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How desalination plant helps Carlsbad sand shuffle
Did it cause best surf in ten years?
Thick black pipes are connected and aligned onto the shore and underneath Tamarack bridge.
Carlsbad is completing a sand shuffle this April where sand that has accumulated inside the entrance of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon is dredged up and pumped back onto local beaches north and south of Tamarack. This happens every 3-4 years under the oversight of local, regional and state coastal and resource agencies.
Coastal sand moves southward from Carlsbad beaches like this
Coastal sand moves southward and enters the lagoon where it piles up underwater. However, unrestricted water flow is necessary to enter the Carlsbad Desalination Plant where approximately 100 million gallons of seawater is converted into 50 million gallons of potable water daily.
A dredger is positioned in the Agua Hedionda lagoon and sucks up the sand.
Currently owned by Channelside Water Resources, the desalination facility is the largest in the western hemisphere. Prior to the desalination plant, the site hosted the Encina Power Plant which has since been decommissioned and demolished. For decades the power plant maintained the flow of ocean water into the lagoon for intake into the energy generating facility to cool the turbines and released the warmed water through the outfall pipe underneath Carlsbad Boulevard. Now the desalination facility performs that function on the same timing cycle of every 3-4 years.
Sand is pumped onto beach near Cherry Street
A dredger is positioned in the lagoon and sucks up the sand and through a series of thick black pipes connected together and aligned onto the shore and underneath Tamarack bridge. The pipes continue along the back beach next to the seawall north to State Beach at the end of the wall. Sand is pumped onto the North Beach area and moved about by bulldozers. This process is repeated in a southerly sequence until sand is placed near Tamarack.
The next phases of sand placement will be made on Middle Beach south of the Tamarack bridge, and then South Beach just north of Terramar. Locals, beach goers, and surfers are mostly aware of this 3-4 year cycle of dredging the lagoon sand and corresponding beach replenishment. Wider beaches provide recreational use and shoreline protection.
Sand spreading. Next up – Middle Beach south of the Tamarack bridge and then South Beach just north of Terramar
Agency permits ensure the operations are safe, comply with all application regulations, and the sand is not harmful to humans or marine life. One condition imposed by the Coastal Commission on this year’s project, and the last sand replenishment operations of 2021, is a surf monitoring requirement.
To assess sand replenishment operations relative to surfable wave quality at Tamarack and adjacent reefs, Channelside is obligated to monitor wave conditions. The criteria are outlined in detail by the Coastal Commission and require video clips and photos three times a week for a month-long period, pre- and post-project. Posted yellow signs provide contact information for public input and questions.
Given new sand at State Beach near Pine Avenue and the fortunate timing of the largest south swell of the season April 12-14, some were calling it the best surf in that area in nearly ten years. The project is set to finish on April 30.
Here's something you might be interested in.
How desalination plant helps Carlsbad sand shuffle
Did it cause best surf in ten years?
How desalination plant helps Carlsbad sand shuffle
Did it cause best surf in ten years?
Thick black pipes are connected and aligned onto the shore and underneath Tamarack bridge.
Carlsbad is completing a sand shuffle this April where sand that has accumulated inside the entrance of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon is dredged up and pumped back onto local beaches north and south of Tamarack. This happens every 3-4 years under the oversight of local, regional and state coastal and resource agencies.
Coastal sand moves southward from Carlsbad beaches like this
Coastal sand moves southward and enters the lagoon where it piles up underwater. However, unrestricted water flow is necessary to enter the Carlsbad Desalination Plant where approximately 100 million gallons of seawater is converted into 50 million gallons of potable water daily.
A dredger is positioned in the Agua Hedionda lagoon and sucks up the sand.
Currently owned by Channelside Water Resources, the desalination facility is the largest in the western hemisphere. Prior to the desalination plant, the site hosted the Encina Power Plant which has since been decommissioned and demolished. For decades the power plant maintained the flow of ocean water into the lagoon for intake into the energy generating facility to cool the turbines and released the warmed water through the outfall pipe underneath Carlsbad Boulevard. Now the desalination facility performs that function on the same timing cycle of every 3-4 years.
Sand is pumped onto beach near Cherry Street
A dredger is positioned in the lagoon and sucks up the sand and through a series of thick black pipes connected together and aligned onto the shore and underneath Tamarack bridge. The pipes continue along the back beach next to the seawall north to State Beach at the end of the wall. Sand is pumped onto the North Beach area and moved about by bulldozers. This process is repeated in a southerly sequence until sand is placed near Tamarack.
The next phases of sand placement will be made on Middle Beach south of the Tamarack bridge, and then South Beach just north of Terramar. Locals, beach goers, and surfers are mostly aware of this 3-4 year cycle of dredging the lagoon sand and corresponding beach replenishment. Wider beaches provide recreational use and shoreline protection.
Sand spreading. Next up – Middle Beach south of the Tamarack bridge and then South Beach just north of Terramar
Agency permits ensure the operations are safe, comply with all application regulations, and the sand is not harmful to humans or marine life. One condition imposed by the Coastal Commission on this year’s project, and the last sand replenishment operations of 2021, is a surf monitoring requirement.
To assess sand replenishment operations relative to surfable wave quality at Tamarack and adjacent reefs, Channelside is obligated to monitor wave conditions. The criteria are outlined in detail by the Coastal Commission and require video clips and photos three times a week for a month-long period, pre- and post-project. Posted yellow signs provide contact information for public input and questions.
Given new sand at State Beach near Pine Avenue and the fortunate timing of the largest south swell of the season April 12-14, some were calling it the best surf in that area in nearly ten years. The project is set to finish on April 30.
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