Beach Preservation Policy of Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter

Did you know that Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter has a Beach Preservation Policy? Well, we do and and it's intended to make sure that this (see picture) doesn't happen to your beach amongst other things. Read our policy statement below and download it in PDF format.

Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter Beach Preservation Policy

The Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter recognizes beaches as a public resource held in the public trust. Beaches provide affordable recreational access available to everyone. As human activities and development in coastal areas increase, preservation of these areas becomes more important. Increasingly, coastal development poses a threat to our naturally dynamic shoreline. Protecting development has become a priority over protecting the shoreline and beaches.

This policy establishes the Chapter's position on the preservation and restoration of San Diego County’s natural beaches, wavecut platforms, nearshore environment, and sandstone bluffs. The policy goal is preservation of San Diego's remaining natural coastline and restoration of the coast to its natural, unarmored state, including the landward migration of the shoreline due to the natural geology of the San Diego coast and sea level rise.

Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter supports:

• A long term Planned Retreat policy that would allow interim protection of existing development coupled with gradual acquisition of property for expansion of Public Trust and Park Lands. This will allow for a natural retreat of the coastline ensuring continued beach formation.

• Development of regulatory policies, which ensure adequate setbacks such that new development will not require shoreline protection within the useful economic life of the structure when subjected to natural erosion and accounting for sea level rise.

• Charging Lease and Recreation Impact Fees for the interim use of Public Trust and Park Lands for Seawalls and other such devices used to protect existing development.

Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter May Support:

• Beach replenishment projects that bring properly sized and constituted sand to San Diego County. These projects are strictly for strategic periodic maintenance, and should not be the cornerstone of the coastal management policy of San Diego County. Projects should provide maximum benefit for the beach going public, taking into account all natural and recreational resource impacts. Where necessary, such environmental impacts will be mitigated in their entirety.

Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter opposes:

• The Permanent use of Public Trust or Park Land to build seawalls and other such structures. Seawalls and other structures built on a naturally eroding coastline subject to sea level rise will destroy recreational access and nearshore environment.

• The construction of any form of permanent, hard structure as a means for retaining sandy beaches in San Diego County. Temporary shoreline protection projects may be supportable given a set of strict conditions.

• The construction of permanent artificial reef projects for the purpose of retaining sand. Given predictions of accelerated sea level rise, the effectiveness of a reef's design will be short lived.

Policy Implementation:

• Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter will strive to work with public agencies to implement or modify Local Coastal Plans and General Plans for consistency with this policy.

• Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter will work on regional projects that restore natural sediment flow to the shoreline.

• Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter will oppose projects that use public lands for private purposes without just compensation to the public.

• Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter will oppose projects that adversely impact recreation, access to the coast and surfing and other water-oriented recreational activities.

Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter's policy is consistent with Sections 30210, 30211, 30212, 30220, 30221 of the Coastal Act and Section 4 of Article X of the California Constitution in promoting free and open access to the coastline.

Reefs, Seawalls, Sand and Solana Beach

I am very lucky to live in Solana Beach. Fletcher Cove shown below is the widest beach in Solana Beach. It is where the cliff has eroded the most leaving a wide beach where the cliff used to be.

On the north end of town is Tabletops Reef. It formed when the cliffs eroded. I love surfing this spot and do it several times a week.

As my son and I walked from the north end of Solana Beach, home to Tabletops, to Fletcher Cove, we see the result of poor planning and poor policy. We have a near continuous seawall built in my son's short 11 year lifetime. These seawalls will kill formation of beaches in his lifetime and the continued formation of reefs. Erosion makes beaches and reefs. Seawalls kill reefs and beaches. Pretty simple stuff.

Here we see construction underway of the latest seawall. Built with rebar and tiebacks that go 60 feet into publicly owned bluffs. It looks so natural as required by the permit.

We have only a few areas where there is no seawall north of Fletcher Cove. Here is one spot just north of the new wall.

