Advocating for the restoration and preservation of our beautiful beaches

EMERGENCY ALERT: STATE BEACH AND NORTH BEACH UNDER EMINENT THREAT AS OCTA PLANS $200M ROCK REVETMENTS ON THE BEACH

The railroad authority (OCTA) has just released their plans to place $200 million worth of rock across most of State Beach, apparently to extend up to 125 feet seaward of the railroad tracks. Note that at the south end of town, they spent $8M to place rocks up to 70 feet seaward of the railroad tracks — resulting in the complete erosion and devastation of the beach. They have similar plans for the south end of North Beach through Linda Lane.

Join us in protesting and fighting this horrific plan. Sign up for our newsletter to get our Action Alerts and stay informed. Make your voice heard. This is an existential threat to our very identity as a beach town.

The beaches of San Clemente are eroding at an alarming rate — up to 20 feet of beach per year in hot spot areas. Over 20% of our beaches have disappeared completely and our remaining beaches are under imminent threat. The current Federal Project covers just 3,200 feet of our 5-mile coastline.

San Clemente is a beach town. Are we still a beach town if we no longer have a beach?

We are a group of concerned citizens, scientists, and surfers who have come together to advocate for cost-effective, nature-based solutions with a high probability of success, focused on sand replenishment and sand retention strategies.

WHAT IS CAUSING COASTAL EROSION?

  • Human activities prevent sediment from reaching our coast and deprives our beaches of the nourishment they need to naturally replenish

  • The railroad’s hard armoring of our shoreline disrupts the natural flow and accumulation of beach sand, exacerbating coastal erosion

  • Sealevel rise has had minimal impact on our beach erosion to date

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS TO COASTAL EROSION?

  • Replenish our beaches with sand to compensate for sand-depriving activities

  • Implement sensible sand retention structures

  • Managed retreat is not a viable solution

WHAT WE NEED TO DO AS A COMMUNITY

  • Advocate for additional sand replenishment efforts for areas not covered by the current Federal project

  • Advocate for sand retention structures to keep more sand on our beaches

  • Advocate for responsible resource management by OCTA to prevent the destruction of any more of San Clemente’s beaches through hard armoring

We are actively seeking volunteers to help in our work

Save Our Beaches San Clemente engages primarily in advocacy for practical, cost-effective, nature-based solutions to restore our beaches.

Our leaders include community organizers who work on understanding the local stakeholders’ needs and desires for their local problems; coastal scientists who are working on identifying solutions and developing conceptual designs; and government liaisons working to obtain funding for feasibility studies and implementation of those ideas.

If you would like to help, please let us know via our contact page.