Work underway on Oceanside’s Coastal Dune Restoration Pilot Project

Work is underway on Oceanside’s Coastal Dune Restoration Pilot Project at spots along North Harbor Beach, North Strand, and the San Luis Rey River mouth.

City of Oceanside – Government said that the restored coastal dunes will provide low-cost coastal resilience against storm events and high wave surf, while providing dune habitat for shorebirds. 

The restoration techniques used in Oceanside are part of broader coastal dune restoration efforts happening throughout the state.

Various funding sources have been used to fund the design, permitting and implementation of this restoration project. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Coastal Program funded the initial concept design, portions of the permitting and elements of project implementation.

Also, the USFWS grant has been supplemented by American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds; the City of Oceanside set aside a portion of ARPA funds for beach restoration efforts.

The Oceanside Coastal Dunes Restoration Pilot Project, proposed at Harbor Beach, San Luis Rey and North Strand beaches, will restore coastal dune habitat using green engineering techniques.

According to the City, the dune restoration proposed in these locations will showcase the benefits of having dunes on the back beach on a small scale, which may be useful to inform future coastal management planning efforts.