If you want to learn more about how beaches really form:

Read this whitepaper

View this video

If you want to make a difference, join Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter's Beach Preservation Campaign.

The government policy right now is to create beaches by dumping sand and to allow seawalls on City owned property but not State Park Property.

Sand Replensihment Project EIR Comments and Meetings Feb 2-4

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is the Lead Agency preparing an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the Regional Beach Sand Project II (RBSP II). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the federal Lead Agency in accordance with the National Environmental Quality Act (NEPA).

In spring 2012, RBSP II poposes to widen regional beaches by adding hundreds of thousands of cubic yards to eroded beaches in a coordinated effort with local governments including beaches in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Imperial Beach.

The Draft EIR/EA is being prepared for a 45 day public review period to begin January 26, 2011. SANDAG is hosting several public meetings to allow those interested an opportunity to hear about the RBSP II and provide comments on the project. The public meeting dates are listed below.

February 2- Encinitas City Hall Poinsettia Room, 505 S. Vulcan Ave, Encinitas, CA 92024 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

February 3 - Shoreline Preservation Working Group Meeting, SANDAG, 7th Floor (Conference Room 7), 401 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101 from 1:15 – 2:45 p.m.

February 3 - City of Imperial Beach Dempsey Holder Safety Center, 950 Ocean Lane, Imperial Beach, CA 91932 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

A fact sheet outlining information on the project is linked here for your information. If you would like more details about the RBSP II, receive the EIR, or provide input, please contact SANDAG at (619) 699-0640 or beachsand@sandag.org. The Draft EIR/EA is available on the SANDAG Web site and is a large pdf file.

For more information go to this SANDAG site.

Some areas of concern for the surf community:

1) Will our reefs be buried in sand?
2) Is sand replenishment the only way to replenish beaches?
3) Should there be some erosion of the cliffs to allow continued formation of beaches?
4) Will the right type fo sand end up on the beach?


What you can do -
-Please come and listen at the public meetings.
-Read the material linked above and provide comments by the deadline of March 14.

Norfolk, VA deals with sea level rise

“The fact is that there is not enough engineering to go around to mitigate the rising sea” - Jim Schultz from "Front-Line City in Virginia Tackles Rise in Sea", NYT 11/25/2010

Sea level rise and coastal management were the focus of a NY Times article, Front-Line City in Virginia Tackles Rise in Sea, which appeared this past Thursday. This article might be getting a lot of attention because of the United Nations Climate Change Conference happening in Cancun this week, but it's always good to see some attention to a major topic that effects coastal communities. The article points out that sea level rise is a real problem in Norfolk, VA and floods are a common occurrence after rains and during a high tide. If you've never been to Norfolk, it is surrounded by water, and like many coastal towns along the US east coast, it is built on filled in wetlands. While the article acknowledges that the fill is compacting and the town is sinking, it highlights a situation which may become more common if sea level rise estimates come true in the coming years.

While the skeptics will focus the argument on whether or not global warming is causing sea-level rise, the problem remains that the home of world's largest navy installation, Naval Station Norfolk, has done little to prepare for sea level rise. The city of Norfolk has opted to throw money at the problem, recently hiring Fugro, a Dutch conglomerate, to "to evaluate options like inflatable dams and storm-surge floodgates at the entrances to waterways". You may know Fugro as an oil & gas consultant to US drilling and production, but they also provide environmental services.

However, Norfolk is not alone, as "Waterworld, the coming seawall craze" by Steve Nash from the New Repubic Online points out:

"Along the Atlantic, 60 percent of the coastline that sits less than three feet above sea level has been opened for new houses, hotels, businesses, and roads. (By contrast, only 10 percent has been set aside for conservation.)"

Land use agencies along the east coast have either dragged their feet or ignored establishing policies to deal with the consequences of sea-level rise. And unless coastal retreat is considered, hard shoreline armoring may become a more common sight along the east coast.

