The shoreline from San Clemente to Dana Point is a microcosm of what issues can arise when the sandy beach disappears from a “beach town.”
Editor’s note: This is the second story in a series looking at sand erosion issues in Southern California. Read the first storyRailroad passenger service through San Clemente has been halted twice because the seaside track shifted from waves pounding the soil, leaving commuters scrambling.
A 700-foot section, which less than a decade ago was buffered by a stretch of sand, is now being hit by rising waves threatening to swallow the rails. On the other side of the tracks, an eroding bluff is pushing the rail seaward, making passenger travel too dangerous to continue without repairs. The closures and loss of ridership beg the question: Why didn’t the OCTA, which has owned the track right-of-way since 1993, do something earlier to prevent the emergency? Amid decades of warnings from engineers and environmentalists about the changing coast, why did the agency not take action until an emergency occurred requiring quick fixes?
Just a few months earlier, the city of San Clemente had notified OCTA the private bluff on the land side of the tracks was moving, potentially pushing the rails toward the ever-rising sea, Johnson said. During the first closure of the rail line in September 2021, OCTA obtained emergency state and federal permits to dump boulders on the seaward side of the rails to act as a wall against the threatening waves. It’s an often-used, yet controversial emergency measure. More boulders were dumped this fall after it was discovered the ground beneath the tracks had moved 28 inches toward the sea over the last year.
A building is protected by a sand berm at North Beach during high tide in San Clemente, CA, on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. UC Irvine civil engineering professor Brett Sanders, a leading expert on sand erosion, said the beach went through what’s called a “tipping point.” But on the other hand, without the rip rap that’s been added, the water might reach the bluff’s base and put homes above in greater danger, he said.Noaki Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Coastal Commission, said the problems seen in part of south Orange County and elsewhere are the product of development before the panel was formed in 1977.
Suzie Whitelaw, of Save Our Beaches San Clemente, walks through a pedestrian tunnel that has filled with sand below Cyprus Shore at the state beach in San Clemente, CA, on Monday, December 5, 2022. Whitelaw said that the bar on the left is a handrail and was usable a few months ago. “This is really a microcosm of what we’ll see up and down the coast,” Walsh said. “This is a great example of, ‘This is happening now.’ “
“It was not a surprise, the residents were sounding the alarm. It does feel like nobody would listen,” she said. Diners eat at The FIsherman’s Restaurant and Bar on the 90-year-old San Clemente Pier in San Clemente in 2018. Fisherman’s Restaurant and Bar in San Clemente offers the quintessential Southern California experience: Cocktails and seafood overlooking the ocean from its two restaurants at the base of the wooden pier and a nearby summertime concession stand where beachgoers grab quick burgers, pizza or soft serve ice cream for their day at the shore.
Surfrider Foundation CEO Chad Nelsen said the nonprofit has been watching coastal erosion impacts for decades. In 2002, King conducted an economic study that found that for every beachgoer in San Clemente, the federal government netted $10.32 in tax dollars, the state got $4 and the city earned 5 cents after paying for public safety and other expenses. King said his findings show that beach towns aren’t the only ones profiting from the surfside tourism.
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