Posted on March 31, 2026
By Phil Diehl
Preparations for the annual dredging of the Oceanside harbor channel will start this week after the weekend’s 70.3-mile Ironman triathlon that includes a harbor swim.
Work crews will begin setting up pipes and equipment on the beach Tuesday, city officials said. Dredging is expected to start about April 6 and finish May 9, barring problems with equipment or weather.
Sand removed from the harbor is piped onto beaches as far south as the Tyson Street park, depending on how much material is recovered. Most years, the amount ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 cubic yards, which roughly equals up to 20 dump-truck loads.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded this spring’s $6 million contract to Manson Construction, the company that does the work most years, a spokesperson for the federal agency said last week.
Earlier this year, the Oceanside City Council approved a plan to switch the annual dredging to the fall instead of the spring, as has been done for decades.
Technical studies show dredging in the fall would help keep the harbor channel clear of sand longer and improve navigation for boaters. Also, the prevailing currents in the fall and winter are expected to carry more of the sediment south onto eroded beaches instead of back into the harbor.
The switch to a fall schedule will require a second dredging this year to make the transition. So far, that has not been funded, but it is an option in the Manson contract, said Shawn Davis, a Corps of Engineers spokesperson. If it happens, the work would begin after Labor Day to avoid environmental restrictions.
“No additional approvals are needed from our end,” Davis said. “The USACE environmental window … already accommodates the City’s requested change to the dredging season.”
The Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining the harbor entrance, which requires regular dredging to remove the sand carried in by ocean currents, tides and waves. Oceanside shares the entrance channel with a small military marina just north of the city on Camp Pendleton.
Last November, city officials declared a local emergency to obtain help with efforts to clear a rapidly growing accumulation of sand that threatened to block the entrance. Parts of the main channel were as shallow as 10 feet, creating a low-tide navigation hazard and prompting warnings.
However, the city and the Corps of Engineers were unable to get the money needed and a contractor for the work. Favorable ocean conditions slowed the accumulation of sand, although the hazard remained.
This spring’s dredging is beginning a few weeks earlier than usual. Traditionally, the work is finished by the Memorial Day weekend.
Sand for the beaches is a side benefit of the dredging, although there’s never enough to go more than about one-third of the way down the city’s 3-mile coastline. South of Tyson Street, the shoreline is badly eroded, leaving nothing but rocks at high tide. The city is working on several projects to restore and retain sand there.
The Oceanside harbor was built in the 1960s. The marina at Camp Pendleton was created when the Marine Corps base opened in 1942.
