NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – A group of local politicians celebrated a years-long sand replenishment project, but warned it could be years before it begins.
Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., helped secure $15.5 million to send sand to the California coast and replenish eroding shorelines.
“I made a promise to bring sand bottoms to our district,” he said. “We were a natural disaster of devastation.”
The group gathered at the Newport Beach Balboa Pier, where heavy equipment rolled onto the nearby beach, building a steep sand berm for the expected high tides.
Steel said sand erosion is a public safety issue, and lawmakers have long ignored the urgency of the problem.
Sand replenishment was supposed to have been delivered to the coast for decades, but was suspended shortly after it began in the 1960s. The new plan calls for sand replenishment every five years, an interval built around currents oceanic and the method of distribution.
The plan calls for 1.7 million cubic yards of sand to build up on Sunset Beach, which the US Army Corps of Engineers hopes to erode over five years, depositing the sand along Seal’s shores Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. .
Sand can only be deployed during certain windows of the year. Sand will not be delivered between March 17th and September 1st to avoid interference with the environment, especially the famous Grunion Race.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley praised the joint effort to bring the money to the coast.
“That’s the kind of effort we’re going to need if we want to protect our coast,” he said. “It’s a great example of how we can come together in a bipartisan way.”
Col. Julie Balten, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles District, said the sand could arrive in 2024 or even 2025.
“Right now, we’re in a great place. The design of this project is at 95%,” he said. “Now that we have the financing, it’s up to us to deliver it.”
