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Land-Based Inlet Excavation to Occur as Winter Storm Brings Heavy Rain
Nature Collective will perform limited inlet maintenance at the San Elijo Lagoon mouth at Cardiff State Beach on February 12. A small channel will be created to drain accumulated lagoon water and manage storm runoff. Using land-based equipment, the maintenance will leverage stormwater velocity expected from heavy rain the 13-14th.
Pacific Dredge and Construction’s aquatic dredge operation, originally set for February 14, is delayed due to weather, current lagoon water levels and incomplete modifications to the Sanderling dredge. A crucial part for the Sanderling modifications, delayed by the manufacturer, has no estimated arrival date at this time.
Nature Collective’s top organizational priority is removing sand from the channel via aquatic dredge, as land-based excavation will only bring the water levels down temporarily. Updates as to when the aquatic dredge operation will mobilize will be shared as new information becomes available.
Above: Sanderling Dredge, currently located in San Diego Bay
Above: Sand accumulation west of Coast Highway 101
Once the aquatic dredge operation begins, Pacific Dredge and Construction will mobilize the Sandpiper Dredge from behind Ki’s Restaurant in Cardiff, taking about 30 days to dredge 70,000 cubic yards of sand from east of the Coast Highway 101 bridge in Cardiff-by-the-Sea to the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center. A two to three-day land-based excavation will follow west of the bridge, with all sand placed in front of the Chart House restaurant.
Daily water quality monitoring shows resilience in the newly restored system, sustaining marine life with minimal negative impacts despite nine months of inlet closure. Our current data suggests that this success can be attributed to removing high-nutrient materials from the channels during the restoration project. Before the wetland restoration, our data showed that a closed inlet would have insufficient oxygen levels within seven days.
Restoration Monitoring Presentation Recorded Live on February 4, 2025
To learn more about the San Elijo Lagoon Restoration Projects monitoring results please watch our most recent Restoration Monitoring Presentation.
Throughout 2024, we shared updates and concerns about the lagoon’s condition (blog posts: January, March, July, September and October)
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