San Dieguito Today

Gonzalez also asserts that studies done by Edison and coastal modeling expert and former Surfrider executive director Dr. Scott Jenkin, show that the opening of the lagoon will also result in a net sand gain along Del Mar's beaches. But Save the Beach has taken issue with this. "I've been on the beach almost every day for my whole life," says former Del Mar head Lifeguard and Save the Beach Secretary Grant Larson. "For many years, we used to monitor beach sand levels for Scripps. We took a lot of readings of sand levels and wave heights. In the process, we learned a great deal about the dynamics of the beach. One thing that we always noted was that when the rivermouth was open, the sand that would normally come in the summertime would try to go in and fill up the lagoon. There's just more energy coming in from the ocean than going downstream."

Larson also believes that because Jenkin is being paid to work on this project, he has a financial interest in making sure that the project goes through.

Gonzalez counters that Jenkin is a highly respected professional, and he also points out that the San Dieguito project has a specific requirement built in that requires any sand that moves into the lagoon to be dredged back out onto the beach. "One," he says, "you're going to get more sand when the lagoon is opened up during the rainy season and you get more sand moving down the river. Two when the rivermouth builds up, they will have to go in and dredge it, and that will put more sand on the beach. The third thing is that many of these homeowners who are complaining about this have built their homes in a floodplain along the edge of a wetland."