Californians love their beaches. In a state full of wonderful wilderness options, no images of California are more iconic than sand, surf, sunsets and waves. People move here, visit here, and celebrate here because California’s beaches inspire that much love. That love, by the way, also generates a $44 billion economy per year.
Our coast, when protected, serves as a destination that people from around the world, regardless of income, background or social status, can visit and enjoy. And yet not only are our beaches disappearing, but in many cases, specific actions are actively speeding the destruction along. Hard armoring is destroying our beaches, one emergency permit at a time.
When we meet rising seas with seawalls and revetments, we lose our beaches, the recreational opportunities they provide and the benefits our coastal economy brings to the entire state.
At the California Coastal Commission’s August meeting in Calabasas, Surfrider’s regional California staff presented these concerns in more detail – highlighting several case studies where armoring can and should be removed. Check out the video clip here:
Moving Forward
The following recommendations are ways that California, as well as other coastal states in the U.S., can best protect our natural shorelines:
If we keep armoring our shore, we will lose it. To effectively manage beach erosion with a long-term approach, the state’s shoreline must be viewed as the connected system it is and we must stop allowing a patchwork of armoring. Otherwise, at this rate, our public beaches will continue to be replaced with progressively larger rocks and structures, destroying our shared and most cherished natural resource.