The black pipe snaking along Tamarack State Beach can only mean one thing—the dredging is back. And, according to a post on DredgingToday engineers will be pumping up the sludge from the bottom of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon and stinking up our beach all winter by blowing it out into the ocean from now until May 2011.
The project consists of pumping 500,000 cubic yards of sand from the mouth of the lagoon to the beach in order to allow more cooling water to reach the Encina Power Plant. Beginning the week of Dec. 6, Cabrillo Power I LLC will position a dredging vessel and begin laying large black pipes adjacent to the seawall along Tamarack Beach. Approximately 100,000 cubic yards will be deposited on beaches north of Tamarack Avenue in January. Another segment of sand will be deposited between the jetties in February; the remainder will be placed south of the warm water jetty in March. The sand placement is expected to be completed by mid-April 2011. The equipment will be removed by the end of May.
To be clear—they are not dredging so we can have a more beautiful beach. We already have more than enough sand. They’re dredging so the Encina Power Station can continue to make power to sell elsewhere.
[Link: Dredging Today]
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Yet another reason to shut that power plant down.
This will make the sand uglier, the shoreline even steeper and less accessible, especially for those not familiar with the ocean (tourists) and it makes the surf worse. The ocean seems to just now be getting back to clearing the sand off the reef from the last dredging. It has not yet recovered from always seeming like it is high tide. This is a poor decision and I hope that the city council can and will take some action to protect OUR beaches.