Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Rapping with Surfrider CEO Jim Moriarty
Courtesy Moriarity Collection
By Scott Hulet
June 20, 2011 - 10:30am
Besides our ocean environment, Surfrider Foundation CEO Jim Moriarty's also a big fan of surfboards, listing shapes from Joel Tudor and Tyler Warren among his favorites.
The Surfrider Foundation has a quarter century of ocean advocacy under its belt. Their experience and
effectiveness has never been more evident. Under the leadership of 48-year-old CEO Jim Moriarty, the non-profit has achieved 150 access and conservation victories in five years. While Jim would be the first to point out that the organization's success is built on the work of the members, chapters, and staff, his tech-savvy skill set and communications acumen play undeniable roles. Now in his sixth year with Surfrider, the Solana Beach wave rider made himself available to ESPN for a quick rap.
Where did your surfing life begin -- and what snared you so irrevocably?
I met my first surfboard in Westerly, Rhode Island when I was a kid, but it wasn't until years later when I bought a Herbie Fletcher (complete with skull and crossbones Astrodek) and paddled out at Cardiff Reef that my life changed. There was a minus tide that day and the underwater beach grass swayed beneath the board. When I rode my first wave, it felt like I was walking on water. The swell was nothing special, but it changed my life.
Coming up, was there a local surfer who inspired you?
Since my initial surf sessions were at Cardiff about 20 years ago, Joel Tudor, who was a kid at the time, was the one to watch. I would sit on the shoulder and watch him in amazement. It was like watching Mikhail Baryshnikov ... on water. Joel not only rode waves fluidly, he also introduced many surfers to boards that work. It was Joel that drew people back to longboards and singlefin eggs. He and Tom Curren deserve much of the credit for the fun many of us have on fishes and sub-six-foot quads. Thanks Joel. Thanks Tom.
Are you able to find much time to ride waves, or do you convert your surf stoke to surf/activism stoke?
Nothing substitutes for time spent in the ocean -- nothing. My surf life is oriented around experiencing the ocean in as many ways as possible, as frequently as I can, and on as many different craft as possible. My local breaks are in North County, San Diego with Swamis at the epicenter. Time in the ocean feeds the activist side of me. When you're in the ocean and a candy wrapper floats by, it's impossible not to pick it up. I'd also like to think it's impossible not to engage and wonder how that wrapper got there in the first place.
Courtesy Moriarity CollectionMoriarty, hidden in plane view.
I know you're a board hound; how's your quiver looking these days?
The sweet spot of my quiver is a 5'3" Tyler Warren Bar of Soap. I have 10 or so boards made up of various flavors of fishes, singlefins, hulls, handplanes and logs. I lean toward boards that are short, wide and flat. I know I'm not Kelly, so I like boards that generate their own speed. The shape I've had the longest may be Joel Tudor's Good Karma. That shape is the Eames of surfboards as it's minimal and 100 percent functional. Of course, I have a couple heavy, singlefin longboards, but I prefer Bing pintails and squaretails. The board every single beachgoer should buy is a Danny Hess handplane. You don't have to be a surfer to enjoy waves, and Danny's handplanes will get you barreled better than pretty much any other shape on the market.
OK -- the wife gives you a hall pass, tells you to grab a friend and go anywhere in the world for two weeks -- don't come back until those rings under your eyes are gone and you're pleasant to be around.
Other than Venice, Italy, the Southern Maldives is my favorite place on earth. It feels like a bad '70s Star Trek episode that today looks campy due to the special effects& except in the case of the Maldives what you are looking at is real. Where else on the globe can you look out and see thousands of tiny islands lining the horizon ... and have the view stay the same for days? If that's not enough, the Southern Maldives has super fun waves. The place is visually arresting and will be the first nation lost to sea level rise ... so go now.
Compared to just 10 years ago, environmentally conscious decision-making has become incredibly broad-based. What are some changes you've seen that really stick to our ribs?
