Newport project to restore beach sand lost to erosion

Later this year, Newport Beach will begin the Surfside Sunset Project, which will replenish sand lost to erosion around the 30th through 40th street jetties with sand from north of 62nd Street. Large machines called scrapers will begin carting the sand south, pending study results to determine how much sand to move.

Houses on the beach around 30th to 40th streets are susceptible to flooding during heavy storms, and less sand between the houses and the ocean makes the risk even higher, said Councilman Steve Rosansky, who can recall prior incidents of houses flooding in the neighborhood.

Sand dredged from the Back Bay dumped off the coast on the Newport side of the Santa Ana River outlet for weeks now, and some residents wonder why barges carrying sand float right by 30th and 40th streets if that’s where the sand is needed.

Chuck Mesa, a coastal engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, said beaches with jetties are more frequently used for recreation and that the temporary presence of clay and silt in the sand would be more of a burden on residents and tourists.

Although the dredged sand might smell funny or look unsightly, county health officials say the water quality in Newport is tested daily and doesn’t have an unsafe quantity of bacteria.

— Alan Blank