Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Beach Sand topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Advisory committee presses for OCTA sand delivery, calls for expanded monitoring and volunteer transects
Summary
Committee members reported concern that OCTA has not delivered expected sand and urged more frequent beach transect monitoring, partnership with volunteers and satellite/GIS methods to track beach width changes.
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Members of the Coastal Advisory Committee said the city should press Orange County Transportation Authority for timely delivery of promised sand and expand beach monitoring to better guide sand‑retention work.
Committee member John Doligowski reported the county commitment to place 500,000 cubic yards of sand on San Clemente beaches, but said permitting and logistics delayed delivery. "We were hopeful that that project would have occurred prior to this winter storm season," Doligowski said; he and other members said they fear slow progress and urged coordination to get sand in place before next winter.
Retention and monitoring proposals discussed - Members recommended the city keep pressure on OCTA to advance permitting and logistics for sand placement and to coordinate where possible. - Multiple committee members urged more frequent beach‑width monitoring. Speakers suggested augmenting the city’s biannual transects with quarterly volunteer transects (school groups, lifeguards or community volunteers), and using satellite/GIS imagery or drone data to supplement field measurements. - The committee discussed using artificial‑intelligence tools and readily available drone imagery to automate shoreline transect measurement and recommended compiling a short guidance package the new advisory body (or Beaches, Parks & Recreation Commission) could use.
Context and next steps Committee members said the city’s routine transects (about twice a year) cover the study area but that increased temporal frequency would improve early detection of losses and create fallback capacity if consultant funding is interrupted. The committee recommended drafting a concise hand‑off note and work plan to pass to the new commission or staff liaison so continuity is preserved if the Coastal Advisory Committee is reorganized.
Speakers who addressed sand acquisition and monitoring included committee members John Dowell, Rick Doligowski and Matthew Schmidt, and public volunteers who offered to support drone transects and volunteer monitoring.
