ENCINITAS — The cities of Encinitas and Solana Beach will receive $30.5 million in federal funding for a storm damage reduction project that involves sand replenishment along the coastline from Beacon’s Beach to areas north of Swami’s State Beach in Solana Beach.
Rep. Mike. Levin (CA-49) helped secure the funding for the Encinitas-Solana Beach Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project, as well as $1.8 million for the Oceanside Special Shoreline Study, from the recently passed federal bipartisan infrastructure law, according to a recent release.
“I am thrilled to announce the bipartisan infrastructure law is delivering funding for two critical projects that will help protect local beaches from dangerous erosion,” Levin said in a statement.
The Encinitas-Solana Beach project aims to protect coastal bluffs and infrastructure by raising and widening the shorelines through sand replenishment.
Over a 50-year period, 700,000 cubic yards of sand will be placed along 7,200 feet of beach in Solana Beach approximately every 10 years. In Encinitas, 340,000 cubic yards of sand will be relocated along 7,800 feet of beach in Encinitas every five years. The first round of sand replenishment for both cities will total more than 1 million cubic yards of sand.
Sand for the replenishment effort will be dredged from “borrow sites located off the coast of San Diego County,” according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
“The project will widen the beaches to reduce storm damage, improve safety and expand recreational benefits for the public,” per Levin’s statement.
“This coastline resiliency project is very important to the City of Encinitas and for the millions of people who visit our beaches every year,” said Mayor Catherine Blakespear. “I am ecstatic that the importance of this project has been recognized and included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Work Plan.”
The Oceanside Special Shoreline Study, funded completely through federal dollars, will examine erosion and impacts from the construction of Camp Pendleton Harbor, aiming to “restore beach conditions along the affected shores to the conditions that existed before the construction of the harbor.”
