OCEANSIDE — Visitors to Oceanside beaches between the harbor and North Strand will likely notice new rows of fencing installed along the back beach.
While the fencing does not close off access, visitors are asked to avoid the newly installed enclosures along the upper portion of the beach landward of the shoreline, which are part of a new restoration project aimed at protecting sand and building coastal resilience over time.
The city initiated the Oceanside Coastal Dune Restoration Pilot Project more than two years ago after receiving a nearly $57,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore coastal dune habitat using green engineering techniques.
Although primarily funded by the Fish and Wildlife grant, the city also set aside additional funding from the American Recovery Plan Act for beach restoration efforts. Wildcoast, in partnership with Kind Traveler and Visit Oceanside, has also helped fund the project through its Every Stay Gives Back Program.
Over the past week, city staff, along with crews from the California Conservation Corps, installed fencing in designated plots at Harbor Beach, the San Luis Rey River mouth and North Strand Beach.
Coastal dune restoration rebuilds or enhances existing dune systems, which are crucial for coastal protection, habitat preservation, sand retention and other ecosystem services, according to the city. The goal is to stabilize dunes and encourage natural dune formation.
“(The project) pilots a nature-based solution to manage a healthy, or restored, back beach location,” said Charlie Bowen, communications director for Save Oceanside Sand, a local group that advocates for beach restoration efforts along the city’s coastline.
Sand on the back beaches is often picked up by the wind and blown onto nearby roads and away from the beach. The fencing is designed to trap and accumulate that sand, eventually forming coastal dunes.
In addition to accumulating sand, the project is expected to attract native vegetation, which will act as a natural sand retention mechanism and provide coastal flood protection by gradually increasing beach elevation.
According to the city, dunes serve as a natural repository of sand on the back beach. When high tides reach the dunes, they erode and redistribute sand to other parts of the beach or into the littoral cell — the system of sand currents that move along the shoreline. Wind then helps reform the dunes, reducing the need for artificial rebuilding.
“Historically, Oceanside’s beaches had coastal dunes on its back beaches that provided natural resilience against tidal surges,” Bowen said.
The city said restoring dunes will improve the overall beach visitor experience and provide educational opportunities about the ecological and historical importance of dunes to Indigenous people.
Oceanside Coastal Zone Administrator Jayme Timberlake said the dunes are expected to grow only two to three feet tall, making them unlikely to block ocean views.
While the dunes will naturally attract native vegetation, the city also plans to scatter seeds from native plants collected from several live plants thriving nearby on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Some of these plants, including sand verbena, are already growing near the mouth of the San Luis Rey River.
The dunes are also expected to attract wildlife. Migratory and local shorebirds, for example, will use the dunes to forage for food.
City officials said the pilot project could help inform future coastal management efforts, particularly as Oceanside continues to seek construction funding for the RE:BEACH project, which aims to rebuild the city’s southern beaches. Those beaches currently lack sufficient back beach sand to support dune restoration.
Oceanside’s sand has been steadily eroding since the construction of the Camp Pendleton and Oceanside harbors in 1942 and 1963, respectively. Although sand from the harbors was placed on city beaches following construction — totaling more than 5 million cubic yards between 1944 and 1982 — the city has continued to experience a sand deficit within its littoral cell.
This ongoing loss has caused beaches south of the harbor to retreat by as much as 6.6 feet per year in some areas.
Annual harbor dredging returns sand to city beaches, but officials say it remains a temporary fix as erosion continues.
“This is another tool in Oceanside’s Coastal Zone Management toolbox that will assist the city in the effective, sustainable management of its beaches on the path to the implementation of the RE:BEACH pilot project (beach restoration) and beyond,” Bowen said.
Timberlake noted that the pilot project fencing will not remain permanently and that individual plots could be removed if they are deemed problematic.
For now, the city is asking residents to stay away from the fencing to allow the dunes to form naturally. Signage has been installed along the fencing to inform visitors about the project.
