ENCINITAS, Calif. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District celebrated the completion of a beach nourishment project that benefits the Encinitas and Solana Beach communities during a joint press conference with its partners May 13 at Encinitas City Hall.
“We are here to celebrate the completion of the project’s initial construction with our partners – the cities of Solana Beach and Encinitas, Representative Mike Levin and others, who have supported this project,” said Col. Andrew Baker, LA District commander.
The purpose of many of the Corps of Engineers’ civil works’ projects is to improve coastal erosion, flood-risk management and ecosystem restoration – projects like this, that make a difference in communities – protecting lives, property and shorelines by reducing coastal storm damage and erosion, Baker said.
Initial construction by USACE’s contractor, Manson Construction, began at Solana Beach in January and was completed in mid-March.
Construction included building a 150-foot-wide protective berm along a 7,200-foot-long stretch of shoreline, using 700,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment. Beach renourishment cycles will be every 10 years.
The hopper dredge then moved to Encinitas, where construction was completed at the end of April. There, initial construction involved building a 50-foot-wide protective berm along 7,800 feet of shoreline, with beach renourishment cycles every five years.
The Corps received more than $30 million in federal funding for the initial construction of the combined project in fiscal year 2022 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The initial construction cost was about $50 million with a 65/35 cost share between both cities.
Levin, representative with California’s 49th District, thanked Baker, as well as Encinitas Mayor Tony Kranz and Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner for their partnership and support throughout the project.
“As a lifelong Southern Californian, I can tell you I know our beaches are really the foundation of our community in so many ways,” Levin said. “They’re critical for recreation, tourism, for infrastructure and for our local economy, but they’re more than that – our beaches are part of our identity.”
The work at Solana Beach and Encinitas solidifies the successful signing of a project partnership agreement for shoreline protection for both cities that was signed in April 2023, Baker said.
“It was just last year, on May 4, at this same spot, that we celebrated the signing of that partnership agreement with the cities and Representative Mike Levin,” Baker added. “It is an honor to see both of these projects come to fruition.
“We could not have gotten to where we are today without all of you – those who continue to advocate for and support these projects,” Baker said, “and those who continue to make the safety and well-being of these communities and their people your priority. That is what public service is all about.”
Following the joint press conference, Baker, Levin, Kranz and Heebner, along with other local representatives and members of the media, headed to Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas to get a first-hand look and “feel” of the fresh sand.
“It is wonderful to go to Moonlight Beach and to look over the beautiful sand that has been brought to our shoreline,” Kranz said. “Mother Nature has been pounding our beaches for quite some time. We have bluffs eroding quicker than we would like. They remain a danger, but this sand is going to go a long way toward reducing the impacts of the tidal action on those bluffs.”
A couple months ago, Solana Beach received 700,000 cubic yards of sand along the length of almost our entire beach, expanding the footprint to almost three times, Heebner said.
“Ours is now the widest beach in the region,” she said, “and, I’m pleased to report we have a new problem – where to locate beach volley ball courts, which were previously non-existent because we didn’t have enough sand in the area!”