Along Southern California coasts, erosion continues to be a problem, and most of the municipalities in San Diego County do not have policies in place to deal with sea level rise predictions.

Whether or not you believe in sea-level rise, the state of California does, and on November 14, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-13-08 to create statewide consistency in planning for sea level rise. The executive order calls for, among other things, the completion of a Sea Level Rise Assessment Report, the consideration of sea level rise scenarios for the years 2050 and 2100, and the development of a Climate Adaptation Strategy. Consistent with the executive order, the governing board of the Coastal Conservancy adopted interim sea level rise rates (Adopted June 4, 2009): (a) 16 inches (40 cm) by 2050; and (b) 55 inches (140 cm) by 2100 for use in reviewing the vulnerability of projects it funds. (lifted from "A report of sea level rise preparedness" from the California State lands commission).

The California State Lands Commission will provide a one-year status update on implementation of the recommendations of the Report on Sea Level Rise Preparedness at their upcoming meeting to be held at 10:00 AM on December 10, 2010 at the Port of San Diego. Click here for the Agenda.

These recommendations are required to be included in any federal or state coastal project, which includes coastal erosion mitigation projects from Dept of Boating and Waterways and Army Corps of Engineers.

Personally, I think the big issue is forcing coastal municipalities to take sea level rise seriously and begin the discussion about which parts of our coast can be managed by strategic retreat.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Trashes Mission Beach with Dredging Project. Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter calls for cleanup and more testing

Here's a recent press release that we sent out regarding the current dredging project in the Mission Bay channel. It actually seems to be a decent source of sand but the sharp objects being left behind are unacceptable...

Often it’s the tourists that trash Mission Beach, now an Army Corps of Engineers project is adding to it. Mission Beach residents and beach-goers have been shocked by debris left behind by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractor, Manson Construction (headquartered in Seattle, WA). Right now a top concern is beach safety as many sharp objects are turning up.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) through their contractor are in the middle of a dredging project in Mission Bay to make it safer for boat traffic. The name of the approximate $5.3 million project is “Mission Bay Dredging and Beach Nourishment”. As the name of the project implies, material that is dredged up from Mission Bay is being pumped up the beach through large pipes to various sections of Mission Beach.

Unfortunately, the material being dredged up has included an abundance of debris with apparently no attempt to clean it up. “Beaches should be barefoot friendly but right now we are advising everyone to watch their step on Mission Beach near the dredge and fill project. When I walked the tideline on Tuesday I found armfuls of debris, everything from outdated soda and beer cans to old fishing gear to degraded lobster traps wrapped with wire to leftover caution tape from the project. At first glance it did not look bad but once I got on the beach I was pretty shocked.”, said Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter Coordinator Bill Hickman.

Click Here for Photos.

The trash (which includes beer cans, sharp metal objects, discarded fishing material and more) is being pumped out right at the water line, allowed to drain, and is then graded into the existing sand. There is no apparent effort by the ACOE or Manson Construction to screen their dredge material to make sure that they are only depositing “clean, beach quality sand”, as their own construction sign indicates.

Multiple residents and beach-goers have been appalled to see old trash and debris being deposited on their local beaches and are concerned about its long term health, environmental, and financial impacts to the surrounding community and businesses.

“Surfrider is calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop trashing our beaches and to clean up the mess that they’ve already made. In addition they need to increase testing of the water and sand near the outfall to make sure it’s up to health standards.”, said Hickman.

Assignment Earth News Story on San Diego Seawalls

Solana Beach and North County are the focus of this excellent piece.

Beach Loss Behind Seawalls - Losing the Public Beach

This video illustrates the lost beach area when a seawall stops cliff retreat. Acres of beach have and will be lost in California. In Solana Beach, somewhere between 5 and 35 acres of publicly owned beach will be lost to seawalls. All of these seawalls are built on public beach.