Beach-Erosion Funds Float Away

Federal funds to replenish sand on Orange County’s beaches are eroding as fast as the beachfront they are to protect.

President Bush has cut almost $5 million from preventive beach-erosion projects for the county in his proposed 2002 federal budget. Hardest hit would be Surfside/Sunset Beach, which usually is hardest hit in the county by beach erosion.

The unincorporated coastal community between Seal Beach and Huntington Beach stands to lose $3.7 million of the $4 million it requested in the new federal budget. Last year it received $5 million in federal funds. The county’s $800,000 budget request was cut entirely, and San Clemente is earmarked to receive only $100,000 of the $400,000 it sought in federal funds.

Sand replenishment for the county’s beaches is a joint project funded by federal, state and local dollars. The federal government has a special obligation to keep the North County beaches from Surfside/Sunset Beach to Newport Beach replenished because it is responsible for the historic erosion and flooding problems that have plagued that coastal area for decades.

The natural drift of sand that replaces washed-away sand from those beaches has been disrupted since the 1940s. At that time, a jetty was built in Anaheim Bay because of construction of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. The jetty has blocked natural-sand replacement to the Surfside/Sunset Beach area, making it necessary every five or six years to haul in thousands of cubic yards of sand to rebuild the beach. The thinning shoreline was scheduled for a sand-replenishment project in September.

The costly sand replacement is vital, not only to protect the beach, public works and homes at Surfside but to replenish and protect 17 miles of shoreline down coast in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach that are dependent on the natural sand flow from Surfside.

Fortunately, the state last month allocated $4.7 million of its $10 million in grants for replenishing eroding beaches to Orange County. Surfside received $3.5 million of that. Local funds have also been allocated.

But if the federal government’s share is cut from the new budget, U.S. Army Engineers who manage the replenishment project will be unable to complete this year’s needed resupply of sand for the narrowing beaches.

The budget cut would not be a money-saving move, only a delay in the inevitable. Replacing lost sand has to be done periodically to protect the priceless shoreline and sustain beaches that attract an estimated 37 million visitors each year.

Postponing the operation only puts the eroded beaches in jeopardy of more serious deterioration from this winter’s storms and even more costly repairs later on, especially if the beaches have to be declared emergency areas.

Wisely, ways are being sought to prevent beach erosion and identify natural alternatives to sand-replenishment projects. The federal government ought to be in the forefront of those efforts.

In the meantime, it should restore the funds that were cut and continue to maintain beaches that are put in jeopardy by its actions from 60 years ago.