Hummers are now considered stupid and selfish. The shift in our automotive preferences is tectonic. Ten years ago massive vehicles were cool, and now they're a symbol of being completely out of touch. The Prius market share is an extension of this shift in American car culture. Single-use plastic water bottles have become a symbol of small-minded, insular thinking. A metaphor for how lost we are can been seen in a single-use plastic bottle. An ephemeral thirst should not be satisfied by a perennial, persistent plastic bottle that will most probably still be around in a few hundred years. Anyone that has done a beach cleanup knows that much of the single-use plastic we use ends up either in a landfill or the ocean. I love that people are starting to understand this and are moving back to the simple options of glasses and reusable bottles.
If you want to lose weight, you cut calories and increase exercise -- hit it from both sides. Should we also combat consumption by addressing population growth more aggressively?
We consume too much. This isn't an "us and them" issue, we ALL consume too much. What we all, the entire population of the planet, have to figure out is how to consume less, recycle more, and not soil the only place we have to live.
Surfrider's 80-plus chapters are the picture of grass-roots power on the hoof. If you could rally all of the chapters and all of Surfrider's substantial resources for one year, and commit to one single effort, what would it be?
The single largest issue that our chapters are facing in local areas is plastics. We have a large focus on wave preservation, beach access, water quality, etc., and in any given place each of those have differing values of local importance. For example if you live in Maine the number one issue is beach access because more than 80 percent of the coast is private ... you can't get to the beach or waves. The issue facing ALL communities is the plastic we're letting go down our storm drains and into our lineups, oceans and beaches.
Leave us with a simple way for surfers to improve their spot.
It's been suggested that the new localism is to "own" your local beach. That is, stand up when it's under threat, clean it up when it's dirty, and show up when you're asked to. This isn't complex. Next time you paddle out, pick up a few pieces of trash. That one or two pieces are literally one or two pieces that won't be floating around the ocean and probably killing fish and birds. Start there. Be a real local, "own" your local beach.
REPOSTED FROM - http://espn.go.com/action/blog?post=6680301&sport=surfing&type=blogEntry
Friday, June 17, 2011
Not in My Backwater
Science be damned, a band of surfers and celebrities fight to save an iconic break
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
By:Abe Streep
Out in sun-kissed Malibu, birthplace of modern surf culture and part-time residence for Hollywood’s bankable faces, a strange environmental battle is raging. On one side, a group of activists waves stop the bulldozers signs, protesting a plan to dredge Malibu Lagoon, the 13-acre creek-fed estuary that flows into famed Surfrider Beach. This crew has recruited local talent, including prominent surfers and Pamela Anderson. “It all seems very hush-hush and rush-rush,” Anderson wrote in a feature story for Malibu Magazine, referring to the dredging. The ruthless developers? A government-funded group of marine biologists and environmental scientists.
That’s right, the activists are fighting to save Malibu Lagoon from being saved. By any scientific measure, the lagoon’s water is about as clean as a septic tank’s. The bulldozers, scheduled to arrive in June, will refashion the inland channels so they drain properly with the tides. But the save-the-lagoon crowd is whipping residents into a panic, claiming the restoration will do every thing from annihilate endangered species to ruin the iconic wave that launched Gidget and California’s surf culture. It’s another example of how facts, reason, and nuance have lost their place in America’s public discourse.
“They’ve managed to flip the script and portray the environmental groups as developers,” says Randy Olson, a pro-restoration resident and former marine biologist who wrote Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style. “It’s classic doubt-casting, the same language you see in climate-change denial.”
This was on display at an April city-council meeting. The crowd was a sea of green SAVE MALIBU LAGOON T-shirts and STOP THE BULLDOZERS. Data seemed unwelcome. The audience began coughing in unison when scientists discussed the lagoon’s poor water quality. Two of the opposition’s leaders—a wetlands activist named Marcia Hanscom and her partner, Roy van de Hoek, a county-parks supervisor—bemoaned the fate of the lagoon’s tidewater goby, an endangered fish that will be temporarily displaced. Others protested the restoration on the grounds that it will remove beach- access bridges, which currently choke off the lagoon’s channels. A surfer, Andy Lyon, berated the pro-restoration mayor, John Sibert, screaming ad nauseam until the sheriff was summoned.
