Severe coastal erosion, Isla Vista, Santa Barbara County. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
Excerpts;
Santa Barbara County has been unable to get the upper hand in its constant battle with Mother Nature…
Read Full Article, Noozhawk (04-11-2017)
Goleta Beach vs. Winter Swells, Santa Barbara Independent (03-10-2017)
This is the third winter in four years that Goleta Beach Park has taken a beating in the winter swells. Even behind the boulders- dropped along 950 feet of beach at a cost of $275,000 – the park bluff is retreating, unprotected by a ripped out $350,000 barrier of plastic mesh, that had been stacked against the bluffs last spring…
Beach Bashing; UCSB Current News (02-14-2017)
New research conducted by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and their colleagues at UC Santa Barbara and six other institutions found that during the 2015-16 El Niño winter beach erosion on the Pacific coast was 76 percent above normal, and that most beaches in California eroded beyond historical extremes…
Goleta Beach, California
An ongoing problem concerning Goleta Beach is coastal erosion; sand and sediment is constantly being washed away and the beach is narrowing…
Comments on Goleta Beach Project Coastal Development Permit
Open Letter from Dr. Orrin Pilkey, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology Duke University presented to the California Coastal Commission, May 5, 2015.
City of Santa Barbara Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment: A summary Report, By Nicole L. Russell and Gary B. Griggs, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz (06-04-2014)
Gobal sea level is rising. As a result, many coastal communities will face tough choices for adapting to the future conditions and/or dealing with the consequences. The city of Santa Barbara faces a dilemma: Protect oceanfront development and infrastructure or remove barriers and let beaches migrate inland…
Iconic Refugio Beach Palms May Soon Be History; Noozhawk (02-21-2016)
Refugio State Beach is one of the true gems of the Gaviota Coast, California. Statuesque palm trees lining the cove give a distinctive and majestic look to the area. But over the past few winters, those iconic palm trees have gotten closer and closer to the tide line, because of a severe lack of sand on the beach…
Disappearing Beaches: Modeling Shoreline Change in Southern California; USGS (03-27-2017)
Using a newly-developed computer model, scientists predict that with limited human intervention, 31 to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may become completely eroded (up to existing coastal infrastructure or sea-cliffs) by the year 2100 under scenarios of sea-level rise of one to two meters…
Severe West Coast Erosion During 2015-16 El Niño; USGS (02-14-2017)
Californians Fight Over Whether Coast Should Be Rugged or Refined, The New York Times (02-09-2016)
Stay or go? Some towns are eyeing retreat from sea, AP (06-02-2012)
Pounded by erosion, some communities hugging California’s shoreline are eyeing a retreat from the sea. There’s a growing acknowledgement that the sea is relentless and erosion will worsen with rising seas fueled by global warming. Up and down the California coast, some communities are deciding it’s not worth trying to wall off the encroaching ocean. Until recently, the thought of bowing to nature was almost unheard of…
Let’s end war with ocean, Op-Ed by Orrin H. Pilkey
The immediate future most certainly holds more miles of sandbags, resulting in more narrowed and ugly beaches.But this trend can be halted and reversed. Now is the time to make peace with the ocean.The time is now to stop sandbagging, both physically with no more shore-hardening structures, and politically with no more exceptions to the intent of the rules, no more undermining existing legislation, and a return to enforcement…
We Need to Retreat From the Beach, An Op Ed by Orrin H. Pilkey.
