2.0 Alternatives Considered
Point to the international border. New sources of beach-quality sand need to be readied
for beach nourishment following severe storm events and for long-term protection from
rising sea level (page 9-27).
To assist in understanding the potential economic outcomes of various shoreline management techniques,
an analysis was provided in Appendix I of the Shoreline Preservation Strategy for the San Diego
Region (SANDAG 1993). That document quantified the economic costs and benefits of three basic
shoreline management alternatives in terms of loss to property and loss ofrecreationalopportunities. These
included: 1) Do Nothing, 2) Armor the coast to protect property, using sea walls and revetments, and 3)
Beach Replenishment. Under the Do Nothing Alternative, which corresponds in part to the No Action
Alternative, there would be "significant costs to the region in lost property and recreational benefits due to
shoreline retreat." Annual costs (losses) were estimated for the total San Diego region as million by
2010 and over 6 million by 2040.
The No Action Alternative would have specific ramifications to the potential receiver sites, and some
indirect relationships to the littoral cells, but would also not satisfy the regional goals of beach replenishment
promulgated by the SEC and USACOE.
MONITORING AND MITIGATION FRAMEWORK
2.5
Although sand replenishment has occurred along the San Diego region coastline for well over 50 years
(USACOE 1991), the effects of sand transport have not been effectively monitored to date. While there
are coastal engineering models to predict sand transport from beach replenishment, there is little local data
available to verify how the actual conditions compare to the predicted.
As part of the permits issued to the Navy for their beach replenishment project, a Coastal Monitoring Plan
was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1997. That plan described a monitoring program
to be implemented subsequent to sand placement and for a four-year period following the action. The
intent of the monitoring was to verify that there were no long-term, significant impacts to sensitive biological
resources. If impacts were identified, then mitigation would be required. The data from monitoring would
also be useful in understanding how actual sand transport compared to the predicted path.
While sand placement was halted prior to completion, the required monitoring continued by the Navy as
required by the permit until 2001. Since the projects are substantially the same, except with respect to sand
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