California Beach Report

California's beach health indicators are a study in contrasts. California has one of the most comprehensive beach water quality testing programs of all the coastal states, but also has by far the most beach closures and advisories of all the states. Beach access information is plentiful and access is generally good, except for some disputed areas in communities like Malibu and Santa Barbara. Erosion is a problem in many areas throughout the state, prompting many private coastal property owners and municipalities to install seawalls and other hard structures to protect their investments, often at the expense of the beach. Finding alternatives to shoreline structures is essential to preserve the remaining coastal resources. California recognizes waves as valuable recreational, economic and cultural resources.

Since 1976, the California State Coastal Conservancy has spent over $200 million to support projects that purchase, protect, restore, and enhance coastal resources. (+) During 2002, the California Coastal Commission Statewide Coastal Access Program assisted in the acceptance of 136 Offers to Dedicate (OTD), providing additional horizontal (along the coast) and vertical (to the coast) access points. (+) California recognizes waves as a valuable recreational, economic, and cultural resource.

(+) Voters in Los Angeles County passed a $500 million bond measure in November 2004 to address the problem of non-point source pollution. The money will be used to build filtration plants, install cisterns to recycle storm water, install a system to divert stormwater into groundwater supplies, and install screens and other mechanisms to remove trash from rivers and lakes.
(+) Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled an ocean protection plan that includes establishing a California Ocean Protection Council that will guide ocean policy and coastal protection.


 About 80% of California's 33 million residents live within 50 kilometers of the Pacific Ocean.
Approximately 950 miles (86%) of California's coastline is actively eroding.

(-) The extent of shoreline armoring increased from about 26 miles to 110 miles between 1971 and 1992. Two strong El Niño winters have occurred since 1990, undoubtedly adding to this total.
(-) 5,384 beach days were affected by closures or advisories during 2003. Water testing has detected human adenoviruses, fecal coliform, and other disease-causing bacteria, pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals.
(-) Every day, 37 ocean outfalls in California discharge over 1.5 billion gallons of sewage containing about 120 million tons of mass solids (sewage sludge).

The 1976 California Coastal Act, Section 30001.5 states:
The legislature further finds and declares that the basic goals of the state for the coastal zone are to: . . .(c) Maximize public access to and along the coast and maximize public recreational opportunities in the coastal zone consistent with sound resources conservation principles and constitutionally protected rights of private property owners.
See also Section 30211 of the Coastal Act:
30211. Development shall not interfere with the public's right of access to the sea where acquired through use or legislative authorization, including, but not limited to, the use of dry sand and rocky coastal beaches to the first line of terrestrial vegetation.
The state owns the tidelands and submerged lands seaward of the "mean high tide line." The public/private boundary is also sometimes referred to as the "ambulatory high tide line." Although it can be difficult to ascertain the boundary between public and private lands, the general rule is that visitors have the right to walk on the wet beach.8

Under the Prescriptive Rights program (see below), studies are being conducted in Mendocino, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Diego and a study was completed for the Hidden Beach area of Santa Cruz County. A lawsuit has been filed by the State Attorney General in this latter case, which covers 5 acres of sandy beach in the community of Rio Del Mar.

While attempting to improve coastal access, California also takes a variety of steps to minimize environmental impacts associated with coastal access, including prohibiting access across dunes, restricting off-road vehicle use, protecting nesting areas, providing designated accessways, and installing educational signage.10

Along the California coast, the general public has historically used numerous coastal areas. Trails to the beach, informal parking areas, beaches, and bluff tops have provided recreational opportunities for hiking, picnicking, fishing, swimming, surfing, diving, viewing, and nature study. Ocean views are taken into consideration by the CCC when making coastal impact decisions. California law provides that under certain conditions, long-term public access across private property may result in the establishment of a permanent public easement. This is called a public prescriptive right of access.

The Coastal Public Access Program includes a prescriptive rights element whereby the Coastal Commission researches and inventories the historic public use of areas with the potential for significant public access benefits. Where research indicates that the public use is substantial enough to create potential prescriptive rights, the Attorney General's office has the authority to proceed with the legal action necessary to protect those areas.

California's Prescriptive Rights Program website is a MUST SEE for surfers and other ocean enthusiasts interested in maintaining and preserving beach access. http://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/prc-access.html

For more details see also Some Facts About Public Prescriptive Rights.



Site Inventory
60% of the shoreline in California is publicly owned, according to Pogue P. and Lee V., 1999, "Providing Public Access to the Shore: The Role of Coastal Zone Management Programs", Coastal Management 27:219-237.

This same document identifies 850 public access sites. This corresponds to about 1 public access site for every 4 miles of shoreline of tidally affected land or one public access site for every 1.3 miles of the coast.

