“Best Restored Beach” Award to S.B. for 2010

A press conference will be held today, May 24th, at 2 p.m. in Eisenhower Park adjacent to the pier. Seal Beach is one of only 4 cities nation-wide to receive this award by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association.

The Seal Beach project involved nourishing a popular but eroding beach east of its pier using 74,000 cubic yards of offshore dredged material and was funded by the City of Seal Beach at a total cost of $1,182,000.  This beach provides a resource to millions of people in a high-density population area on the border of Orange and Los Angeles counties.  Such investment in their coastal resource allows the city the flexibility to better manage the sand within their compartmentalized shoreline over time.  The widened beach offers improved storm wave protection to shorefront residences and has increased the recreational beachfront.

“When we first started this process, we knew we wanted to be good stewards of the beach, and we identified several objectives of our efforts.  Some key partners helped make this project a big success” said Seal Beach Mayor Pro Tem Michael Levitt, speaking for the City Council. “We feel we have laid the groundwork for future actions to protect one of our most precious assets, the beach.  We’re humbled to have these efforts recognized by the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association”.

“This is a clear case of many hands make light work.  We greatly appreciate the efforts of our fine City Manager and his staff, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and especially the efforts of Mr. Kim Sterrett of the State of California Department of Boating and Waterways.” said City Council member Charles Antos.

Seal Beach City Manager David Carmany added, “Seal Beach is one of the nicest beaches in California, so restoring and keeping the beach in good order is a big part of the job description for our Public Works Department.  And it’s obvious that this was a truly a labor of love for our consultant engineer Moffatt and Nichol.  There’s no better firm in this arena.”  The effort played a significant role in mitigating flood damage as a result of the recent El Nino pattern which saw high tide and wave run up at East Seal Beach.

Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce is working to bring more special events to the City’s beaches and its President, Seth Eaker, feels strongly about the beach project: “Our beach represents one of the strongest draws for our Main Street business corridor. It brings families, special events and visitors from not only our region, but all over the world to our city. It is one of the best kept secrets in coastal California, and the re-nourishment of the beach benefits all of us through improved access, a better visitor experience and a desire to revisit and spend in our community.”

For the Seal Beach project, a high level of cooperation between local, state and federal governments allowed an unconventional contracting process to succeed within a tight timeframe and budget.  Dredging was conducted by Manson Construction as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Stage 12 Surfside/Sunset project which is a Federal and State funded project. The Department of Boating and Waterways was also instrumental in the project’s launch. The Department of Boating and Waterways provides safe and convenient public access to California’s waterways and leadership in promoting the public’s right to safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sound recreational boating.  For more information about the Department, please visit http://www.dbw.ca.gov/

Permit procurement, final engineering and construction support services for the project were provided by Moffatt & Nichol, a local firm with a long association with the city of Seal Beach. In 1983, after a season of extremely heavy storms, the city contracted Moffatt & Nichol to conduct a sediment budget analysis that found the loss of beach material from East Beach to be between 4,200 and 7,800 cubic yards a year.  For more information about the firm, please visit: www.moffattnichol.com .

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) was founded in 1926, the ASBPA promotes the integration of science, policies and actions that maintain, protect and enhance the coasts of America. For more information on ASBPA, please visit http://www.asbpa.org/

For information contact:
David Carmany, City Manager