A proposed amendment to the consulting contract for Oceanside’s sand replenishment and retention project will bring the total cost so far to nearly $3.3 million.
City staffers are recommending the Oceanside City Council approve an additional $697,109 on Wednesday for Phase 2 of the contract with the firm GHD Inc., which includes final design and engineering, plans and specifications, environmental permits, and more community engagement.
The amendment is on the City Council’s consent calendar, a list of items generally approved on a single vote without discussion. The money would come from the city’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The City Council approved a site for the pilot project Nov. 20 — on the beach between Tyson Street Park and Wisconsin Avenue. City officials say construction will cost between $30 million and $50 million, and could begin as early as 2026 if more grant funds become available.
The proposed Re:Beach project calls for replenishing the beach with sand dredged from deposits in the ocean outside the surf zone, building two small outcroppings called headlands at each end to hold the sand in place, and constructing an artificial reef in the shallow water in front of the shoreline to disperse the energy of incoming waves.
“Retention structures are desirable as a means of retaining placed sand, since historical surveys and anecdotal data have shown that placed sand does not persist on most of Oceanside’s beaches,” states a city staff report.
Oceanside began the project in 2020 with a yearlong feasibility study that examined the erosion problem and suggested a number of possible long-term solutions.
The initial proposals included adding long, rock groins to hold the sand on the beach, an idea that prompted objections from neighboring coastal cities that feared that Oceanside could stop the flow of sand carried to them in the southerly ocean currents.
However, since then Oceanside has worked to win over its doubtful neighbors, and most have taken a wait-and-see position. Like all coastal California, they have watched their beaches shrink in recent decades.
Even the California Coastal Commission, which has the final say over the project, has encouraged Oceanside to find a solution that could benefit all the region and not just one city.
