Where did San Clemente’s Beaches Go?

North Beach, San Clemente

1996 vs 2019

Photos provided by: Don Kindred, San Clemente Journal

Beach erosion has been a serious problem at many of California’s beaches for decades but has passed a tipping point at certain beaches in San Diego and Orange counties. Unfortunately, a number of San Clemente beaches fall into this category; they need significant amounts of sand, and soon, to enable them to rebuild and avoid a place of no return. San Clemente beaches are range bound by the San Juan Creek to the North and the San Mateo creek to the south. Historically, our beaches were replenished by sand from each of those creeks as well as erosion from nearby cliffs.

Source: Brett Sanders, Ph.D, University of California, Irvine

Cottons Point, San Clemente

2008 vs 2021

Source: Kiki Patch and Gary Griggs (2006)

Beaches in California tend to have a life cycle characterized by sand migrating offshore or to adjacent beaches, however they also have sand replenished with sediment from freshwater rivers and creeks. This dynamic process moves sand all around, but usually keeps enough in the system to recharge beaches over time. Wider beaches are those with richer flows of sediment and lower levels of transport offshore, while narrower or non-existent beaches have the opposite. Human intervention and drought have amplified erosion issues.

Natural sand replenishment has been inhibited by the armoring of these creeks, upstream development, flood mitigation infrastructure (that traps sand) and other man-made issues.

“This is especially true in Southern California, where damning coupled with land use changes hardended stormwater infrastructure have reduced coastal sediment loads up to 91% (Willis and Griggs 2003, Sanders and Grant 2020).”

Goodrich, K.A., Ulibarri, N., Matthew, R. et al. Toward improved sediment management and coastal resilience through efficient permitting in California. Environmental Management (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01804-1

BEACH EROSION ALTERNATIVES

Source: Nicole Elko, Tiffany Roberts Briggs, Lindino Benedet, Quin Robertson, Gordon Thomson, Bret M. Webb, Kimberly Garvey, A century of U.S. beach nourishment, Ocean & Coastal Management, Volume 199, 2021, 105406, ISSN 0964-5691, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105406.

The different alternatives coastal communities consider as the best course of action include accommodation, protection and retreat. Accommodation and protection can include sand and beach nourishment projects. Managed retreat has been increasingly embraced by environmental groups and the California Coastal Commission. Where California was once the leading state in terms of beach nourishment programs and volumes, over the past several decades that’s not been the case.