Surfers’ Point Managed Shoreline Retreat Phase II Funding Approved

Progress made for coastal resilience through a nature-based solution on the Ventura, California coastline

The Surfers’ Point Managed Shoreline Retreat project has been a flagship campaign of the Ventura County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation since its inception in 1991. For more than 30 years Surfrider members have advocated for a nature-based solution to coastal erosion along this precious stretch of Southern California coastline.  

The construction of a first phase finally took place in 2011, proving the efficacy of this approach - moving a crumbling bike path and parking lot back and restoring a living shoreline with sand dunes and native plants. A buried cobble berm provides resilience to coastal erosion by augmenting the natural processes that create the famed rivermouth point break. 

Since the construction of Phase I, coastal wildlife has returned, access has improved, and the resilience of the iconic wave to a changing climate is stronger.  During recent winter storms, the parking lot and bike path that remain at Surfers’ Point lost more than 15 parking spaces and hundreds of feet of bike path to storm surge and wave activity. Meanwhile, the living shoreline naturally comes and goes with the ever-changing wind, waves, and tides. 

On June 1, the California Coastal Conservancy, a State agency established to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, help people access and enjoy the outdoors, and sustain local economies, approved $16.2 M to the City of Ventura for Phase II of the Surfers’ Point Managed Shoreline Retreat Project. 

The project will relocate the rest of the bike path and parking lot at Surfer’s Point, replacing it with critical beach dune habitat, completing the remainder of the living shoreline installed in 2011. 

Construction will begin after Labor Day, 2024.