Posted on March 25, 2026
By Gabriel San Roman
San Clemente’s stunning coastline, which will serve as a backdrop to Olympic surfing in two years, has also turned into a battlefield over beach erosion.
Construction crews, hopper dredges and bulldozers have worked to restore vanishing stretches of beach with much-needed sand.
The city has also contracted a coastal administrator to manage sand-replenishment projects and serve as a liaison among government agencies.
As part of her “beach czar” duties, Leslea Meyerhoff gave a recent “state of the beach” presentation before the San Clemente City Council, as elected officials considered contract extensions and grant applications to keep efforts going.
“We have a critical erosion problem right now,” Meyerhoff told the council. “The goal here is to have programs that are supported by city leaders and [are] also endorsed by community members.”
San Clemente’s beaches, which urban development has helped to choke off from natural replenishment, may be lacking anywhere from 2 million to 9 million cubic yards of sand, according to some coastal engineers.
