In order to touch on coastal erosion, inland migration of the shoreline, coastal armoring, and managed retreat I decided to choose Goleta Beach in Santa Barbara County to discuss these significant problems. I also chose Goleta Beach because I grew up in Goleta and I have been visiting that beach on and off for a majority of my life. So I have personally witnessed the degradation of the beach and the impacts that degradation has had on the decline of visitors and recreational use. A prime beach location for local fishing, parties and barbecues, beach side dining, bicyclists, surfers, and UCSB students, Goleta Beach has unfortunately experienced an increase in coastal erosion and more inland migration of the ocean. The southern portion of the beach has been armored with massive amounts of rip rap structures for several years, as long as I can remember. However, it never seemed like a noticeable problem considering there was still decent stretches of sandy shoreline available for recreational use and visitation. In the last few years while visiting the beach and especially this year, the problem has become significantly worse as the sandy shoreline located in the southernmost part of the beach is gone.
Ocean currents are now colliding directly against and onto the rip rap that was placed to protect the parking lot and walkways that are located on slightly higher ground. While the hard rock structure seems to be shielding the infrastructure located directly behind it, the stretches of sand that were previously located in front of it, sand I spent my childhood playing on, has eroded away and been completely swallowed up by the ocean. And more and more of the sandy shoreline located in the northern part of the beach, the shoreline that is closer to UCSB and that contains a children’s park. Is also showing signs of erosion and loss of sand, but at a slower rate probably due to the lack of rip rap in that area. As you walk along the beach northbound you quickly get to the Beachside Bar Cafe restaurant located in the middle of the beach.
Located directly next to the ocean with no buffer or structure between the actual restaurant and the shoreline, the ocean has visibly migrated inland and the ocean currents are creeping closer to the outdoor patio of the restaurant where visitors can enjoy a direct ocean view. I remember when I was younger there was wide stretches of sand that visitors would walk along as they leisurely passed by the restaurant. This no longer happens as there is significantly less sand to walk on and as you progress down the beach southward there is nothing but ocean currents and rip rap. The infrastructure located on Goleta Beach is certainly in danger of inland migration of the shoreline and the placement of hard structures to try to prevent this migration is clearly not a long term solution for this problem. The loss of the sandy shoreline also seems to be contributing to the decrease in visitors as every time I go to the beach there doesn’t seem to be nearly as many people as there used to be since there is little sand or recreational areas to enjoy on the southern part of the beach anymore. Eventually the city will probably need to confront the possibility of managed retreat in order to prevent damage to the parking lots, walkways, bathrooms, seafood restaurant, and snack shack located close to the moving shoreline.
Sad to hear about the circumstances of one your childhood beaches. It is really cool in a science sense that you were able to see the difference in the shores with rip rap and the ones without it. Do you know of any current effort to mitigate sea level rise at Goleta beach?
It was definitely sad to go to the beach these past couple of years and to see the lack of long-term protection or environmentally conscious decisions to prevent damage from the rising sea level. As far as I know the only drastic decision made to protect the coast has been the placement of the rip rap, which as we learned in class only further worsens erosion and coastal damage.