Posted on June 10, 2026
Oceanside residents have until June 30 to comment on a proposed federal plan that could bring millions of cubic yards of sand to the city’s eroding shoreline, part of a beach restoration effort that has been under study for more than two decades.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released a draft plan calling for long-term beach nourishment along Oceanside’s coast, with an initial placement of 1 million cubic yards of sand followed by additional replenishment every 10 years. The proposal aims to maintain a minimum beach width of 85 feet from Oceanside Harbor south to Buena Vista Lagoon.
Public comments on the draft are being accepted through June 30 before the Corps prepares its final recommendation to Congress.
The announcement comes as the Army Corps recently completed a spring dredging project at Oceanside Harbor, placing 320,000 cubic yards of sand on local beaches. According to officials, the dredge was the largest beach replenishment effort in the city in recent years.
The Corps identified beach nourishment — placing sand directly on the shoreline without seawalls or other hard structures — as the most technically feasible, environmentally acceptable and cost-effective solution to address erosion linked to the harbor’s construction.
Federal studies have estimated that the harbor has contributed to the loss of 1.4 million to 1.6 million cubic yards of sand from Oceanside beaches since the 1940s.
Rep. Mike Levin (D-49th District), who announced the draft plan June 2, said the proposal represents the culmination of years of work to revive a federal study that had stalled.
“For 26 years, Oceanside has been asking the federal government for one thing: a real plan to bring back the sand this harbor took. Today, we finally have it. And the answer is simple — sand, and lots of it,” Levin said in a news release.
Oceanside officials said the release of the draft plan marks a milestone in a long process.
“This is an incredible point that we now have a project,” Mayor Esther Sanchez said in the news release. “That two-year study that took from before 2000 until now finally did happen and finally came up with the best alternative.”
Supporters of the project also pointed to the broader environmental and coastal management implications of the proposal, which favors periodic sand replenishment over construction of shoreline armoring.
“Today we celebrated not only the dredge, but the delivery of a project that has been in the works for a very long time,” environmental advocate Bob Ashton said in the news release.
City leaders credited years of advocacy by local, state and federal officials, including Levin, for keeping the project moving despite repeated delays in funding and study completion.
“His years of support for this project are the only reason we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce said in the news release. “With steady effort, we got to the point where sand is replenishing our beaches.”
The draft plan would ultimately place about 4 million cubic yards of sand along Oceanside’s shoreline over a 40-year period if authorized and funded by Congress. Construction would not require local funding from the city, according to an Oceanside city announcement.
“When I got to Congress, this effort was dead,” Levin said. “Now we have the plan, and I won’t let up until that sand is on our beaches for good.”
Oceanside residents can go to an Army Corps of Engineers information page to find out more about how to comment on the plan.
