San Clemente Shore Protection Project

The City of San Clemente is an affluent beach city located in Orange County, California. With over 3,000 feet of shoreline, San Clemente had begun the process of examining counter measures to erosion and storms that reduced recreational beach opportunities and were threatening the stability of City facilities, private property, and a major southern California commuter rail corridor. Beach erosion has been and continues to be an ongoing problem along the San Clemente shoreline. More recently, over a 20 year span, average widths in the City’s beaches gradually reduced more than 50 percent compared to beach measurements from 1958 and 1981. The City of San Clemente partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to protect approximately 3,412 feet of shoreline from Linda Lane to T-Street.

Chambers Group completed a joint Environmental Impact Report / Environmental Impact Statement satisfying the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a proposed beach fill/nourishment action alternative. In addition to conventional impact area analyses on air quality, geology, water quality/oceanography, biological resources, cultural resources, ground and vessel traffic/transportation, land use, noise, recreation, aesthetics, public health and safety, and socioeconomics/environmental justice, Chambers Group conducted a surfgrass survey and prepared an Air Conformity Determination, Coastal Consistency Determination, 404(b)(1), CEQA and NEPA notices, and the mitigation monitoring and reporting program. Chambers Group also coordinated with federal and state agencies, such as the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in multiple, multi-agency meetings for sensitive biological resources, such as surfgrass.

Grunion Monitoring

Grunion runs are an annual celebration for many amateur scientists and families alike in Southern California. Grunion are found only along the coast in Southern California and northern Baja. These slender, silvery fish have some unique mating behaviors. When spawning season comes, typically March through September, masses of grunion will swim out of the water onto the sandy shores on specific nights. The females dig nests with their tails and stay buried up to their pectoral fins while they lay eggs. The males then come up and wrap around the females to fertilize the eggs. These eggs are only 2-3 inches below the surface of the sand and incubate for about 10 days. The baby grunion hatch from their eggs and catch a ride on the next high tide back into the sea. These events are called Grunion Runs as onlookers can watch millions of these tiny fish “run” out of and back to the ocean on a predictable schedule.

During the grunion spawning season, since eggs are buried so close to the sand surface, Orange County Parks is required to monitor grunion runs to make sure maintenance activities, such as excavation of sediment, at various beach outlets does not disturb grunion eggs. Chambers Group has monitored annual grunion runs at both the Aliso Creek (Aliso Beach) and Prima Deshecha (Poche Beach) outlets to maintain compliance with project regulatory permits, including the Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Section 401 permit from Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), and the Section 1602 Streambed Alteration Agreement from California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). These monitoring efforts help to avoid impacts to grunion eggs and help provide future opportunities for curious kids and adults to experience this wonderful event for years to come.

Broad Beach Restoration

Broad Beach is one of the most recognizable shorefronts in the world, stretching from Northwest Los Angeles up through the City of Malibu. As celebrated as it is threatened, this California beach has suffered intense erosion for more than 30 years, exposing the coveted beachfront property along Broad Beach to flooding and damage during winter storms and high tides.

In late 2010, a consortium of affected property owners called the Trancas Property Owner’s Association submitted an application for Coastal Development for a $31 million permanent dune and beach restoration project. The resulting Broad Beach Geologic Hazard Abatement District (BBGHAD) proposed permanent placement of a rock revetment shoreline protection device, beach nourishment, and dune restoration to protect approximately 124 private property parcels and augment beach and dune resources. In October 2015, California Coastal Commission approved a Coastal Development Permit to create a new permanent rock revetment and 1.1-mile public beach, including a restored dune system. The permit issued by the commission was for 10 years, with the potential for an amendment every 10 years thereafter. Under the permit, a scientific advisory panel reviews exhaustive marine habitat monitoring and sampling plans to make sure the project will not have any significant adverse impacts to the beach.

Chambers Group has assisted with the analysis of marine biological resources issues stemming from this project effort, including intertidal and subtidal resource surveys, monitoring, and reporting. Although Chambers Group did not prepare the permits, these reports provide supporting documentation for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Section 404 Permit and California Coastal Commission (CCC) Coastal Development Permit. Marine resources studied and monitored for biological assessment and regulatory permit needs included a range of species, including intertidal invertebrates, eelgrass, surfgrass, black abalone, grunion, and western snowy plover. In addition to the studies conducted at Broad Beach, Chambers Group has conducted a marine biological survey at three potential sand source sites off Manhattan Beach, Dockweiler Beach, and Venice Beach as well as inland review of three potential sand source sites in Moorpark. Chambers Group also reviewed the biological resources of Trancas Estuary/Lagoon and lower Trancas Creek. Chambers Group supported BBGHAD by providing the biological and cultural resources review to develop 1) a dune habitat restoration and monitoring program; 2) comprehensive monitoring and reporting program for beach profile characteristics, beach erosion rates, and affected resources; and 3) an adaptive management and reporting plan. In addition, Chambers Group assisted with the documents to acquire authorization for the Applicant’s proposed inland location of the relocated portion of the revetment.