Part of the reason things are so heated is that a bungled 1983 attempt at dredging the lagoon hurt the surf. Not only did that project prove ineffective at cleaning up the pollution caused by a nearby wastewater-treatment plant and 80 years of infilling for development; it also mangled the wave by disturbing the creek. A year later, the Surf rider Foundation, now surfing’s national advocacy group, formed to protect this very break from future threats. So the local resistance might seem well founded, except for one thing: even the Surfrider Foundation agrees the lagoon now needs help.
“We’re unconvinced the restoration project will have any negative impact on the surf,” says Chad Nelsen, Surfrider’s environmental director. “That’s where we stand.”
The advocacy group’s members are skeptical nonetheless. “It could be a good attempt to clean up the lagoon, but I’m not so sure,” says Allen Sarlo, one of skateboarding’s Z-Boys and a regular in the lineup at Surf rider Beach. “They went around the community. It would be nice if they talked to a couple of surfers who have been here for more than 30 years.” But even Sarlo concedes that the lagoon is dirty, noting that in summer, when it sits stagnant for weeks on end before breaching, locals call it Polio Pond. “Lots of days, after the lagoon breaches, I go out and just turn around,” says Sarlo.
Of course, in Malibu as elsewhere, winning hearts and minds might be more important than knowing the right answer. Part of the problem is that the scientists won’t talk in absolute terms, leaving themselves open to withering critique. When I spoke with Mark Gold, a biologist and president of Heal the Bay, the nonprofit advocating the restoration, he wouldn’t say with certainty that the wave would be unchanged, but he did offer this: “I can tell you that there will be less eutrophication.” When I called up Save Malibu Lagoon’s Hanscom, she employed a more visual, if specious, defense. “Why would you use bulldozers?”
The day after the town hall, I met Andy Lyon, the surfer who’d lambasted the mayor. He accused the Surfrider Foundation of selling out to the government and claimed Heal the Bay was getting rich off the restoration project. Eventually, he explained the source of his frustration. “You’re arguing against science,” he said. “I don’t know how you argue against that. But I do know that I’m in that water every day.”
Outside Magazine, July 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
By:Abe Streep
 |
| Surfrider Beach in better days Photographer: Bill Parr |
Out in sun-kissed Malibu, birthplace of modern surf culture and part-time residence for Hollywood’s bankable faces, a strange environmental battle is raging. On one side, a group of activists waves stop the bulldozers signs, protesting a plan to dredge Malibu Lagoon, the 13-acre creek-fed estuary that flows into famed Surfrider Beach. This crew has recruited local talent, including prominent surfers and Pamela Anderson. “It all seems very hush-hush and rush-rush,” Anderson wrote in a feature story for Malibu Magazine, referring to the dredging. The ruthless developers? A government-funded group of marine biologists and environmental scientists.
That’s right, the activists are fighting to save Malibu Lagoon from being saved. By any scientific measure, the lagoon’s water is about as clean as a septic tank’s. The bulldozers, scheduled to arrive in June, will refashion the inland channels so they drain properly with the tides. But the save-the-lagoon crowd is whipping residents into a panic, claiming the restoration will do every thing from annihilate endangered species to ruin the iconic wave that launched Gidget and California’s surf culture. It’s another example of how facts, reason, and nuance have lost their place in America’s public discourse.
“They’ve managed to flip the script and portray the environmental groups as developers,” says Randy Olson, a pro-restoration resident and former marine biologist who wrote Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style. “It’s classic doubt-casting, the same language you see in climate-change denial.”
