Coastal Management Fall 2018

2018 Coastal Opinions

Coastal Erosion

By Mauricio De Haro, John Luna, Michael Monak, Vincent Wandzura, and Mathew Wells

Coastal erosion caused by large waves from Hurricane Rosa combined with high tides at Nicholas Canyon State Beach, Malibu, Ca October 9th, 2018 (Wells 2018).

Introduction

Coastal Erosion is the most obvious manifestation of climate change along our coastlines (Gracia et al. 2018). During large winter storm events, it has become all too frequent for news broadcasters to focus on a community of homes that once rested precariously atop coastal bluffs that now rest on the beach after the bluffs collapsed. In California alone, with its 1100-miles of open coastline, a combination of sea-level rise (SLR) and stronger and more frequent coastal storms combine to exacerbate coastal erosion and threaten coastal communities and the infrastructure that supports them(Innocenti et al. 2018). These same forces will increase cliff, bluff, dune, and beach erosion, only intensifying the coastal flooding problem. The total potential impact of coastal erosion is still not entirely understood as not only are homes, infrastructure, and economic assets threatened but also people’s lives, daily habits, means of transportation, recreation and sense of community.

“In 2010, 123.3 million people, or 39 percent of the nation’s population lived in counties directly on the shoreline. This population is expected to increase by 8% from 2010 to 2020.” (NOAA 2010)

With the 5th largest economy in the world (Brown et al. 2018), California is heavily reliant on the shipping industry and the ports and infrastructure they use to move goods(Moore et al. 2018). These facilities lie within just a few feet of present-day high tides Making them particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal erosion. Like these industrial facilities and the homes that lie along the coast, tourism and coastal recreation industries are threatened as the miles of public beaches they are dependent upon erode and disappear.

Overview of Current Situation

Example: Beach Erosion

Broad Beach, Malibu, CA

Broad Beach in Malibu, CA, as one would expect was named for the vast stretch of beach that once resided there. This beach attracted the likes of Steven Spielberg, Ray Romano, and Dustin Hoffman, who all decided build extravagant homes on its shores. After years of drought depriving the beach of much-needed river derived sediment and homes blocking the erosion of sea cliffs, the beach withered to nothing. This forced the wealthy homeowners to illegally build a seawall to protect their homes. The Coastal Commission, eventually granting them an emergency permit. Today the homeowners have bound together to form a Geological Hazards Abatement District (GHAD) in an attempt to get Coastal Commission approval for $50 million dollar beach nourishment project.  Many beaches across California will soon face similar problems to Broad Beach, unfortunately most of them won’t have the financial ability to take care of it themselves.

Example: Bluff Failure

Hard stabilization like seawalls interrupt the natural rise and decline of ocean high and low tides.  When the coastline is stabilized, it reduces the amount of sediment from sea cliffs waves are able to carry away with them.  The reduction of sediment from cliffs causes the loss of sandy beaches.  In many cases, the consequences of bluff failure have included the loss of homes and infrastructure, including most recently in northern California in 1998 (Collins 2008).

How people perceive the coast being managed will ultimately formulate how the coast is to be managed. Meaning if people assume the coast is being managed well then there will not be any force to legislate action to protect the vital coastal resources resource. The Public Opinion Poll administered Fall 2018 showed that respondents by a 50% majority are unsure as to the efficiency of management of the coastline. Additionally, 29% of respondents believed that the coast is in fact ineffectively being managed. While only 21% of people believe that it is indeed being managed well. This overall uncertainty in the management is bound to have consequences in terms of how these coastal resources are indeed managed.

When prompted about coastal management, respondents overwhelmingly believe that the government should do more to manage the coastline. So while people seem to be unsure as to whether the coastline is being effectively managed they are more inclined to believe that the government should be doing more to manage this resource.

The agency responsible for deciding what actions are going to be taking place in our coastal zone is the California Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission is responsible for approving permits for building in the coastal zone. Hard stabilization like sea walls which ultimately affect the overall health of the coastline must be approved by the Coastal Commission. People may want more to be done to manage this resource however when prompted about the knowledge of the Coastal Commission only 51% of respondents knew of the agency.

Of the people who knew of the coastal commission there was for the most part support of its creation, or uncertainty as to the role or benefit of the coastal commission. There is a disconnect between what people want and know about how their coastal resources are being managed. The greatest category at 32% of respondents were unsure as to the benefit of the creation of the coastal commission.

The Coastal Commission has many roles in our coastal management landscape. One of which is ensuring the right that people can still visit coastline and beaches. While these beaches and coastal zones are changing rapidly due to the changes in our climate and the modification of the coastal zone through coastal armoring and sediment modification. Around 48% of people have no strong opinion regarding the protection of coastal access. Again, there is a discrepancy between what people want from the government in terms of management.

