Workshop to Address Beach Erosion Study

A public workshop in Port Hueneme tonight will address the problem of beach erosion in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Government officials hope the workshop will lead to a yearlong, $400,000 shoreline reconnaissance study by the Army Corps of Engineers to assess the extent of erosion and propose solutions.

“We’re losing our beaches,” said Jerry Nowak, executive director of a joint powers authority formed in 1987 by the two counties and five cities to protect and maintain public beaches.

“Hopefully, [the study] will lead to funding for a beach erosion nourishment project.”

Most erosion can be traced to man-made causes such as dams on rivers, jetties and mining, which all disrupt the flow of sand, he said.

Port Hueneme is facing imminent loss of large chunks of its municipal beach because of erosion, but the study’s timing and the location of the meeting is coincidental, officials said.

Nowak estimates it would cost tens of millions of dollars to correct erosion problems in the two counties.

However, the agency, which is dubbed BEACON--Beach Erosion Authority for Control Operations and Nourishment--has proposed getting started with a modest, $1.5-million pilot project at Oxnard Shores, he said.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Orvene E. Carpenter Community Center, 550 Park Ave.

A second meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Carpinteria City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave.

That meeting is open to Ventura County residents as well.