Surfrider Foundation: Mitigation Through Surf Enhancement

CHAPTER 1
(Page 5 of 5)

To meet the goals of all three parties, Surfrider Foundation has agreed to dedicate time and expertise to support the artificial reef project, Chevron has agreed to fund the project up to $300,000 but will not act as a "deep pocket", and the Coastal Commission will oversee the permitting procedure and ensure that the surfing reef is not detrimental to the environment (Ewing, 1995). Chevron has provided $100,000 for preliminary investigations of a surf enhancement reef, including planning design, and permitting. This money is to be held and distributed by the Coastal Conservancy.

    Through a proposal process, Skelley Engineering has been selected as the consulting engineer for the project, responsible for designing, constructing, permitting, and monitoring the reef. At this time the reef project is in the preliminary design process. The goal of permitting the project now lies in the hands of the triumvirate. The unique submerged structure will require careful scrutiny as evidenced by the number of permits required for the project. At the minimum, approval must be received by: the City of El Segundo via their LCP, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Coast Guard, National Marine Fisheries Service and California Department of Fish and Game. Once these permits have been granted, final approval must be sought from the Coastal Commission. It has already been established by the Coastal Commission that the project must be monitored for 3 to 5 years and the reef must be removable. In the event that the monitoring results demonstrate that the reef is having a negative impact on the region the reef will be removed. Once the design has been permitted and accepted by the Coastal Commission, Chevron will provide an additional $200,000 for construction, monitoring, and potential removal. In the event that the project exceeds this budget the Surfrider Foundation will be responsible for raising the necessary money.
    This attempt to restore and enhance a surfing resource is important for a number of reasons, (1) it marks a landmark collaboration between a non-profit organization (Surfrider Foundation), a business interest (Chevron Corporation) and a state regulatory agency (Coastal Commission), (2) a mitigation project to enhance a surfing area by construction of an artificial reef has never been attempted, (3) careful consideration must be taken because this mitigation effort may serve as a prototype for future erosion prevention/enhancement projects, and (4) this case may set a precedent on the way surf is treated in the context of a natural resource.
    This case has revealed deficiencies in the permit process, namely that decisions are made which may lack the necessary scientific understanding to accurately balance conservation and development interests. There are three primary reasons for this deficiency. Under the current permit structure, the permit applicant is responsible for the studies that evaluate construction alternatives. In the El Segundo case, Chevron may have designed their studies to justify the least costly and most convenient solution, with little or no regard to environmental damage or lost resources and recreational opportunity. Until a system is incorporated that provides independent fact finding ability there will be no assurance that the necessary scientific and social information has been evaluated in the decision making process. Second, the California Coastal Act is biased towards "coastal dependent" interests, which gives a greater priority to Chevron's refinery than to surfing (Oram and Valverde, 1994). Third, the CCC must take a more integrated approach to evaluating projects in the coastal zone, pushing the zone of consideration offshore to include offshore resources such as the surf and non-endangered inter-tidal aquatic life.
    Despite the above criticism, there are two reasons why the El Segundo case was resolved in such agreeable terms. The Coastal Commission, by encouraging public participation, allows for groups like Surfrider Foundation equal forum to oppose permit applications. This systems acts as a check in the permit procedure and allows for concerned groups to investigate the impacts independently and dispute permit requirements. It was through this system that Surfrider was effective in holding Chevron responsible for the quality of the surf. Although the public participation process is a highly valued component of California's coastal zone management program, it does not adequately compensate for the lack of independent study of permit impact. Not all cases with adverse environmental impacts will seize the attention of environmental watch dogs capable of challenging the permit. As demonstrated by the El Segundo case, the opposition to the permit by Surfrider Foundation did not prevent construction of the groin, which may have been the most desirable outcome.
    Second, although the Coastal Commission has been criticized for its use of vague language in permit applications (discussed above and by Oram and Valverde, 1995), I contend that it is this flexibility, in conjunction the CCC's authority, that has lead to equitable decision making. This is demonstrated by the El Segundo case. Because the degradation of the surf lacks quantitative evidence, it was the flexibility in the permit language and the resourcefulness of Andrew Lissner that lead to an equitable decision. This flexibility also granted the CCC room to negotiate terms for mitigation that left all partied satisfied (Ewing, 1995).
    Although this case appears to successfully set precedent to protect surf and push management considerations offshore, the outcome of the management decisions for El Segundo still lack complete resolution. The Coastal Commission, in an attempt to balance public and private property rights, has awarded Surfrider Foundation with a mitigation project to enhance the surf with the hope of restoring the surf to pre-project quality. The Coastal Commission's decision-making process cannot be completely evaluated until the success of the reef is established. If the artificial reef enhances the surf and re-establishes quality surfing near the groin, then the Coastal Commissions management decisions will be considered equitable. In this case, the Coastal Commission will have allowed Chevron to protect their property while ensuring that the surfing conditions in the area are maintained. However, if the reef fails reestablish pre-project surfing conditions, the Coastal Commission's management decisions may be considered a failure. (No criterion has been establish for judgment of the reef's performance.) In this case, the Coastal Commission will appear to have sided with Chevron by allowing construction of the groin and charging them with a petty fine ($300,00) for unfeasible mitigation. An alternate conclusion would be that because the Coastal Commission has already allowed construction of the groin, demonstrating their industry bias, and any enhancement of the surf should be credited to Surfrider Foundation and Skelley Engineering and not to the Coastal Commission. The balance of the Coastal Commission's management resolution between resource use and conservation is hinged on the success or failure of the artificial surfing reef.
    In order to predict some potential outcomes of this case, investigation of local nearshore processes and engineering projects is hoped provide some insight into the current scientific understanding that may be applied to such management considerations. Examples demonstrate some mistakes in coastal management planning that result from a lack of rigorous forethought and some weaknesses the current level of understanding in nearshore sedimentary processes. In addition, a modeling exercise is performed to investigate the surf enhancement potential of the proposed artificial reef. A better understanding of the physical processes in the nearshore and some prediction of wave response of the artificial reef will provide a means of evaluating the Coastal Commission's management role before the reef is constructed.

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Surfrider Foundation USA:
122 S. El Camino Real #67
San Clemente, CA 92672
tel. (949) 492-8170
fax (949) 492-8142

Email addresses:
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