State Parks reports dune restoration gains at South Carlsbad State Beach (Ponto)

At the April 2 meeting of the Carlsbad Beach Preservation Commission, Carrie Benner, a coastal environmental scientist with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, reported on an ongoing coastal dune restoration pilot at South Carlsbad State Beach, also called Ponto. The project began with nine experimental plots installed in October 2022; State Parks has since expanded to 11 plots and says vegetation cover and dune elevation have increased in monitored sections.

Why it matters: the pilot aims to reduce sand movement from the beach onto Carlsbad Boulevard, help restore dune habitat and increase shoreline resiliency using low-cost, low-maintenance techniques rather than mechanical reshaping. State Parks said the project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coastal program, which contributed funding, and that monitoring to date has relied on drone imagery and elevation surveys.

State Parks staff described the project as an experiment in “biomimicry”: using sand fencing, cedar “shims” and scattered discarded lagoon vegetation to trap windborne sand until native plants establish. Benner told commissioners the site is not irrigated and that the team relied on wetter-than-average 2023–24 seasons to help vegetation take hold. She said drone cross-sections and ground surveys show measurable dune growth and increased plant cover in most plots.

Staff noted differences between plots north and south of the jetties at Batiquitos Lagoon: north-of-jetty plots have more sand accumulation and greater elevation gains but less vegetative cover, while south-of-jetty plots show higher plant cover. State Parks said a combination of fence and shims appears most effective and that public reaction at the beach has been positive. Benner acknowledged early problems with vandalism or curiosity—“in the very beginning we did see a good amount of that”—but said instances have declined as the community became accustomed to the installations.

Commissioners asked about long-term scalability, interactions with nearby cobble or rock berms, and whether the technique could be applied elsewhere. Benner said the team has not yet assessed scalability or interaction with the cobble berms and that those questions remain for future study. She also emphasized the project’s low-cost, demonstration purpose and said monitoring will continue.

State Parks provided historical aerial imagery showing vegetated dunes in 1979, loss of dune vegetation by 2013, and regrowth in the experimental plots by 2024. The commission received the informational report and had no formal action tied directly to the presentation.