Seawalls and Shoreline Structures

Solana Beach could be aptly named Solana Seawalls as the amount of concrete and rip rap seems to outnumber the amount of beach available for the public to use.  Forget about surfing Fletcher Cove at high tide, unless you enjoy the massive back wash from waves hitting the structures.
 
Seawalls, groins, jetties and other shoreline stabilization structures have had tremendous impacts on our nation's beaches. Shoreline structures are built to alter the effects of ocean waves, currents and sand movement. They are usually built to "protect" buildings that were built on a beach, bluff, or cliff undergoing erosion. When a seawall is built in an eroding area, a certain impact is the beach will narrow since the seawall fixes the back of the beach and the shoreline is moving landward.
 
Sometimes structures are built to redirect rivers and streams. Other times they are constructed to shelter boats in calm water. In many cases, seawalls, jetties, breakwaters and groins have caused down-coast erosion problems with associated costs that have greatly exceeded the construction cost of the structure.
 
Every surfrider knows that there are groins and jetties that have incidentally improved wave riding. However, in many other areas shoreline construction has ruined wildlife habitat, destroyed surfing waves and caused beaches to erode. As beach lovers and environmentalists, we need to understand the consequences of shoreline structures so that we may be able to effectively influence decisions on the impacts, placement or necessity of these structures. As an environmental group committed to maintaining the natural shoreline and beach equilibrium, we are usually opposed to construction that will disrupt the balance of forces that shape our coastline.  Planned retreat can be a tough concept to wrap your head around but in the long run the best planning is for new construction to be set back from the and structures threatened by erosion to be removed or relocated.
 
For more info visit:
http://www.surfrider.org/srui.aspx?uiq=structures/basics
and
http://www.surfrider.org/seawall/

For detailed info on coastal threats around the world visit Surfrider’s Coastal A-Z:
http://www.surfrider.org/whatwedo4b.asp
 
For current information on San Diego County water quality visit:
http://www.earth911.org/waterquality/default.asp?cluster=1