10 • March 11 - 24, 2016 • The Log


Army Corps of Engineers seeks bids to dredge Oceanside Harbor


Maintenance dredging could replenish sand at nearby beaches.


By Parimal M. Rohit


OCEANSIDE — A maintenance dredg- ing project in Oceanside Harbor could help provide some much needed sand at the city’s beaches. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened a bidding process on Jan. 25 to seek a potential contractor to dredge the navigational channels of Oceanside Harbor and relocate the sand at beaches south of the boating venue. “The project consists of the mainte-


nance dredging of the federal naviga- tion channel at Oceanside Harbor. The contract will be structured with three annual cycles,” the bid notice explained. “Material to be dredged from the navigational channels will be placed on down-coast beaches. Dredged quantities vary, but average around 180,000 cubic yards of material annually.”


Each annual cycle would run for 60 calendar days and be executed each spring through 2018, according to the bid notice. Oceanside city officials were in


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front of the California Coastal Commission in January to seek an extension of its beach replenishment program through January 2021; the request was approved with conditions. “The program is designed to capi-


talize on opportunities to obtain sur- plus sand from upland construction, development or dredging projects … and to place the sand along the shore- line,” Coastal Commission staff stated


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to it the way it’s written, they are going to be back in about a year and say ‘I can’t afford to do this.’ I would rather put the RFP out without the level of service hours in it and let the RFP respondents propose what hours of service to operate during the year.” Olsen suggested allowing boaters to


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rely upon dingy boats to get to the pier in place of shoreboat service. He added getting rid of shoreboat services completely is not an option. One boater said access to a shore- boat is a necessary service and should continue to be offered in the harbor, even if it must be subsidized by the city. She added most boat owners and harbor users would rather use a shore- boat than a dinghy. There was a recommendation for two companies to offer shoreboat services, with one the primary opera-


in a report to commissioners. “The purpose of the project is to provide enhanced public recreational opportu- nities and public access to the city’s beaches, and to increase protection of public property and infrastructure at risk from shoreline erosion.” The extension of the beach replen- ishment program would allow Oceanside to keep its beaches filled with sand. Last year’s Oceanside Harbor dredg-


ing project reportedly resulted in a stretch of beach between the harbor and pier being replenished with sand. Beaches south of the pier have report- edly taken a hit due to recent El Niño storms, resulting in lost sand. Contractors will be submitting bids


for the dredging project through March 10. Beach erosion in Oceanside is not a new phenomenon. The Army Corps of Engineers


dredges sand from Oceanside Harbor annually and generally replenishes local beaches. However a 2010 news report in North County Times stated a small stretch of beach north of the Oceanside Municipal Pier was replen- ished with dredged sand. A San Diego Union-Tribune report in 2012 stated there was enough sand from a recent maintenance dredge to replenish shrinking beaches south of the pier. Oceanside City Council approved a $600,000 contract in April 2015 to dredge up to 60,000 cubic yards of sand from the harbor mouth for relo- cation to a beach just south of the pier. The city has received government funding for dredging since at least the late 1970s, according to the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.


tor during profitably peak hours and a second company filling the void when- ever the service was needed during off-peak hours. Bray questioned whether such a setup would actually work. “I don’t think someone is going to want to pick up someone else’s trash. Someone’s going to want to make money at [offering a shoreboat serv- ice],” Bray said. “We’ve had two shore- boat companies in the past. If one’s having a hard time I don’t know how two are going to make it.” Two Harbors also offers shoreboat


services. One boater said the service at Two Harbors was available to her at any time. Mayor Ann Marshall was worried the council did not receive enough boater feedback about the value of a shoreboat service in Avalon Harbor. Island Enterprises also offers


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