OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The city of Oceanside is working to save and restore sand along its beaches. The project's goal is to better address coastal erosion and sea level rise.
"The beach is a nice place it's a staple of Oceanside. I think it would be a good idea to support the beach. Get more sand out here because it's pretty rocky and it goes all the way down to the strand," said Morgan, an Oceanside resident.
This week the Oceanside City Council settled on a location for what's being called the "living speed bumps" pilot project.
"The reason it's called a speedbump is we're trying to retain sand in Oceanside but not retain it so much that the sand isn't still able to be ambulatory and move north and south of the headlands," said Jayme Timberlake, the coastal zone administrator for the city of Oceanside.
She says the project will involve building two headlands at Tyson Street Park and Wisconsin Avenue. There will also be an offshore artificial reef between them. This will act as a natural buffer to decrease the impacts of erosion and allow the beaches to better retain sand. She says it's the first of its kind project in North America. It's already being done along Australia's gold coast and is showing great success.
"I am excited about this novel concept as being an example to follow after this gets constructed and improving its efficacy," Timberlake said.
She says next the city will be working on project design and raising funds. The project is estimated to cost anywhere from $30 million to $50 million dollars. The city hopes to begin construction in the next two years.