OCTA just released a Emergency Plan of Action to stabilize their tracks through San Clemente

The Phase I Study was intended to take two years and include a robust Stakeholder component; however, they just announced a $200M plan to armor almost half of our public beaches, including a northern segment from the south end of North Beach through the north end of Linda Lane; and State Beach, from north of Calafia Beach Park all the way down to Cyprus Shores landslide.

Their full report can be viewed on their website here. Their presentation to the OCTA Board (with additional information) can be viewed on their website here (on the bottom index, click on Item #17 “Emergency Coastal Projects.”

OCTA spent $8M armoring the south end of town. 

Imagine what $200M worth of rocks will look like.

SOUTH END PROJECT: Seawall Across all of State Beach

On the south end of town, OCTA proposes to build an engineered revetment extending almost the entire length of the San Clemente State Beach, beginning just north of Calafia Beach Park and extending all the way down to Cyprus Shores beach. The plan does not provide a horizontal scale, but scaling from the width of the railroad tracks indicates that this could extend 50+ feet seaward of the tracks. The dry sand width on this beach ranges from zero to 50 feet, meaning that the revetment would completely occupy the remaining beach.

The projected width of the revetment would occupy the entire dry sandy beach

The diagrams provided by OCTA do not have a scale, but their staff, in talks with State Parks officials, have indicated that it will be approximately 50-60 feet from the centerline of the tracks. The red lines here indicate the width of beach that would be occupied by that revetment.

The rocks would occupy the entire dry sand beach, leaving waves to crash against the rocks at high tide, and scour out the foreshore so that even the wet sand disappears.

NORTH END PROJECTS: More Walls and Rock Dumps

On the north end of town, OCTA proposes additional rock dumps across a half-mile stretch beginning at the south end of North Beach (probably just south of the swing sets) extending across El Portal, Dije Court, and down into Linda Lane. There is no indication as to the lateral extent of these rock dumps. North Beach and Linda Lane are slated for “monitoring” to determine if emergency rock dumps are needed there.

OCTA also proposes to build a half-mile wall on the landward side of the tracks, extending the one being currently built at Mariposa.

BOULDERS KILL BEACHES

It is a well-known scientific fact that storm waves crashing against vertical surfaces such as the proposed revetment / seawalls create turbulence and increase the rate of erosion. We have clear evidence of this at our beaches, supported by documentation and corroboration from UCI’s Dr. Brett Sanders (see our Rates of Erosion section)

Seawalls cause beach narrowing erosion due to several mechanisms (see our Seawalls section for more information):

  1. They occupy space where the sandy beach should be;

  2. They block the natural flow of sediment from inland sources (in this case, bluff erosion)

  3. If the beach is narrow enough such that waves interact with the structure, it creates additional turbulence and erosion;

  4. The increased erosion tends to steepen the foreshore area, intensifying wave action;

  5. The engineered structures disrupt the natural flow of sediment;

  6. The seawall represents a fixed line, not allowing the beach to naturally migrate landward; and

  7. Increased turbulence at the end of the structure creates increased erosion, necessitating additional armoring, which begins a vicious cycle that won’t end until all of our beaches are armored.

We Demand that OCTA protects its tracks with SAND NOT ROCK.

We understand that OCTA must protect their tracks, but not at the expense of further eradicating our beaches.

Ongoing sand replenishment, sufficient to keep waves and high tides away from the OCTA revetment, provides the most effective and environmentally sustainable means of protecting the tracks. A wide sandy beach provided excellent protection for these tracks for over a hundred years.

There is a reason why OCTA is not suggesting rock dumps at our central beaches: because the Federal sand replenishment project creates wide sandy beaches that protect the tracks from the ocean.

This is critical: OCTA must partner with required entities to replenish sand FIRST, before more rip rap can be added. There are too many risks that sand replenishment programs could be delayed or cancelled once the tracks are protected with more rip rap. These seawalls will cause turbulence and “end erosion” – meaning that erosion, and armoring, will continue northwards into Riviera and LaSuen beaches next.

It’s not OK to allow arguments against sand replenishment to fester, e.g that the train tracks will eventually be moved inland anyway, or that “managed retreat” strategies must be enacted to allow nature to take its course. The primary causes for beach erosion (inland blocking of sediment, tracks blocking bluff erosion sediment, and hard armoring) are human caused, and can be solved in the short and medium term via nature-based, human-engineered solutions.

This is a complex and extraordinarily painstaking effort, fraught with various agendas and financial challenges, yet our city leaders must recognize this disaster-in-the-making and act decisively. Are we really going to be a beach town without beaches?