Prompted regarding beach nourishment, which requires permitting by the coastal commission, responses seemingly lack a cohesive opinion regarding this topic. The two largest opinions regarding the topic of beach nourishment are ‘Unsure’ and ‘No Strong Opinion’. Again there seems to be a disconnect between what people want from their government and who is responsible for it. And to that extent if we should even be doing it. In the case of beach nourishment this is a means from which we attempt to manually protect the vital coastal resource of beaches by manually putting sand on the beach which is sourced from other locations than the typical inputs into that littoral cell.

The rate at which people are visiting beaches in Southern California reflects a need to protect this resource. People are for the most part visiting weekly to a few times a year. In order to continue to use this resource there is a requirement to protect the resource by preventing the harmful effects of coastal erosion.

When prompted to answer a question regarding how Climate Change is affecting coastal erosion peoples opinions were overwhelmingly that the change has a direct correlation with Climate Change. So while people think the coast needs to be managed more by the government they are unsure as to how the government is managing this resource or even who is managing it. Additionally, by an overwhelming margin people believe that climate change is a issue and without a doubt a problem. So there is a clear correlation between people believing that climate change is a problem and it is very likely causing an increase in coastal erosion. This is further supported when respondents are prompted they believe that humans are having the greatest effect on coastal resources.

Questions

Six of our questions assessment attitudes towards coastal erosion.

6. If you believe wetlands have changed, by how much have they increased or decreased?

_1-20%            _21-40%          _41-60%          _61-80%          _81-100%

7. Global climate change is a problem we need to address now?

___agree                     ___disagree                ___I don’t know

8. Might climate change have played or be playing a role: the hurricanes of 2017, the Thomas Fire/Mudslides, California’s recent drought, coastal erosion/changed beach extent?

13. Think about the different factors that may be influencing California’s coastal resources. Which Factor do you think plays a bigger role: nature or people?

__Natural Forces        __Human Actions       __both             __neither

18. The health of California’s coastal ocean is better now than in the 1950’s.

__agree           __disagree      __I don’t know/unsure

26. Current laws protecting endangered species need to be:

__ eliminated   __ made less severe  __ kept the same        __ expanded   __ I don’t know

Results

The results of the poll were clear in some ways but additionally conflicting in others. People overall believe that the coastline is changing because of climate change. There is a need to protect these coastal resources and manage them better according to respondents. However, people do not know the agencies that are responsible for the managing the coastline. In the case of the Coastal Commission there is a disconnect between who knows about it and if its creation was worthwhile. People overwhelmingly want the coast to be managed better and believe that the government should do more to manage it however are uncertain as to who manages it or in the case of beach nourishment what benefit it has.

Interpretation

Some of the data that was collected posed conflicting ideas. The majority of respondents are unsure if our coasts are being managed well but at the same time believe that the government should do more to properly manage our coasts. Most respondents are in favor of positive beach management activity such as beach nourishment but only about half have heard of the California Coastal Commission. It can be inferred that the majority want better for our beaches, but they are unsure of who manages them and exactly how they are managed.

Our respondents largely believe that climate change is a problem and believe that it has an effect on coastal erosion. About 50% of respondents see humans as having the largest effect on our coastal resources and about 40% believe that effects are equally caused by human and natural factors. Their views on climate change and human and natural factors having a negative impact on our coast directly correlates with their opinion on wanting more government intervention on the management of our beaches.   

Key Takeaway

The most notable thing from the polling this year was how much people want the government to do more to manage the coastline and how little people actually know about the agencies involved with the coast. People overwhelmingly believe that the climate is changing and this is have a direct effect on the coast in terms of coastal erosion.

References

Anderson, Sean. 2012. Public perceptions of coastal resources in southern California. Urban Coast 3(1): 36-47.

Bickerstaff, Susan, Maggie Fay, and Madeline Trimble. 2016. Modularization in Developmental Mathematics in Two States:          Implementation and Early Outcomes. Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. Working Paper No. 87.

Brown, C., and E. Lazarus. 2018. Genuine Progress Indicator for California: 2010–2014. Ecological Indicators 93:1143-1151.

Collins, B. D., and N. Sitar. 2008. Processes of coastal bluff erosion in weakly lithified sands, Pacifica, California, USA. Geomorphology 97:483-501.

Gracia, A., N. Rangel-Buitrago, J. A. Oakley, and A. T. Williams. 2018. Use of ecosystems in coastal erosion management. Ocean & Coastal Management 156:277-289.

Innocenti, R. A., R. A. Feagin, and T. P. Huff. 2018. The role of Sargassum macroalgal wrack in reducing coastal erosion. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 214:82-88.

Lumina Foundation. 2015. A stronger nation through climate policy: Ten-year time horizon brings Goal 2025 into sharp focus. Retrieved October 25, 2017 from http://www.luminafoundation.org/ les/publications/A_stronger_nation_ through_climate_policy-2015.pdf

Moore, T. J., J. V. Redfern, M. Carver, S. Hastings, J. D. Adams, and G. K. Silber. 2018. Exploring ship traffic variability off California. Ocean & Coastal Management 163:515-527.