Clean Up On Aisle Beach: Sustainable Strategies For California's Disappearing Shorelines

From the picturesque surfing beaches in Cardiff-by-the-Sea to the Pacific Surfliner tracks lining the cliffs in San Clemente, Southern California is synonymous with its coast. And yet, coastal Californian communities are constantly being threatened—addressing the impacts of coastal erosion has become a priority for beachside communities worldwide. 

Coastal cities are grappling with the need to adapt to climate changes, safeguarding both existing infrastructure and natural ecosystems while ensuring the safety and well-being of their residents. In the face of these challenges, innovative approaches to coastal resilience are emerging, offering hope for sustainable protection of beloved beachfront areas.

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What Is Coastal Resilience?

Coastal resilience is the ability of coastal communities and ecosystems to withstand, recover from, and adapt to the impacts of coastal hazards such as storms, erosion, and sea-level rise. Central to coastal resilience is the recognition of the interconnectedness between natural processes, human activities, and built infrastructure along the coast. 

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Sustainable Design For Coastlines

While one of the most common ways to address coastal erosion on Southern California’s sandy beaches has often been sand replenishment—bringing tons of sand in from other sources like construction sites and underwater dredging. This becomes  costly and time-consuming, and often doesn’t last long thanks to strong wave action, rising seas, and heavy winter storms. 

There’s no point in fighting the natural processes of the ocean, and coastal communities have been forced to get creative to save their beaches. One Southern California city that’s taken the holistic nature-based solution strategy to heart is Oceanside, California. Rather than spend millions on annual sand replenishment that can disappear in a matter of weeks, the city decided to look elsewhere for solutions, issuing a call for public input in the form of RE:BEACH Oceanside.

Bringing together three design teams from around the world to develop sand retention projects for local beaches, the city of Oceanside turned a coastal engineering dilemma into a collaborative iteration session. Over 150 community members joined public workshops to review the design proposals and offer meaningful feedback on which was best for the future of Oceanside.

One of the key objectives of the RE:BEACH Oceanside project is to restore and enhance coastal ecosystems, including wetlands, dunes, and salt marshes. These natural habitats are not only essential for wildlife but are effective buffers against coastal erosion and flooding. By incorporating features such as living shorelines and restored wetlands, the project aims to create dynamic coastal landscapes that promote biodiversity and resilience.

Strategies For Sand Sustainability 

To design a solution to the city’s ongoing erosional issues, RE:BEACH featured work from three teams.  Each team offered not only effective sand retention strategies designed with sustainability in mind, but also offered key guidance on a long-term coastal management strategy.

The Green Dream Peninsula, designed by a collaboration between Dutch consultancy Deltares and architecture firm MVRDV, envisioned a natural peninsula structure that would jut out from the natural coastline. The companies’ proposal emphasized the importance of rethinking the environmental design process to preserve the core of Oceanside’s economy and identity. Boulders and rocks would not only protect the sand accumulated on the beach but would create natural infrastructure that could be used for recreation and allow for rainwater flow to a nearby wetland restoration project.

Dunepark, developed by American landscape architecture firm SCAPE, pitched a solution that was true to their nature-minded urban design projects in New York and New Orleans—creating an ecologically restorative and socially engaged landscape, that maintains the community aspect of Oceanside’s beaches and acts as a natural infrastructure for years to come. The plan included extending the usable beach by transforming the existing playground and lawn area into dunes supported by copple crests and nearshore reefs. The design included sandy walking paths through the cobble crests, which were included to minimize the erosional impacts of the waves and increase sand retention.

Finally, the Living Speed Bump design from Australia-based International Coastal Management (ICM) consisted of creating two small headlands to stabilize the beach, bolstered by an offshore eco-artificial reef to slow down the wave action that had been eroding away significant amounts of sand. With decades of experience working on dynamic coastlines all around the world, the company emphasized working with nature to create cost-effective and scalable solutions. In their Oceanside design, the headlands and reef would allow sand to gather between the two “speed bumps,” widening the available sandy beach space. 

Ultimately ICM’s designs—which had been implemented successfully on Australia’s Gold Coast—was selected, with an anticipated cost of $31.4 million and annual maintenance costs.

In addition to seeking the expertise of various sustainability-minded landscape architecture and engineering firms, the RE:BEACH Oceanside project has employed a range of sustainable strategies and best practices that have proven results in coastal problem-solving. 

• Community Engagement: By engaging local communities in the planning and implementation of coastal resilience projects, ensure that solutions are culturally and socially inclusive.

• Adaptive Management: Adopting adaptive management approaches that allow for flexibility and responsiveness in the face of changing environmental conditions.

• Green Infrastructure: Implementing low-energy green infrastructure solutions such as rain gardens, bioswales, and permeable pavements to manage stormwater runoff and reduce flooding while supporting local ecosystems and species.

• Education and Outreach: Educating the public about the importance of coastal resilience and promoting stewardship of coastal ecosystems through outreach and education programs.

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Collaboration For Coastal Resilience

The RE:BEACH Oceanside project represents a groundbreaking effort to enhance coastal resilience through sustainable design and innovative strategies. While it will take time to see the effects of the RE:BEACH Oceanside projects implemented, the beaches that are part of the coastal resilience project will be thoroughly monitored for the duration of the pilot project. 

Each beach is entirely different—the result of varying wave energy, directions, wind and weather patterns, and human development affecting the flow of the sand and beach area accordingly. Resilient coastlines stem from responsive communities—governments, scientists, and citizens working together to identify solutions that offer a compromise for everyone and everything, from cost and ecology to existing infrastructure and public beach access. 

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Follow The Project 

For the latest in the RE:BEACH project implementation, follow along at @rebeachoside on Instagram.