According to the 2003 California Coastal Access Guide, approximately 42% of the shoreline is publicly owned and accessible, while the remaining 58% is owned privately or is held by federal, state, or local government, and is not open to the public.

According to CCC staff, approximately 50% of coastal lands adjacent to the beach are publicly owned, and perhaps 25% of private beaches are publicly accessible. The CCC has detailed information on this, but lacks the staff to compile the data and calculate an exact number.11

Each local government has a list of beach access sites, and the CCC maintains an overall list.
The data is updated regularly, as needed, by the CCC. The CCC tracks change in quantity, but not quality.

This information is not available online. However, there is a great new sixth edition of the California Coastal Access Guide (August 2003) now available. The guide catalogs every coastal access site and provides a description of the site along with a map and directions on how to find the access. The preparation of the Coastal Access Guide is mandated by California Coastal Act.

The Coastal Access Guide identifies more than 850 public coastal access sites. Access sites have a range of amenities, from basic features like a dirt pull-off along the highway or a staircase at the end of a street that descends to the beach, to large parks complete with parking, campgrounds, and restrooms. The following table gives the proportion of California's access sites with the given characteristics. Many of the access sites include several of the described amenities, but the statistics only count each individual feature.

Characteristics of Beach Access Sites
Fees 24%
Parking 87%
Restrooms 55%
Campgrounds 12%
Staircase to Beach 41%
Path to Beach 56%
Street-end Access 26%

All of the above statistics were calculated using the information in the guidebook.

For information on how to get a copy of the 6th edition of the Coastal Access Guide go to:
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/accessguide.html

California Department of Parks and Recreation manages more than 260 parks, including 63 state beaches. More information be found at the California State Park Web site:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp

At their website you'll find "Find-a Park," a feature which lets you search by name, county, city, region, or activity (including surfing), and provides you with detailed information for each park, including a description of amenities, driving directions, and contact information.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/parkindex/

The California Department of Parks and Recreation made it more affordable to access state parks in January 2001, by reducing camping fees and eliminating most camping premium charges, reducing day use fees in remaining units (urban beaches and busy reservoirs), reducing the price for an annual day-use parking pass (to $35), and eliminating boat-launching fees. Unfortunately, due to the current budget crises impacting California, the cost of an annual day-use pass jumped back up to $75 for 2003 and increased to $125 in 2005. Peak day use fees at many locations are currently $10.



Beach Attendance Records
According to CCC staff, beach attendance records for state parks are collected by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and attendance records for local beaches are kept by the corresponding municipality.12

A summary of State Park attendance records for the years 1997 to 2001 is available in Adobe Acrobat format at:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/91/files/visit2000.pdf

Each year over 50 million people visit the California coast. According to this same document, almost 9 million people visited Southern California beaches during just the first half of 2001.

About 80% of California's 33 million residents live within 50 kilometers of the Pacific Ocean.13



Economic Evaluation of Beaches
The California Department of Boating and Waterways sponsored a 1999 report titled "The Fiscal Impacts of Beaches in California." According to the executive summary, which can be found at
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~pgking/beaches.htm
In 1998, California's beaches generated $14 billion dollars of direct revenue. When the indirect and induced benefits of this spending are added, California's beaches' total contribution to the national economy is $73 billion.

The federal tax revenues generated by this beach activity are substantial. The direct federal tax revenues generated are $2.6 billion; however, the total federal tax revenues generated are much higher: $14 billion.
A full copy of the report is available in Adobe Acrobat format at http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~pgking/handouts/thefiscalimpactofbeaches.pdf

In addition to the study mentioned above, an even more comprehensive and ambitious study began in 2000 at the University of Southern California (USC). The project, titled The National Ocean Economics Project, is being lead by Dr. Judith Kildrow of USC's Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The objective of this project is to provide useful data on ocean-related economic activities and resource trends to government, businesses, and individuals to assist with investment and management decisions as they attempt to balance conservation and growth in coastal areas. This project will provide the first major comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the size and composition of the U.S. ocean economy over the past 30 years. Information will be gathered in eight "market" sectors that generate economic activity:
Living Resources (includes fisheries)

Offshore Mineral and Energy Resources

Marine Transportation (includes ports and shipping)

Ship and Boat Building

Coastal Tourism and Recreation

Coastal Real Estate

Research and Development (includes oceanographic research institutions)

Coastal Construction, Restoration, Maintenance and Repair Activities (includes restoration of wetlands, the building of waste treatment plants, and the dredging of harbors)
When the study is completed, Dr. Kildrow and her fellow researchers hope to be able to answer the question: "What is the ocean worth?" Dr. Kildrow claims that coastal counties produce eight times the income that inland counties do. More information on this important project can be found at http://biology.usc.edu/NOEP

UPDATE! - The report California's Ocean Economy was released in July 2005 and is available at:
http://resources.ca.gov/press_documents/CA_Ocean_Econ_Report.pdf

The California Beach Restoration Study, http://dbw.ca.gov/beachreport.htm released in fall 2002 by the California Department of Boating and Waterways, estimated that the beaches of North San Diego County generate $562 million annually. Tax revenues associated with these expenditures are estimated at $172 million annually.

