San Clemente officials have spent years grappling with a disappearing shoreline as landslides and coastal erosion chip away at the Spanish Village by the Sea.
Efforts from city officials — in collaboration with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and California State Parks — aim to replenish two million cubic yards of sand back to the shoreline over the next 50 years.
As of May 23, about 125,000 cubic yards of sand have been placed between Linda Lane and T-Street beaches. Another 125,000 cubic yards of sand are scheduled to be added this fall. That development completes the first phase of the city’s Shoreline Replenishment Project.
[Read: Is San Clemente Sinking Into the Sea?]
The efforts come after years of repeated landslides and damage to public infrastructure. Last year, the city invested $7.8 million in repairing the historic Casa Romantica site after a landslide destabilized it.
City officials are now turning their attention to damaged storm drains at the south end of town near the Cyprus Shore community.
Toward the end of 2021, the existing sewer lift station and storm drain system were damaged after coastal bluff movement. The city council quickly approved an emergency sewer bypass system in order to repair the damaged storm drain without interrupting wastewater and storm drainage.
The Cyprus Shore community includes approximately 400 homes near one of the southernmost portions of San Clemente’s beaches.
The temporary pump system — adjacent to the Cyprus Shore Clubhouse near the intersection of Calle Ariana and Avenue de las Palmeras — has been operating for over two years.
The project to repair this area will include a replacement storm drain and six new catch basins to increase drainage. The project will also include a new sewer wet well and a new access road.
The project was approved unanimously at the San Clemente City Council’s May 21 meeting.
“Rehabilitation is needed to really establish this community and get full service back up and running,” Dave Rebensdorf, the city’s director of public works, said during that meeting.
Rebensdorf said he hopes to get most of the project done within five months so Cyprus Shore residents can continue enjoying their site and coastal access without construction in the way.
The council approved a bid from GMS Engineering Inc., based out of Westlake Village in Los Angeles County, for approximately $5.4 million to complete the repairs.
“The Cyprus Shore people have been waiting a long time for their community to get improved and for this work to be done, so I appreciate it finally going forward,” Councilmember Steve Knoblock said.
The project is estimated to be completed in 200 working days, but Rebensdorf said supply chain issues will likely cause a delay for some of the electrical materials.
The Orange County Transportation Authority — which owns a seven-mile stretch of train tracks that run directly adjacent to the San Clemente coastline — has been working to stabilize some of the city’s slopes and cliffsides vulnerable to landslides.
The Pacific Surfliner train, which first opened in 1888, has seen five closures since 2021 after a series of landslides, flooding and slope failures along the coast.
While the train line stretches from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, the breakdowns have all occurred on this stretch from San Clemente to the edge of San Diego County, most of which is less than 200 feet away from the ocean.
County leaders have already invested millions of dollars in fixing up the tracks. However, additional reinforcements are estimated to cost around $200 million.
[Read: Transportation Officials Discuss Future of OC’s Collapsing Coastal Railway]
Those efforts could include a barrier wall to block landslides from throwing debris onto the train tracks or more rocks along the shoreline to prevent swells from blasting water onto the tracks.
“[Cyprus Shore residents] have been waiting long enough, and I think everybody here understands the need to get this done as soon as possible,” Mayor Victor Cabral said during the meeting.
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
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