On the harbor side of the breakwater, sand washes in via Deer Creek and accumulates in massive dunes. On the other side, at Surfer’s Beach, a sand deficit elicits erosion that continues to carve into the bluffs supporting Highway 1. To harbor commissioners, the solution seems simple.
“We just need to move it from one side to the other,” said Dan Temko, Pillar Point Harbormaster.
 San Mateo County Harbor District General Manager Peter Grenell stands on the Pillar Point Harbor jetty, which has caused sand to collect in the harbor. |
“The biggest problem in the harbor is the underwater shoals are encroaching onto the launch ramp, and they’ve rendered the southernmost two lanes of the six-lane launch ramp unusable except for at a high tide,” Temko said. “It’s covered them right up.”
Sand in that area has been dredged before. In the 1990s, hundreds of cubic yards were transferred to the adjacent beach, where Half Moon Bay Kayak Co. rests. Commissioners could do that again. But, recognizing the deterioration at Surfer’s Beach, commissioners think shifting sand there might be a more prudent long-term solution to everyone’s problems. And so they are gearing up to maneuver the hurdles of bureaucracy that lie ahead.
At a board meeting last week the district resolved to author a letter to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary asking for flexibility in a long-standing prohibition that bans dropping dredged materials in sanctuary waters, which encompass Surfer’s Beach.
“We think they should be evaluating each and every project on its own merits,” said Harbor District General Manager Peter Grenell.
The letter comes 10 months after the sanctuary updated its management plan. Revisions include less stringent regulations for depositing dredge. Exceptions for “beneficial uses” of dredged materials include “beach nourishment.” In light of that distinction, the harbor district is ramping up preparations to shift about 72,000 cubic yards of sand from the harbor to Surfer’s Beach.
“The door has now opened just a little bit on the possibility that we at the harbor could take clean, uncontaminated sediment of the right grain size and place it on Surfer’s Beach … so that the erosion caused by the breakwater construction stops,” Grenell said.
Removing the dunes would free up anchor space in the harbor as well. It also might improve circulation in the harbor, Grenell said, which is considered a major contributor to the harbor’s poor water quality.
But simply scooping up sand and dumping it on Surfer’s Beach likely won’t achieve the desired effect. Understanding tidal movements and how sand flows in the area are critical to successful beach nourishment.
“The question is how can you do something there that would enable sand to stay there much longer? … We don’t know yet.” Grenell says.
Plus, the waters outside the harbor are home to a wide variety of sensitive species protected by the marine sanctuaries. Prohibiting discharges in the water helps guard the sanctity of the habitat — “one of the most productive areas of the ocean,” according to Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Maria Brown.
“It’s the breadbasket of the ocean. … We want to make sure (any proposal) is backed up with science,” Brown said.
Both marine sanctuaries have agreed to join a working group of stakeholders and marine advocates Grenell hopes to assemble before Christmas. The group will discuss dredging possibilities and vet proposals.
If a proposal was approved, the district could start planning a dredging demonstration.
“It remains to be seen what’s possible, but we look forward to them possibly signing off on this,” Grenell said.
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