Sackett: Orange County Transportation Authority’s Railroad Armoring – The Death Knell for San Clemente Beaches

San Clemente’s beaches are successful an existential combat for survival. We’ve known for decades that the Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) extortion of the railroad tracks straight contributes to coastal erosion and the disappearance of our sandy beaches. But alternatively of moving to support our beaches and region the tracks, our authorities is doubling down connected costly and wasteful efforts to support the tracks successful place. This nonaccomplishment of enactment cannot beryllium tolerated. 

CalTrans recently announced $125 cardinal dollars in authorities backing for OCTA to “protect” the LOSSAN corridor on San Clemente’s shoreline (read: hide our beaches with riprap, a method word for boulders). Rep. Mike Levin secured different $100 million from the national authorities to bash the same. We are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into armoring our beaches successful an effort to support the railroad tracks successful place. We should beryllium investing these funds successful alternate proscription solutions that don’t destruct our precious beaches and waves. The nationalist indispensable request that our iconic beaches not beryllium sacrificed owed to OCTA’s ongoing nonaccomplishment to supply sustainable proscription alternatives. 

With national and authorities funds presently disposable for projects similar surviving shorelines and nature-based solutions, we could be utilizing that wealth to really reconstruct the coastline and summation resilience with proven methods similar managed retreat and coastal dune restoration, not burying it nether layers of concrete. Why are we wasting payer dollars connected harmful projects that volition lone guarantee the demise of our communal coastal spaces?

We person already witnessed this harm with OCTA’s monolithic boulder dump astatine Cotton’s Point successful South San Clemente that has blocked nationalist entree to San Onofre State Beach, degraded Cottons surf interruption (part of world-renowned Trestles fame), starved adjacent beaches of earthy soil replenishment, and sharply accrued erosion. The projected 2/3-mile-long hold of riprap on San Clemente State Beach volition obliterate an highly fashionable formation and pb to adjacent much erosion, perpetuating the rhythm of accrued armoring and ongoing decimation of our sandy beaches. The lone sustainable mode to warrant that the railroad won’t succumb to ongoing bluff illness and ever-increasing tempest surges is to determination the tracks inland.

We’ve got to halt throwing payer dollars astatine much coastal armoring. We request to deliberation bigger. Relocating the railroad comes with challenges. We request to reimagine proscription arsenic a full by investing successful smarter determination solutions that don’t trust connected eroding shorelines and fragile cliffs for their foundation. After all, our seashore isn’t conscionable a backdrop for the railroad, it’s an irreplaceable ecosystem, a captious portion of California’s identity, location to beloved waves and a assets that’s worthy preserving.

The California Coastal Commission volition soon determine whether to o.k. oregon contradict OCTA’s licence exertion to permanently clasp the riprap astatine Cotton’s Point that was placed betwixt 2021 and 2022 nether an exigency permit. A proceeding is tentatively scheduled for aboriginal 2025. This riprap destroyed what was near of the formation astatine Cyprus Shores, made it unpassable astatine astir tides, has go hazardous to surfers astatine Cotton’s Point, and is threatening the question astatine Trestles. We anticipation everyone who loves San Clemente’s beaches and waves volition amusement up and inquire the Commission to get the boulders disconnected our beach.

Let’s request smarter, much sustainable solutions that don’t sacrifice our coastline. And astir importantly, let’s halt locking ourselves into a aboriginal of endless coastal armoring that we’ll regret.

Mandy Sackett, Senior California Policy Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation, San Clemente

Opinions expressed successful assemblage sentiment pieces beryllium to the authors and not Voice of OC.

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