Posted on April 9, 2025
OCEANSIDE — The city of Oceanside is applying for a $21.25 million state grant to help fund a large-scale sand nourishment project aimed at restoring the city’s eroded beaches.
The grant funding from the state’s Division of Boating and Waterways’ Public Beach Restoration Program would cover most of the sand nourishment portion of the city’s RE:BEACH Oceanside Project, a pilot effort to combat decades of beach loss through engineered coastal improvements.
The total sand component of the project is expected to cost $25 million, with the city contributing the remaining $3.75 million from either its sand replacement account, Measure X funds, or the general fund.
The project, officially called the Phase 2 Sand Nourishment and Retention Pilot Project, includes constructing two artificial headlands about 2,000 feet apart at Tyson Street and Wisconsin Street beach access points. It also calls for an offshore artificial reef approximately 800 feet from the shoreline and the addition of about 900,000 cubic yards of sand both onshore and nearshore.
Officials hope the headlands and reef — described as “living speed bumps” — will help trap both new and naturally drifting sand along Oceanside’s coast. The strategy has seen success on Australia’s Gold Coast, which has dealt with similar erosion issues.
Beach erosion in Oceanside dates back more than 80 years, mainly due to the construction of the Camp Pendleton Boat Basin in 1942 and the Oceanside Small Craft Harbor in 1963. Those projects interrupted the natural sediment flow into the Oceanside Littoral Cell, causing sand to accumulate north of the harbor and limiting its ability to reach the city’s beaches.
The RE:BEACH project is in its final design phase, and construction is expected to begin as early as next year. The total estimated cost of the project is $55 million.
At a City Council meeting on March 26, several residents and members of the advocacy group Save Oceanside Sand urged city officials to act more quickly by funding short-term sand replenishment projects, especially in South Oceanside, while waiting for the pilot program to be fully implemented.
Bob Ashton, the group’s executive director, said he hasn’t seen the “sense of urgency” he believes the project requires. He noted that expansion of the pilot project along the entire coastline is not expected until 2034 or 2035.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Ashton told the council. “We could do something now.”
Ashton said more than 65% of the city’s shoreline currently lacks usable beach, calling the situation “unacceptable.”
“Forcing us to wait 10 years is irresponsible,” he said. “There are a lot of people trying to recreate on our existing beach.”
Ashton pointed to beach restoration efforts in nearby cities such as San Clemente, Encinitas and Solana Beach and called for Oceanside to show similar “political will.” He proposed using the city’s existing SCOOP permit to move roughly 150,000 cubic yards of sand from El Corazon Park, nearby lagoons, or offshore deposits to the shoreline between Oceanside Boulevard and Buccaneer Beach.
Ashton said that would create about four football fields’ worth of dry beach and restore access at six entry points. He also recommended increasing the city’s beach restoration fund to $5 million, with at least $3 million added annually for near-term projects.
Council members voiced support for the long-term goals of RE:BEACH and acknowledged residents’ frustrations.
“As somebody who has worn out a few pairs of bodysurfing fins on sandbars around Oceanside Boulevard, I share your pain,” said Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce. “It’s not like it used to be.”
Joyce said the project is moving as quickly as possible given the number of partners involved, including the Australian-based ICM Group that developed the living speed bump concept, as well as oversight by Oceanside Coastal Zone Administrator Jayme Timberlake.
Joyce and other council members cautioned that placing sand before the pilot project is complete could be counterproductive, as it may wash away before retention measures are in place. He noted that nearly 300,000 cubic yards of sand placed in South Oceanside several years ago disappeared within two years.
“We’re working through layers of bureaucracy to get all these things moving at the same time,” Joyce said. “We just need to be careful.”
