Encinitas Residents Voice Concerns About Sand Project

Surfers came to Encinitas City Hall on Wednesday night with concerns about a proposed beach nourishment project to take place in 2012. The meeting, led by SANDAG, was held to discuss the organization's second large-scale Regional Beach Sand Project to replenish 11 beaches in San Diego County.

“Our surfing capital is what we have left,” said Gary Murphy, an Encinitas resident and local surfer.  He worries the new sand will potentially change local surfing patterns and will affect the way the waves break. “Is this much sand really going to be the best thing for these areas?”

Shelby Tucker, the senior regional planner for San Diego Association of Governments, said that these are the type of comments the organization is looking for and wants residents to articulate during the public comment period, which ends March 14.

There are four main functions SANDAG believes the region will achieve with this project:

• Replenish the littoral cells (natural coastal compartments) and receiver sites with suitable beach sand.
• Provide enhanced recreational opportunities and access at the receiver sites.
• Enhance the tourism potential of the San Diego region.
• Increase protection of public property and infrastructure.

In 2001, SANDAG performed a similar operation and dredged a little more than 2.1 million cubic yards onto 12 beaches in San Diego. Beach width sand was sustained for roughly four years on average and sand volume lasted for about six years.

The second Regional Beach Sand Project, or RBSP II, will serve the same purpose in 2012. Should the plan be approved, sand will be obtained in 30 to 100 feet of water found within two miles of the shoreline, then dredged and placed onto various beaches.

Beach nourishment will begin in spring 2012 and will be staggered across 11 sites. More than 1.75 million cubic yards of sand will be allocated across the shoreline, starting in Oceanside and extending down to Imperial Beach.

The proposed project would affect four sites near Encinitas: Batiquitos, Leucadia, Cardiff and Moonlight Beach. In those areas, 340,000 cubic yards of sand will be distributed. Batiquitos will receive the most amount of sand with 118,000 cubic yards.

Cindy Kinkade, the project’s environmental consultant from AECOM, projected the construction will take between six and nine months, with hopes it will be finished by October 1, 2012.

Environmental constraints and the dredge company will determine when each beach receives sand, but only one segment at a time will be impacted.

“The idea is not to close down the beaches during the summer,” Tucker said.

The nourishment could last seven years, but Tucker said it is subject to change with the weather and other environmental impacts.

Kinkade and Tucker said they believe the plan will be approved one way or another. The plan currently contains two alternatives; the second alternative contains more total sand than the first, but would not change the amount for Encinitas beaches.

“The project will find a way to move forward,” Tucker said.

SANDAG has considered the potential environmental concerns with this project, which include sensitive reefs, marine life and wetland resources. After the 2001 nourishment was completed, studies were performed to ensure there were no destructive wildlife repercussions.

“There were a lot of avoidance measures that were incorporated into the project to ensure we didn’t have negative environmental impact along the way,” Kinkade said.

Public comment will end March 14. Residents can write their concerns to beachsand@sandag.org or call 619-699-0640.