Can the eroded beaches at the north and south ends of sand-starved San Clemente be reconstructed to mimic the world-class waves at Lower Trestles or the popular T-Street surf break in an attempt to keep sand in place?
Would jetties – like built in West Newport to save its beaches from severe erosion in the ’60s – help to save Capistrano Shores where waves batter beachfront homes when big swells hits?
The city’s coastal planners held a town hall on Wednesday, Sept. 27, to brainstorm ideas with the community for how to bring back – and keep – sand on San Clemente’s shoreline, exploring innovative ways to beef up beaches that have diminished rapidly in recent years.
The proposals follow a report earlier this year on the city’s most critical erosion spots – some of the narrowest stretches have nearly no beach at all during mid-to-high tides.
A massive, $15-million sand replenishment program 20 years in the making is expected to kick off later this year and then be repeated periodically by the Army Corps of Engineers over the next five decades. It will initially add 250,000 cubic yards of sand between T-Street, around the pier, and north to Linda Lane. The question is how to retain the sand and capitalize on that project and help other eroding beaches as well.
Living shorelines – dunes with native vegetation to help keep sand in place – are proposed for those areas to help keep that sand in place.
San Clemente is a unique project with an opportunity to make it a better coastal place that provides the amenities of a wider beach to play on and enjoy and maybe also create new habitat for wildlife and more recreational opportunities such as surfing, said principal coastal scientist Chris Webb from Moffatt & Nichol, the consultants hired to lead the city’s efforts.
More out-of-the-box, innovative ideas for man-made reefs are proposed on the north and south ends of the city, where beaches are deemed either “critical” or…
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