Posted on April 14, 2025
The California Coastal Commission approved a more than $1.8 million grant Wednesday to cover costs of baseline studies needed for Oceanside’s Re:Beach sand replenishment project.
Details are still in development, but the project calls for pumping about 900,000 cubic yards of sand from the ocean outside the surf line onto several badly eroded blocks south of the Oceanside Pier. The amount of sand is more than twice the usual volume produced by the spring dredging of the Oceanside Harbor.
Also included in the proposed pilot project are the construction of two headlands and an offshore artificial reef to help retain the added sand.
Total costs are expected to be more than $50 million and so far remain largely unfunded. Multiple permits and approvals will be needed from the Coastal Commission and other local, state and federal agencies.
Work covered by the state grant approved Wednesday includes “the completion of sea-level rise vulnerability assessments, technical studies, economic analyses, adaptation planning and reports, public outreach and engagement, and (local coastal program) policy development” before construction can begin, according to a Coastal Commission staff report.
Surfrider Foundation policy manager Mitch Silverstein, an Oceanside resident, told the commission at its meeting in Santa Barbara that Surfrider supports the grant, but the commission should require Oceanside to better conform with the Coastal Act.
“New beachfront development continues to be approved and built that is fully reliant on existing riprap revetments from the 1970s and ’80s, despite established Coastal Act policy that new development should not rely on seawalls,” Silverstein said.
The rock revetments and seawalls that line Oceanside beaches protect private property but contribute to shoreline erosion.
Information gleaned from the baseline studies would be used for more than just the one project and could help Oceanside update its outdated local coastal program, said commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge.
Local coastal programs, often called LCPs, are approved by the Coastal Commission to set guidelines for coastal development. A city’s approved LCP allows it to approve individual projects without further oversight by the Coastal Commission unless an appeal is filed.
“We have a lot of LCPs that are significantly out of date,” Huckelbridge said. “We are trying to emphasize getting that work started and moving it forward. This is a critical first step.”
Charlie Bowen, communications director for the local group Save Oceanside Sand, wrote a letter to the commission urging approval.
“These tasks are vital to the continued progress of the Re:Beach pilot project, the pre and post implementation monitoring of the project, and the future scaling of the project to the rest of the beach,” Bowen said. “Moreover, this grant will help the city … obtain future funding for beach and habitat restoration, climate resiliency and sea-level rise mitigation projects.”
The $1,835,000 grant is available from the state Budget Act of 2021, which appropriated $31 million to the Coastal Commission to support its LCP Local Assistance Grant Program for Climate Resiliency.
Oceanside’s grant was the largest yet from the 2021 allocations. So far, 16 other cities have received grants of $100,000 to $500,000. Those include two in San Diego County: $100,000 to National City to update its local coastal program and $499,153 to the city of San Diego to develop a citywide trails master plan including the projected effects of sea-level rise and climate change.
In March, the Oceanside City Council voted unanimously to submit a separate request for more than $21 million in state grant funding for the sand replenishment portion of the Re:Beach project.
That money would come from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways’ Public Beach Restoration Program created in 1999. The city would be required to supply a 15% match equaling $3.75 million.
