Beachgoers who visit the San Clemente Pier area this summer should see some extra towel space on the sand.
While the grains are a bit darker in color – sediment pulled from the bottom of the ocean off Surfside Beach about 30 miles away – the soft sand is a welcome sight for the coastal city grappling with severe erosion that has shrunk its beaches in recent years.
The US Army Corps of Engineers-led sand replenishment project got underway again late last week after months of snags. including more rocks and cobble being initially dredged up than expected, causing the endeavor to be halted until a new source identified. It had taken decades of permitting and funding delays to even get the project approved.
“We’re delighted to have them back and working again in San Clemente, the restart is a very good cause for celebration,” said Leslea Meyerhoff, San Clemente’s coastal administrator. “The sediment quality looks great.”
Beachgoers and pier walkers this week stopped to take in the sight of a pipe spewing fresh sand onto the beach and tractors moving the grains around.
Beverly Thompson, a Whittier resident who regularly vacations in San Clemente, said she’s noticed the sand space shrink in recent years, with more rocks dotting the beach than before.
But she can’t help but wonder, she said, if the sand being piped in and spread out will actually stay.
“I’m wondering if Mother Nature is going to take it back to the ocean,” she said, looking out at the newly built up beach. “I don’t know – is it going to work, or is it going to be a temporary fix?”
Thompson happened to be standing near an expert on the issue, UC Irvine Civil Engineering Professor Brett Sanders, who researches the region’s sand erosion trends and troubles.
“It will spread out across the coast,” explained Sanders, whose team has measured the coastline and studies wave action that moves sediment. “There will be times it gets pulled offshore. When there’s milder waves, it…
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