The Army Corps of Engineers said the USACE intends to start the local sand replenishment project in the fall of 2024, but was working to start the project in the fall of this year, according to Ofelia Velarde-Garcia, director of Community Engagement for Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do.
District One Supervisor Do hosted a community coffee at the N. Gate Road Fire Station on Thursday, June 15, to update the community on the sand replenishment project.
During a June 16 phone interview, District One City Councilman Joe Kalmick said the project could begin as soon as October.
According to Kalmick, Seal Beach needs to start work on getting the funding for the next sand replenishment project.
“This was an amazing collaboration among the three cities—Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, and Newport Beach—and the Army Corps,” Kalmick said.
He said the collaboration sliced a year off the approval process.
Beach sand erosion is an old problem in Seal Beach.
According to Kalmick, Surfside loses 350,000 cubic yards of sand every year. That would be the sand that normally goes to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
As the Sun reported in 2021, Rep. Michelle Steele worked on getting funding for the sand project. In April 2021, Iris Lee, then deputy director (now director) of Public Works, said the project was supposed to be funded in 2018 but was delayed due to a lack of Federal money.
Each project is called a “stage” and the 2018 project was Stage 13.
