New State, Federal Effort to Control Beach Erosion

By Ryder W. Miller

Collaborative efforts, led by the California Resources Agency and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, are underway to develop a California Coastal Sediment Management Master Plan.

These efforts can help the City resolve erosion problems at Ocean Beach. Concerned parties and stakeholders met at the Hiram Johnson Building May 5 to discuss the situation.

"There are lots of questions we don't have answers to," said Lesly Ewing, a California Coastal Commission senior coastal engineer. Ewing said 86 percent of the California coast is currently facing erosion problems.

"Sometimes you need to know why the problem is happening," he said.

According to a synopsis prepared for the meeting: "Efforts to address these problems require a comprehensive database, sophisticated technical and environmental analyses and extensive coordination among local interests and state and federal regulatory agencies.

"The unintended consequences of the state's explosive growth and water supply management to support that growth have resulted in too much sediment in some places (wetlands, watersheds and harbors) and not enough in other places (beaches). The objective is to combine state, federal, local and regional resources to manage sediment in the most efficient way to achieve the most environmental and economic benefits for California," the statement continued.

Lara Truppelli, chair of the Ocean Beach Task Force (which was originally formed to solve the erosion problems at Ocean Beach), approved of the effort to control the problem.

"This is great and I look forward to participating more in these efforts," she said.

Facing a budget crisis, those involved with the issue are happy to have state and federal support.

"The funding now is just for studies," said Frank Filice, manager of Capital Planning for the SF Department of Public Works. He hopes the report will provide a good reference and bibliography for local projects. Because of the cooperative efforts, Filice said, the City will not need to hire consultants.

"It will save us a lot of money by doing the legwork," he said.

Steve Sachs, the Master Plan's outreach consultant, said beach use is the number-one recreational activity in the state. Sand is lost from beaches along the coast due to dam and flood-control efforts and winter storms, which move sand to "submarine canyons" and sediment traps.

Sachs said the Master Plan is intended to solve the problem in an integrated way, although similar efforts on the East Coast are better funded.

"It helps if there is a plan or vision," Sachs said. "It can empower people to make use of the funds."

One of the suggested plans would dump sediment offshore in the hopes that it would arrive as sand on Ocean Beach. But such actions could result in problems for local wildlife.

Environmentalist Allan Hopkins, representing the Golden Gate Audubon Society, is concerned about the impact on local marine and birdlife. He said there "needs to be baseline data for the coast" so the situation can be monitored.

Some of the other agencies involved include the California Department of Boating and Waterways and the California Geological Survey, which are providing project management services; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; California Coastal Commission; Coastal Conservancy; State Lands Commission; California Department of Parks and Recreation; Fish and Game; the federal Minerals Management Service; and the California Coastal Coalition.

At the May meeting, representatives from the assembled departments struggled with the challenge of sediment restoration and better coastal management.

Ewing said Ocean Beach was different than the beaches of Southern California.

"Here, only 20 percent of the beach is used by swimmers. Does that change the way we want to manage the beaches? That is a question you have to ask," Ewing said.

The erosion problems at Ocean Beach have occurred at other watersheds whose water flows have been obstructed. When rivers are dammed, less sediment reaches the seashore, which results in less physical obstructions and more erosion.

Clifton W. Davenport, the Coastal Sediment Management Workgroup project manager at the California Geological Survey, said the California Coastal Sediment Management Master Plan should be completed by July 2005. Davenport warned that the cost of not maintaining the beach could be more severe than the cost of maintaining it.