Southern California beaches like Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, and Newport Beach will benefit greatly from the project, protecting residents from floods, with areas being widened and restored for beachgoers and tourists to enjoy.
Local leaders gathered at the Newport Beach Balboa Pier on Aug. 16, to celebrate the progress made on the Surfside-Sunset and Newport Beach Sand Replenishment Project.
U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, (R-CA), made a successful direct funding request to the U.S. House of Representatives to include the funding in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agency Funding Bill for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022).
The narrowed beaches along Orange County’s coast, in part due to erosion, created vulnerabilities which rendered the beaches susceptible to flooding and storm damage.
The $15.5 million secured by Rep. Steel will kickstart the project which is expected to cost $23 million, with the balance of the budget coming from local agencies.
Steel noted that the erosion is a large issue for public safety, which has been ignored for many decades.
“I made a promise to bring sand funding to our district,” Steel said. “We were one natural disaster from devastation.”
The project is about 95% complete pending final environmental approvals. The funding will enable the Army Corp of Engineers, headed by Julie Bolten, to dredge sand 2 miles off the Sunset Beach shoreline, bringing much needed sand to the affected areas.
“And so it really is being able to listen, being able to be transparent but being also able to be excited about this project and what it’s gonna do,” Bolten said.
Re-sanding is expected to begin at the end of 2024, and will take years to replenish impacted areas. Sand deployment will be timed so as to not affect the Grunion run.
Beach erosion of Orange County’s coast can be traced back to a series of federal government projects of the 1940’s, initiated to service new military bases through the construction of jetties and breakwaters and the widening of Anaheim Bay.
