San Dieguito Lagoon dredging begins, impacts beach access

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Dredging of the San Dieguito Lagoon is set to begin and the City of Del Mar is alerting the public that construction will take place for the next few weeks.

Routine dredging of the San Dieguito Lagoon inlet begins Tuesday and work will be taking place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, if needed, through Nov. 5. 

The City of Del Mar is asking the public to avoid the construction areas and any posted parking restrictions on the west side of Camino Del Mar north and south of the San Dieguito River Bridge. Equipment will be parked on the beach in that area overnight and will be cordoned off for safety.

During the dredging work, crews will block the river inlet temporarily to create access underneath the bridge. They will be taking 20,000 cubic yards of sand from that area and will move it to the beaches north and south of the river inlet.

The dredging is not a city project, but Del Mar says it will benefit the community by creating a wider beach for recreation use and flood protection, and will improve the health of the lagoon, which is all part of Del Mar’s Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan.

Once they are done digging, crews will reopen a newly-created river channel during a low tide to allow water to flush from the lagoon basins into the sea.

Biologists will be monitoring the site during the construction in an effort to protect nesting birds and other wildlife.

The biannual dredging is funded by Southern California Edison as part of a mitigation agreement that began more than 20 years ago for a $100 million restoration of the San Dieguito wetlands, which has created tidal basins and restored native vegetation west and east of Interstate 5. This is part of a legal settlement with the utility company to compensate for harming marine life at the now closed San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant.