ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Erosion: More Than a Grain of Truth

The shifting sands of the beach know no county lines, and experts in South Orange County have been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the San Diego Assn. of Governments on a fascinating Coast of California Study that is tracking sand movement and beach erosion.

The beaches from the Mexican border to Dana Point are the first in the state to receive such comprehensive scrutiny. Negotiations are under way with the rest of Orange County and Los Angeles County to do another study up the coast.

The results promise to be a useful planning tool for future recreational development all along the coast. Nothing like it has ever been done before. The question, of course, is what we do with the data--whether we will manage the coastline wisely, even if we do know more about it.

One thing is already clear. Orange County, from Dana Point to San Clemente, is losing sand to a variety of causes. Wave action, volcanic activity and development are among the suspects. Down the coast, San Diego is losing sand, too. Managing what is left is crucial for homeowners, tourism and recreation.

In San Diego, the study has confirmed what scientists and environmentalists have been saying for years about some parts of the shoreline. Damming rivers, sand mining, harbors and seawalls and bluff-top development all strip sand from the beaches and deposit much of it behind the dams or in offshore canyons.

It’s not clear what effect development has had on the parts of Orange County studied, but one thing is certain: Future development must be controlled wisely.

To preserve the beaches, people are going to have to replace what they have been removing and start regarding sand as a valuable resource worth protecting. This will be costly, as Oceanside found out in the early 1980s, when it spent $4 million in city and federal funds to replenish its beaches. But the alternative, a beach-starved coastline, could be even costlier.

One hopeful sign from the Army Corps of Engineers study is that local officials are recognizing the need for building and sand-mining restrictions. Also, the report will produce a planners’ handbook, a useful idea that will help shape the future of the shoreline.

If regional plans get strong popular support, it will be easier to find the money to implement them. And sand loss is not just one county’s problem. The region’s economic and recreational well-being depend on curbing it.