The sand replenishment project in San Clemente will be delayed for up to 70 days, officials announced. 

U.S. Rep. Mike Levin and San Clemente Mayor Victor Cabral confirmed in a joint statement on Monday that due to ongoing sand quality issues, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allowed the contractor to stop working temporarily. 

The nearly two-month-long delay has been put in place to ensure that quality sand is used for dredging and finishing the project.

On Saturday, the Army Corps of Engineers communicated to local officials that the contractor, Manson Construction, had decided to postpone the delivery of material to San Clemente. 

“The city was advised that the delay is short term … and that the dredge will return to San Clemente after it finishes the Solana Beach sand replenishment project,” the release said. 

According to officials, the San Clemente beach replenishment project will stabilize nearby bluffs along the shoreline and is essential for the protection of the LOSSAN Rail Corridor, which travels through six counties between San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and San Diego. 

LOSSAN, the second busiest rail corridor in the nation, has been designated by the United States Department of Defense as part of the Strategic Rail Corridor Network, meaning that stabilization of the beach “serves an important national security objective.” 

“This past year alone, the rail line through San Clemente was closed to rail traffic due in part to the lack of sand supply in the region,” officials said. “Given [San Clemente’s] adjacency to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, the protection of our rail corridor is critical to the security of our country.”

Despite the promise to get back to work within 70 days, Levin and Cabral are disappointed in the project’s lack of progress. 

“We are extremely disappointed that this important sand replenishment project is being delayed,” their joint statement read in part. “We fought hard to kickstart this project … [and] while this is a setback, we will continue to fight for the completion of this project in the coming months. Longer term delay is unacceptable.”