ENCINITAS —— A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report released this week favors sand replenishment over bulky sea walls for protecting fragile ocean bluffs.
The report, which examined beaches in Encinitas and Solana Beach, also suggests filling in the bases of eroded bluffs with concrete —— an option that some environmentalists say should not be paid for with public money.
Under a cost-sharing proposal, the federal government would cover more than half of $14.5 million for the first phase of beach-building in 2008. Encinitas and Solana Beach would split a $5.2 million bill, based upon how much of their beaches would receive sand.
The report calls for beach-building to continue at five-year intervals for 50 years.
Encinitas Councilman James Bond, who serves on the San Diego Association of Governments' Shoreline Preservation Working Group, said Friday that he was elated by the findings of the report.
He said the priority now is for both cities to find money to pay for a project.
Encinitas sets aside 2 percent of hotel-room taxes for beach-building, which totals about $200,000 a year, Bond said. That income could support a bond issue, he said.
Encinitas and Solana Beach also could apply jointly to state agencies for grants to cover their share of costs, said Steve Apple, Solana Beach's community development director. Bond agreed.
Corps of Engineers projects compete for funding before Congress, and Apple said damages caused by Hurricane Katrina would place heavy demands on federal funds.
Local projects are more likely to be disqualified, Bond said, if local agencies can't come up with their share of the funding.
"I think the key is for us to come up with the money and put it on the table," Bond said, adding that he had already talked with Solana Beach Councilman Joe Kellejian about a shared project. "We will be looking for every dollar we can find."
Robert Blasberg, senior coastal study manager for the Corps of Engineers, could not be contacted Friday.
The report analyzed a 1.5-mile-long stretch of Encinitas shoreline from Neptune Avenue to Swami's Beach; in Solana Beach, the report assessed a 1.25-mile-long stretch from Fletcher Cove south to the city's border with Del Mar.
Sand for the beaches would come from offshore dredging. Encinitas would receive 825,000 cubic yards of material and Solana Beach would receive 450,000, the report states.
The sand replenishment would not be a first.
In 2001, a $17.5 million beach-building project by the San Diego Association of Governments placed 2 million cubic yards of sand on 12 beaches from Imperial Beach to Oceanside.
Also, bluff-top homeowners have paid for "notch-fills," in which concrete is pumped into the undermined bases of bluffs.
"We don't think that should be paid for by tax dollars, that's for sure," said Jim Jaffe of CalBeach Advocates, a Solana Beach organization.
"We do like it that they're going to put some sand on the beaches," he said, "but we don't like notch-fills, which is doublespeak for lower-bluff seawalls."
An attorney and chairman of Surfrider Foundation's San Diego chapter, Todd Cardiff, said seawalls benefit only the property owners who live behind them but beach-building benefits everyone.
Like Jaffe, Cardiff said notch-fills are "just another kind of seawall."
"If you build a large enough beach," Cardiff said, "you won't need seawalls or other shoreline armoring."
The Corps of Engineers report is the topic of 6 p.m. meetings Sept. 20 and 21. The Sept. 20 meeting is scheduled at Encinitas City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Ave. The Sept. 21 meeting is at Solana Beach City Hall, 635 S. Highway 101.
Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.
