincided with sand replenishment projects, Coastal Frontiers principal engineer Greg Hearon said.
The city’s coastal administrator, Leslea Meyerhoff, said it’s good news that some areas, when replenished, tend to hold their sand.
“Consistent beach nourishment over time is going to create a wider beach,” she said. “The area tends to hold sand, but we are in such a deficit, it will take a lot of sand and consistency to restore our beaches. But it can be done.”
Losses spanned from Doheny to Capo Shores and there was extreme erosion at the southernmost part of the city, the entire beach gone in recent years.
Hearon also talked about an offshore sand investigation the company was recently hired to conduct. The hope is to find suitable beach sand off San Clemente or nearby, so dredging operations don’t have to travel as far for replenishment projects, which could significantly decrease costs.
Much of the area nearshore is bedrock and reef.
“Ideally, you would find a borrow site with a couple million cubic yards that could serve your needs for decades,” Hearon said. “That would be a hope. If you find sand right off the coast, it’s a game-changer economically.”
There’s one area on the south end of town where an ancient beach may exist offshore, which could show promise, he said.
Brett Sanders, a UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering, shared information from a study researchers conducted in nearby Dana Point.
Sand was depleted from the area over many decades, coinciding with land development across Southern California and following the construction of the Dana Point Harbor.
“We don’t know exactly how Dana Point Harbor has changed the way sediment comes down the river and down the coast – if it somehow broke an important link and process,” he said. “It’s something that seems worthy of additional investigation.”
The UCI research found sand placed by the county at south Doheny State Beach and Capistrano Beach last year was chipped away during tropical storm Hilary and winter storms, but much of it made its way back to shore to replenish beaches to the south and also created sand bars near shore.
“That doesn’t mean the sand disappeared. It was pulled into shallow water, it potentially could be pushed up the following year,” Sanders said.
The UCI study indicates sand replenishment is an effective method when you look at a regional benefit, said Save Our Beaches founder Suzie Whitelaw. You may place the sand in one place, and nature will move it up and down the coast, but all the beaches eventually benefit, she said.
There’s a misconception that sand will “just wash away,” she said. “The sand never stays in one place, but it benefits the region as a whole. It’s not lost, it all remains in the system.”
The presentations demonstrate the “value of basic scientific research to answer practical questions and guide our actions,” Whitelaw said.
“The presentations show that sand replenishment works and will work well on our coast — but sand costs money that the city doesn’t have,” she said.
Sanders also talked about flood control channels built decades ago that impact natural sand flow from inland that would naturally end up at the beach.
“A lot of our solutions to coastal erosion problems are going to be found with what we do inland – changing the way we operate dams, looking for opportunities to restore our flood channels,” he said. “There’s a win-win-win here.”
There’s also an increased interest in pulling sand built up at Prado Dam, which needs to be removed to recharge the groundwater basin. An estimated 1 million cubic yards of sand is built up there each year, he said.
Orange County Water District wants to share it with beach communities, he said, but the problem is funding and transport.
Sand replenishment is an expensive venture for agencies, due to the cost of dredging and trucking the sediment. City officials are continuing to search for ways to fund the projects to restore San Clemente’s coastline.
With about 21,900 ballots left in the county to count, San Clemente’s Measure BB was failing by a slim margin with 64.59% of the vote in favor as of Friday. It needed a two-thirds majority.
The ballot measure called for the creation of a half-cent local sales tax to fund sand and other coastal projects in San Clemente.
“The votes are still coming in,” Meyerhoff said. “It’s inching closer.”
If it doesn’t pass, there’s already talk of a citizen initiative that would only require a 50% vote to pass.
Save Our Beaches is exploring putting a measure on the ballot in 2026 with a sunset clause and a citizens oversight council, which were concerns with Measure BB raised by voters.
“The community really cares about its beach sand and wants the city to restore (the beaches),” Meyerhoff said. “We will continue to apply for grants and look for various funding sources, so we can build these projects.”
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project currently underway at the pier is expected to return in five years, at which point the city will be responsible for half the project cost, likely putting the price tag for the local portion at around $10 million.
The first installation of that project is nearly complete, with about 160,000 cubic yards of the expected 200,000 pumped onto the beach by the contractor, which is expected to wrap up the work by next week and remove its equipment by early December.
Leave a Reply