Finally, an article appeared in the August 2002 issue of Surfrider Foundation's newsletter Making Waves. Charles Tilley of California State University Monterey Bay has performed a study which estimates the net value of the "Pleasure Point" surf spot in Santa Cruz to be $8.4 million annually. The complete article can be found at
http://www.surfrider.org/makingwaves/makingwaves18-4/9.pdf

"Valuing Recreation and Amenities at San Diego County Beaches," by Daniel K. Lew and Douglas M. Larson, was recently published in the Journal of Coastal Management (vol. 33(1): 71-86, January 2005). This paper presents economic values associated with beach recreation in San Diego County generated from a recreation demand model that explains a beach user's choice of which beach to visit. These include estimates of the economic values of a beach day, beach closures and beach amenities. An electronic version of the article is available at http://www.catchword.co.uk/titles/tandf/08920753/contp1-1.htm

The first author is Daniel K. Lew, with the Alaska Fisheries Center, NMFS, in Seattle. His e-mail address is Dan.Lew@noaa.gov. The second author, Douglas M. Larson, is in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis. His e-mail address is dmlarson@ucdavis.edu.



Perception of Supply and Demand
The first comprehensive review of the state's Coastal Access Program, the California Coastal Commission Public Access Action Plan, was published in June 1999. It identifies the key issues that affect the public's ability to use and enjoy the coast for recreation. Among other things, this document provides a statewide and county-by-county overview of access needs and significant impediments to improving public access. It notes that:
Public access along the North Coast is provided primarily by the numerous federal, state, and county parks found there. While there are significant trail systems in this region, there are also large gaps in access. Major needs in the North Coast include closure of coastal trail gaps, and protection of public access rights acquired through historic use.
Along the Central Coast, public access to the beach in urban areas is generally open and encouraged. However, many miles of private and/or military property in rural and semi-rural lands often block access. In this region, conflicts between local residents and visitors to the coast are often expressed through exclusionary actions such as preferential parking programs or the non-permitted installation of "no parking" or "no beach access" signs. In addition, the installation of seawalls in response to erosion at sites throughout Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo Counties has dramatically affected lateral beach access, limited the overall area available for general beach recreation, and reduced natural supplies of sand. Conflicts between public access and protection of natural sites such as tide pools or elephant seal haul-out areas, are also increasing in the central coast.
In several South Coast locales, access to the beach is impossible. For example, in parts of Orange County exclusively gated communities totally prevent direct access to the beach. In areas such as Malibu, residents discourage beach use and intimidate visitors through a variety of methods including use of "no parking" or "no beach access" signs and private security patrols. However, there are miles of South Coast coastline that have been protected by public purchase, are open to the public year-round, and serve millions of visitors each year. Still, this access is increasingly impaired due to traffic congestion and its attendant problems. For example, in many areas hundreds of parking spots have been constructed but the public demand frequently exceeds the supply. Moreover, the increasing population's desire to use and enjoy the coast leads to ever-increasing problems with overcrowding and tensions between conflicting uses.

A long-running (since 1983) access dispute at Carbon Beach in Malibu was apparantly resolved in May 2005 when entertainment mogul David Geffen opened a 9-foot-wide walkway past his seaside mansion. Meanwhile, at nearby Broad Beach, homeowners have used heavy equipment to push sand from the public beach area up toward their homes, creating barriers up to 8 feet high and shrinking the public beach. The California Coastal Commission has ordered the homeowners to stop this practice. In July 2004, the Coastal Commission demanded that homeowners remove warning signs stating "private property, do not trespass" and stop employing private security guards who target outsiders.

The CCC Public Access Plan also includes 39 recommendations on how to improve public access in California. This great 105-page document is available in Adobe Acrobat format:
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/accesspl.pdf

According to CCC staff, there is generally not sufficient beach access, beach parking, or public transportation to meet current or projected demand in urban areas. In more rural areas there often is sufficient beach access and parking.14



Public Education Program
According to CCC staff, the primary means of education/outreach is their website and other books/publications, including the 6th edition of the Coastal Access Guide noted above. http://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/accessguide.html

Pursuant to funds from the settlement of the American Trader Oil Spill off of Huntington Beach, the CCC produced a map of Orange County beaches. This is the first time CCC has produced a folding pocket-sized map (based on information from the California Coastal Access Guide) covering a single county.