Posted on August 17, 2026
By Phil Diehl
Oceanside has worked for years to get its neighbors on board with plans to restore and retain sand on its eroding beaches south of the municipal pier, but some Carlsbad residents still have their doubts.
“We don’t know what the recourse could be if things don’t go well,” said Carlsbad Environmental Sustainability Commission member Lawrence Rothman, when Oceanside officials recently presented an update on their project.
The latest version of Oceanside’s project, called Re:Beach, includes building a butterfly-shaped artificial reef in the ocean and two short, stubby headlands a few blocks apart on the beach. The space between the headlands would be filled with sand dredged from just outside the surf line.
If the pilot project is successful and money becomes available, Oceanside intends to expand the restoration to beaches as far south as the Carlsbad border.
Carlsbad and other coastal cities south of Oceanside worry that any plan to keep sand on the shoreline north of them would prevent the precious grains of grit from migrating south in ocean currents to land on their own eroding beaches.
The Carlsbad City Council passed a resolution in 2022 opposing the installation of any hard structures to keep sand on Oceanside beaches. Del Mar and others also went on record against the project.
Since then, Oceanside, working with consultants, has redesigned its project in collaboration with other cities, government agencies and the public. One of the biggest changes was to replace the long, rock groins originally proposed with short, landscaped headlands.
Oceanside also has tried to assure its coastal neighbors that more sand for one city will stay in the system and eventually becomes more sand for everybody.
Baseline studies underway for the project stretch from the Oceanside Harbor south to Carlsbad’s Tamarack Avenue beach, Oceanside Coastal Program Manager Jayme Timberlake said.
“If anyone has recently been to Tamarack beach, they’ve seen that the sand has left in a very dramatic fashion,” Timberlake said. “It’s actually filled in areas to the north which haven’t seen sand in a few years.”
Sand lost to the waves at Tamarack appears to have been carried more than a mile north, accumulating near the end of Beech Street behind the Army and Navy Academy buildings.
The observation supports recent studies that show the coastal ecosystem is more complicated than previously thought. Experts have long said Southern California’s sand predominantly migrates south; however, a closer look shows that slow summer swells and other seasonal conditions sometimes push smaller amounts of sediment north.
“We can’t completely control coastal processes, and we recognize that,” Timberlake said. “But we can become better stewards of them through thoughtful planning, ongoing monitoring and by agreeing in advance on how we will respond when conditions change like this.”
She assured the commission that the project would be carefully monitored to adjust for any problems. If unsuccessful, all of the structures could be removed.
Since the changes, most cities have softened their positions on the Oceanside project.
Last year, the San Diego Association of Governments announced its support for the plan, saying it could be a model for the region. The California Coastal Commission, which for years opposed any sand retention structures on the beach, also has been receptive to Re:Beach.
Construction costs have been estimated at $50 million or more for the project. So far, the city has spent more than $1 million in addition to a 2024 California Coastal Commission grant of more than $1.8 million to help pay for three years of baseline studies.
Some people have suggested that’s too much money for sand that, by all accounts, will eventually just wash away.
“All this is going to be taxpayer dollars,” said Lance Schulte, a Carlsbad resident and former city planner, at the recent commission meeting.
The better solution is a process called “managed retreat,” Schulte said. Sometimes called “planned retreat,” it involves moving structures away from areas threated by coastal erosion and allowing the natural erosion to proceed.
Widely favored by environmentalists and government planners, the idea is generally opposed by real estate agents and anyone who owns a house or business at the beach.
Erosion will never stop, Schulte said.
“A cheaper solution may be to buy up shoreline houses and move them inland,” he said. “We need to consider the financial aspects of these things.”
A recent study by SANDAG, the regional planning agency, indicated the immediate benefits of sand replenishment outweigh the costs.
Beaches in San Diego County alone are expected to generate $1.6 billion in revenue over the next 10 years in things such as hotel stays, conventions, tourism and recreational spending, according to one estimate.
Final design and engineering refinements for the Oceanside project are expected to continue through 2027. Construction could begin in 2028 if funding becomes available.
