Last Updated: March 25, 2024

PROJECT STATUS

The recent significant storm and wave events in January 2024 have again displayed the effectiveness of the Cardiff State Beach Living Shoreline Project. Without the existence of this structure, there would almost certainly have been significant flooding and undermining of South Coast Highway 101 that would have required extensive and very expensive repairs. While a large amount of sand dune erosion occurred this year, the engineered aspects of the revetment wall are completely intact. These significant storm and weather events demonstrate the Project’s effectiveness as an adaptive shoreline protection measure which adds to the City’s coastal resiliency.

The project team will continue to monitor the shoreline damage from the recent winter storm events during the King Tides. Please be aware of temporary access closures until they can be repaired. The project is currently being repaired in early Spring of 2024, utilizing the sand sediment from the San Elijo Lagoon inlet.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Cardiff State Beach Living Shoreline Project (Project) restored a historic dune system on top of buried engineered rock revetment to provide multiple benefits. The Project was grant funded by the California State Coastal Conservancy, Ocean Protection Council, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and San Diego Association of Governments. It is managed by the City of Encinitas and California State Parks, in partnership with Nature Collective, University of California Los Angeles and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

This Project addresses several issues, including frequent flooding and erosion of South Coast Highway 101 due to inadequate protection, the prominence of cobble along the shoreline that reduced suitable habitat and beach use area, and dangerous beach accessways. The aim was to protect South Coast Highway 101 from damage, reduce the vulnerability of this flooding, create coastal dune habitat, create a pedestrian path adjacent to the dune’s linear length, and beneficially reuse sand from annual San Elijo Lagoon dredging operations and other opportunistic beach sand projects.

Completed in May 2019, the Project beautifies, protects, and conserves habitat along this stretch of Cardiff State Beach, while providing new walking and biking opportunities that didn’t exist previously. The shoreline was rehabilitated with an engineered sand dune system that appears natural but provides the necessary rock revetment barrier underneath the dunes system to protect South Coast Highway 101 from significant damage on this stretch of highway.

The Project serves as a State of California pilot program to assess the feasibility of utilizing dune systems for shoreline protection measures throughout California. A five-year monitoring program was initiated after construction to measure the performance of the dune and determine when maintenance and adaptation is needed.  The monitoring program will also inform other coastal communities considering such adaptive measures.

PROJECT BENEFITS

The Project protects South Coast Highway 101 from damage during high tide and significant storm events. The Project conserves habitat along Cardiff State Beach for native dune plant and animal species. The Project provides new walking and biking opportunities and new American with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking and Mobi-mat access to the beach. The Project provides onsite, outdoor education opportunities for many interested agencies and citizen groups.