{"id":355,"date":"2025-10-13T03:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T03:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T03:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T03:30:08","slug":"beach-initiative-combats-coastal-erosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355\/","title":{"rendered":"Beach initiative combats coastal erosion"},"content":{"rendered":"

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (FOX 5\/KUSI)<\/a> \u2014\u00a0A major effort is underway in Oceanside to save one of the city\u2019s defining features, its beaches. Years of coastal erosion have stripped away sand and continue to threaten the shoreline, but a local partnership says they\u2019re fighting back.<\/p>\n

The group\u00a0Save Oceanside Sand\u00a0is leading a campaign to restore the coastline through a new initiative called the\u00a0RE:BEACH Project, part of a broader regional effort to make coastal communities more resilient against erosion and sea level rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in dire straits for sand,\u201d said Bob Ashton, president and CEO of Save Oceanside Sand. \u201cWe haven\u2019t actively managed it. We haven\u2019t aggressively and proactively managed it, and that\u2019s what this project is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RE:BEACH concept, called\u00a0Living Speed Bumps, was chosen through an international design competition. It uses manmade headlands and offshore reefs to trap sand naturally and slow erosion. The project has already received\u00a0$1.8 million in funding\u00a0from the California Coastal Commission and is recognized as\u00a0SANDAG\u2019s third Resilient Beach Sand Pilot Project.<\/p>\n

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Charlie Bowen, who is working with the project, said Oceanside lacks the natural structures, like reefs or headlands, that help other coastal cities retain sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not have any retention mechanisms such as reefs or headlands,\u201d Bowen said. \u201cThis RE:BEACH pilot project is an effort to put a little retention mechanism in place and also add a lot of sand to the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts say without action, erosion could threaten homes, businesses and the city\u2019s tourism economy. Ashton said he fears what could happen if a major storm hits before the project is completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were to have a large storm event this winter, we\u2019re going to see private and public infrastructure destroyed,\u201d Ashton said. \u201cThe livelihood of our city is the beach, and we can\u2019t allow that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Studies show that harbor structures built near\u00a0Camp Pendleton\u00a0decades ago disrupted the natural flow of sand to Oceanside\u2019s beaches, a key factor in the city\u2019s ongoing erosion issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey installed the Del Mar jetty and breakwater, that was later extended quite a few times,\u201d Bowen said. \u201cThat blocks off sand flow from the Santa Margarita River. It\u2019s very much a man-made issue, and we believe there are man-made solutions that can bring back the beaches of Oceanside.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a community event this weekend, residents, city leaders and coastal experts gathered to raise awareness and rally support for the project. The event also featured the debut of a\u00a0BBC mini-documentary\u00a0spotlighting Oceanside\u2019s efforts to restore its beaches.<\/p>\n

Organizers say the pilot project is still years from completion, but each step brings Oceanside closer to saving its sand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OCEANSIDE, Calif. (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014\u00a0A major effort is underway in Oceanside to save one of the city\u2019s defining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,681,23,100,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-coastal","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}