West Newport’s Beach Is a River. City Hall’s Paying $1.5 Million to Truck It Back.

Published November 7, 2026

Newport Pier and the West Newport shoreline at sunset

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NEWPORT BEACH | SURF & COAST | NOVEMBER 7, 2026

If West Newport has been looking a little skinny lately, you’re not imagining it. And the reason is kind of wild: a beach isn’t a pile of sand. It’s a river.

That’s the big idea behind a new Surfline series with Bring Back Our Beaches. Sand is always moving, sliding along the coast with the swell. On a south swell, our sand drifts north, right past those finger jetties we all set up our towels between. Those went in back in the ’60s after storms started chewing on beachfront homes. They slow the sand down. They don’t stop it.

The bigger problem is delivery. Sand used to ride down the Santa Ana River from the mountains every time a big storm hit. Now Prado Dam catches a big chunk of it, and more gets stuck in the concrete flood channel. The river still shows up. It just shows up light.

So now we’re paying for shipping. On Oct. 19, the City Council voted 5-0 to hire Jeremy Harris Construction for $1,487,678 to truck up to 100,000 cubic yards of sand from the river mouth into the groin fields between 36th and 62nd streets, plus $375,000 set aside for surprises. The money comes from tidelands funds and fees paid by oceanfront homeowners.

City staff say erosion has sped up since about 2018, especially near 59th Street and the Wedge. One councilmember asked staff to bill the County, since the city’s hauling out sand the County would have to clear eventually anyway. If that works, it’s the rare deal where Newport gets paid to take the thing it actually wants.

Meanwhile, a 1974 plan called for a groin at 62nd Street. It never got built. Staff say they’ll bring it up with the feds. Fifty-two years is a long time to leave something on read.

Surfline says part two is coming. We’ll be watching from the sand, while there’s still some to watch from.

Photo: Derek Liang / Unsplash

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