Corps Unveils Solana Beach-Encinitas Shoreline Study Draft (USA)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District released for public review environmental draft documents for the proposed Encinitas-Solana Beach coastal storm damage reduction project.

The Corps will hold a public hearing in each city in February 2013. The public has until Feb. 26, 2013 to provide comments.

The documents being released are the Draft Integrated Feasibility Study & Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Encinitas-Solana Beach Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project, San Diego County, California.

Public hearings are scheduled for Feb. 6, 2013, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the City of Encinitas Council Chambers, 505 S. Vulcan Ave., Encinitas, 92024-3633, and Feb. 7, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the City of Solana Beach Council Chambers, 635 S. Hwy 101, Solana Beach, 92075. Attendees may provide oral or written comments at these hearings or may submit written comments by Feb. 26, 2013, to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Mr. Larry Smith (CESPL-PD-RQ), P.O. Box 53271, Los Angeles, CA 90053-2325

The project investigates actions designed to reduce risks to public safety and economic damages associated with bluff erosion that occurs during severe winter wave climate along the shorelines of the cities of Encinitas and Solana Beach and to protect and restore impacted beach areas.

Encinitas is nearly 10 miles south of Oceanside Harbor and 17 miles north of Point La Jolla. The Encinitas shoreline is about six miles long and is bounded on the north by Batiquitos Lagoon and on the south by San Elijo Lagoon. The 4,920-foot southernmost segment of the Encinitas shoreline is a low-lying barrier spit fronting the San Elijo tidal lagoon.Immediately south is the City of Solana Beach, bounded by San Elijo Lagoon to the north and by the City of Del Mar/San Dieguito Lagoon to the south. It is about 17 miles south of Oceanside Harbor, and 10 miles north of Point La Jolla. Solana Beach’s shoreline is nearly two miles long. Nearly all the eight mile shoreline in the study area except Cardiff consists of narrow sand and cobble beaches fronting nearshore bluffs.

In the last 20 years, the Encinitas-Solana Beach shoreline has experienced accelerated erosion of the beaches and coastal bluffs. With the loss of the wide sandy beaches, storm waves attack the toe of the bluff and eventually form a notch. This has prompted property owners atop the bluffs to armor or otherwise try to protect their property before structural damage occurs. Approximately half the shoreline in the study area has been modified with some type of bluff protection structure, at significant cost. These seawalls provide piecemeal protection at varying levels. This study focuses on a more comprehensive solution over the critical study area.

The loss of beach has also severely degraded recreational value in all reaches, and the loss of beach combined with the undercutting bluff erosion creates dangerous overhangs which constitute a serious public safety issue. Sudden bluff collapses in the study area and adjacent beaches have caused fatalities in recent years.

[mappress]

Press Release, January 7, 2013