Spring or fall? Oceanside agrees to try new schedule for harbor dredging

After decades of dredging the Oceanside Harbor channel every spring and placing the sand on nearby beaches, a majority of the Oceanside City Council has agreed to try a change.

The City Council directed staffers Wednesday to proceed with plans to move the annual maintenance routine to the fall, a switch recommended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the city’s Coastal Zone Administrator Jayme Timberlake and local scientists.

Technical studies show dredging in the fall would help keep the harbor channel clear of sand for boaters, Timberlake said. Also, the sediment removed and placed on beaches would be less likely to move north back into the channel, where it becomes a hazard, and instead would be carried south along the eroded coastline.

Traditionally, the job has been done in the weeks preceding Memorial Day weekend, making northern Oceanside’s beaches wider for the start of the summer tourist season.

The Corps of Engineers is responsible for the dredging and pays a contractor to do the work. This year, the channel would be cleared twice, once in the spring and again in the fall, to facilitate the transition.

“The idea is not new,” Timberlake said. “Over 25 years, studies have been done by the Corps of Engineers and the city.”

The change has always faced opposition. Some people worry that sand placed on the beaches in the fall is more likely to be washed away by winter storms. Tourism and recreational programs could suffer.