Next year’s beaches will be a bit sandier, thanks to a $19.5 million grant from the State Department of Boating and Waterways.
The grant will help pay for 11 beaches to receive offshore borrowed sand, which will cover up rocks and extend suntan-able land on shores such as Cardiff, Moonlight Beach and Torrey Pines.
The development of the region's coastal plain has reduced the amount of sand on the beaches over the years, according to a news release from SANDAG.
The latest Sand Replenishment Project was approved Tuesday by the Coastal Commission after they were certain that the project would not have a significant effect on the coast’s environment, said David Hicks, public relations officer for SANDAG.
Approval is still needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This is the second sand replenishment project that SANDAG has approved. The first was in 2001, and its success has guided the planning of this one, according to the Environmental Impact Report for the project.
The sand will come from three nearby San Diego locations: two sites north and south of Cardiff Beach and one near Mission Beach. Donors are deemed suitable based on their grain size and sediment.
The beaches that will receive more sand include:
- Oceanside Beach
- North Carlsbad Beach
- South Carlsbad Beach
- Batiquitos Beach
- Leucadia Beach
- Moonlight Beach
- Torrey Pines State Beach
- Imperial Beach
