With any luck, the City of San Clemente could have a project underway to keep sand from washing away from the rapidly eroding shoreline by 2028, according to researchers.
That basic projection comes from information shared during the Beaches, Parks & Recreation Commission meeting on Tuesday night, Feb. 14, as part of the team handling the city’s ongoing Nature Based Coastal Resiliency Feasibility Study told commissioners and the public about the research.
Leslea Meyerhoff, the city’s Local Coastal Program manager, told the commission that the team is required to complete all related project materials and utilize funding for the study by Dec. 31, 2025.
“We realize 2025 is a long time away,” she said. “We’re doing our best to accelerate this project and expedite where we can, so that we can get to the next phase, which would be preliminary design, environmental review and permitting, and then obviously construction following after that.”
Meyerhoff added that the team’s key objectives included complementing both the upcoming Shoreline Project led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and working with the ongoing OC Parks Resiliency study. The study also looks to identify benefits it can provide with its infrastructure projects to public recreation and natural habitats.
Tuesday night was the first of four public outreach meetings slated for 2023. The following ones are anticipated to come with draft reports on project concepts that are available for review by both the city and the public.
Senior Coastal Scientist Chris Webb, representing the consulting firm Moffatt & Nichol, also gave a presentation as the project manager.
Webb said the team is larger than what the firm normally experiences, as their goal is to have a broad range of ideas to provide short- and long-term solutions to coastal erosion.
He displayed photos of the eroded beaches below the Cyprus Cove community and at North Beach, and he mentioned that they have learned it would be best to collaborate with multiple interested stakeholders facing similar issues as the city hopes to receive state funding for projects.
“As part of this specific study, what the city has done is, they’ve lined up a set of tasks that we need to complete,” said Webb, showing the list on video screens in the City Council Chambers. He continued: “It basically starts off with, ‘We know there’s a problem in a lot of different places, but where’s the worst of it? And why is it the worst?’ ”
They’ll work with the California Coastal Commission in their efforts to draw up projects and the logistics of data to be generated, materials needed and costs so that the city can move forward as quickly as possible, Webb said.
The study has divided the city’s shoreline into quarters, named Poche and North Beach; Mariposa Point; Central City Beaches; and State Beach and South End. Data collected for those areas will help identify erosion rates, methods to offset sand movement, and vulnerable natural habitats.
“If we can make this a shoreline advance project—not just protection, but advancing the shoreline and raising it up, and then creating additional habitats—it might be a winner,” said Webb.
He continued to emphasize the importance of having a substantial beach and said researchers will continue to speak to residents and those who visit San Clemente’s shores, as they’ve already received a multitude of ideas from such conversations.
A list of nature-based resiliency concepts already exists in the form of cobble foundations, sand fencing, and nearshore retention structures such as reefs.
Webb also referenced current examples of “living shoreline approaches,” such as sand dune restoration using sand storage methods and ecological resources in Santa Barbara, as well as buried retaining walls known as revetments in Encinitas.
To even get a project started, the city will need permitting from entities including the Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission, and need to show agencies that offer grant funding that its project benefits outweigh all the costs.
“We’ll go through the process of quantifying what would be the benefits,” Webb said. “The benefits are increased recreational use of your beach, drawing people from out of town, having overnight visitors, sponsoring special events whether it’s surfing contests or volleyball tournaments … and preventing damages from flooding and erosion.”
He assured the commission that it would be beneficial to seek sand nourishment while in the process of researching retention efforts.
In response to a question from Commissioner Rob Feuerstein, Webb said that a pilot project would take three to five years to get started, depending on the level of environmental review and permitting needed.
Local stakeholders including Cyprus Shore resident and surfer Steve Lang, Surfrider South Orange County Chapter Coordinator Denise Erkeneff, and Suzie Whitelaw, a geologist and representative of the group Save Our Beaches SC, all spoke in favor of the study’s efforts.
Whitelaw mentioned the increased amount of riprap along the railroad tracks near Cotton’s Point and south San Clemente, and the desire for natural solutions to be rolled out as soon as possible.
Erkeneff echoed Whitelaw’s sentiments and asked on behalf of Surfrider that the city avoid “hard armoring” options such as groins.
“We shy away from supporting artificial reefs, and (favor) applying nature-based solutions, dune restoration, wherever and anywhere applicable,” said Erkeneff.
According to Meyerhoff’s presentation, the team is anticipated to finish collecting data and identifying critical areas in March before developing concept designs by December, identifying review requirements, and submitting a final feasibility study report in June 2025.
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