The hunt for sand is on.
San Clemente’s plan to search for offshore sand was approved by the city on Tuesday, May 6, with officials giving the green light for a contractor to explore several sites from Dana Point to Camp Pendleton.
The sand-starved coastal town is using an $800,000 grant for its “San Clemente Offshore Sand Source Investigation,” awarded to the city in 2024. The work will span over seven days, with scientists taking core samples from the ocean floor to determine if suitable sand sources exist.
The Orange County Transportation Authority has also indicated an additional grant of $180,000 could come, which would expand the project so potential sites can be evaluated, according to the staff report. The goal would be to find sand closer to San Clemente so it can fulfill promises to bring 240,000 cubic yards of sand as part of its emergency work to protect the threatened rail line.
The most reliable offshore sand source is off Surfside and Sunset beaches, the same area dredged for a federally-led project that brought 250,000 cubic yards of sand around San Clemente’s pier area last year.
But that location’s distance hiked the cost of the project by millions of dollars.
If an adequate sand borrow site can be located closer to the receiving beaches, the environmental impacts of transporting the sand will be reduced, and there will be significant savings in the transport costs, reads the staff report.
“If we find sand, it would be a gold mine for this town — financially and beach-wise,” said Mayor Steve Knoblock.
According to the Coastal Frontier consultants, there’s a slim chance of finding suitable sand just off San Clemente’s coastline.
A total of 11 potential borrow sites were identified, but the ones closest to San Clemente showed a low probability that there is a significant sand source immediately adjacent to San Clemente, the report reads.
“However, if a site could be located near the city, the financial reward could be significant,” it reads.
An area off the Santa Ana River has a “medium” probability, as do several areas just south of San Clemente, including San Mateo Point, San Onofre State Beach and off Camp Pendleton.
There’s an area off Dana Point that also has a low probability of sand — but would be worth exploring further, said Coastal Frontiers Corporation principal engineer Greg Hearon.
“I still think Dana Point is intriguing enough to look at. There’s some risk involved there, and part of the reason it’s intriguing to look at is there’s not as much information as everywhere else,” he said. “So you just don’t really know as much. But there’s some risk there. We really don’t know if there’s a lot of hard bottom on the sea bottom, because there’s no surveys for that.”
Areas of Doheny, North Beach and south San Clemente have a low probability and likely would not produce the sand needed, he said.
The San Mateo area looks promising, but Knoblock wondered if there would be concern about dredging the area because of possible impacts to the offshore sand bars that create the famed surf breaks there, including Lower Trestles, where the LA28 are planned.
The contractors analyzed previous studies, historical data and samples to come up with the suggested sites to further investigate.
There are many elements in selecting an effective sand source, but two of the more important factors are the characteristics of the material and the volume of material in the potential borrow site, the report reads.
The sand must be compatible in grain size with the natural beach, and there must be enough beach-quality sand to address the need.
The next step is to obtain a geologic sampling permit from the California State Lands Commission, which is scheduled to be heard in June. If approved, along with a sampling and analysis plan, the project can move forward.
A draft report will be prepared summarizing the findings of the sampling effort and a report is expected by late 2025.
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