Finishing touches on the ‘first of its kind’ Cardiff State Beach Living Shoreline project were successfully completed last week, the Californian City of Encinitas reports.
Construction work began in October 2018 to build sand dunes supporting native plant and animal habitat which serve to protect a stretch of Cardiff shoreline and Highway 101 historically plagued by storm surges and flooding and provide habitat for native plants and wildlife.
Funding for the $2.5 million Cardiff State Beach Living Shoreline project substantially came from the State Coastal Conservancy, the California Ocean Protection Council, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
The half-mile, sand dune restoration pilot project was headed by the City of Encinitas, California State Parks, the State Coastal Conservancy and the Nature Collective (formerly known as the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy).
The project’s goals are to protect Highway 101 from damaging storm surges and limit coastal flooding while enhancing wildlife habitat for sensitive and special-status plant and animal species.