Cardiff State Beach is one of five beaches, and the only on the West Coast, awarded the nation’s Best Restored Beaches by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA).
Local elected officials and representatives with San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, SANDAG, Caltrans, the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association, and California State Parks gathered yesterday morning to celebrate both the completion of beach sand replenishment work on Cardiff State Beach in Encinitas and Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach, and this prestigious, nationally recognized award that the ‘Reviving Your Wetlands’ lagoon restoration team received for beach preservation.
The American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) released its annual “Best Restored Beaches” list before the start of summer. Cardiff State Beach, California joined awardees: Dare County Beaches, North Carolina; Galveston Seawall Beach, Texas; Sagaponack-Bridgehampton Beaches, New York; and Thompsons Beach, New Jersey.
The beach replenishment work began in February. Construction crews pumped nearly 440,000-cubic yards of sand onto these designated North County beaches from the Central basin of San Elijo Lagoon.
Crews completed the replenishment work at Cardiff State Beach in April, with 270,000-cubic yards of sand on the beach, and 140,000-cubic yards of sand was then pumped onto Fletcher Cove. An additional 30,000-cubic yards of sand was placed at Cardiff State Beach before the official start to summer.
San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, Caltrans, and SANDAG oversaw these beach replenishment projects, part of the ongoing $118-million effort to restore tidal circulation and habitat biodiversity at San Elijo Lagoon, and with the addition of new trail connections at the completion of the project.