This was on display at an April city-council meeting. The crowd was a sea of green SAVE MALIBU LAGOON T-shirts and STOP THE BULLDOZERS. Data seemed unwelcome. The audience began coughing in unison when scientists discussed the lagoon’s poor water quality. Two of the opposition’s leaders—a wetlands activist named Marcia Hanscom and her partner, Roy van de Hoek, a county-parks supervisor—bemoaned the fate of the lagoon’s tidewater goby, an endangered fish that will be temporarily displaced. Others protested the restoration on the grounds that it will remove beach- access bridges, which currently choke off the lagoon’s channels. A surfer, Andy Lyon, berated the pro-restoration mayor, John Sibert, screaming ad nauseam until the sheriff was summoned.
Part of the reason things are so heated is that a bungled 1983 attempt at dredging the lagoon hurt the surf. Not only did that project prove ineffective at cleaning up the pollution caused by a nearby wastewater-treatment plant and 80 years of infilling for development; it also mangled the wave by disturbing the creek. A year later, the Surf rider Foundation, now surfing’s national advocacy group, formed to protect this very break from future threats. So the local resistance might seem well founded, except for one thing: even the Surfrider Foundation agrees the lagoon now needs help.
“We’re unconvinced the restoration project will have any negative impact on the surf,” says Chad Nelsen, Surfrider’s environmental director. “That’s where we stand.”
The advocacy group’s members are skeptical nonetheless. “It could be a good attempt to clean up the lagoon, but I’m not so sure,” says Allen Sarlo, one of skateboarding’s Z-Boys and a regular in the lineup at Surf rider Beach. “They went around the community. It would be nice if they talked to a couple of surfers who have been here for more than 30 years.” But even Sarlo concedes that the lagoon is dirty, noting that in summer, when it sits stagnant for weeks on end before breaching, locals call it Polio Pond. “Lots of days, after the lagoon breaches, I go out and just turn around,” says Sarlo.
Of course, in Malibu as elsewhere, winning hearts and minds might be more important than knowing the right answer. Part of the problem is that the scientists won’t talk in absolute terms, leaving themselves open to withering critique. When I spoke with Mark Gold, a biologist and president of Heal the Bay, the nonprofit advocating the restoration, he wouldn’t say with certainty that the wave would be unchanged, but he did offer this: “I can tell you that there will be less eutrophication.” When I called up Save Malibu Lagoon’s Hanscom, she employed a more visual, if specious, defense. “Why would you use bulldozers?”
The day after the town hall, I met Andy Lyon, the surfer who’d lambasted the mayor. He accused the Surfrider Foundation of selling out to the government and claimed Heal the Bay was getting rich off the restoration project. Eventually, he explained the source of his frustration. “You’re arguing against science,” he said. “I don’t know how you argue against that. But I do know that I’m in that water every day.”
Outside Magazine, July 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Dana Point, Surfrider still at odds over beach gate | city, gate, strand - News - The Orange County Register
Dana Point, Surfrider still at odds over beach gate | city, gate, strand - News - The Orange County Register
Dana Point, Surfrider still at odds over beach gate
2011-06-16 13:53:18
It's been 10 days since a judge told Dana Point to seek permission from the California Coastal Commission if it wants to keep a gate up to limitaccess to Strand Beach. But the gate is still there, angering those who have fought for more than a year to get rid of it.
"It's hard to understand going to a beach anywhere in California and being met with a sign," Jim Moriarty, chief executive of the Surfrider Foundation, said at 7 a.m. Thursday in front of the locked gate at the Mid-Strand access point, which leads to a trail from Strand Vista Park to the beach through the multimillion-dollar Strand at Headlands housing development.
The hours the gate is unlocked are 8 a.m. to either 5 p.m. or 7 p.m., depending on the season – "banker's hours," in Moriarty's words.
SEE A SLIDE SHOW HERE OR AT LEFT. SEE A VIDEO BY CLICKING THE "VIDEOS" TAB ABOVE.
On June 6, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Joan Lewis rejected Dana Point's restrictions on public access, which include a city ordinance declaring a public nuisance at the site, because the city does not have a Coastal Commission permit for the gate. The Surfrider Foundation, a San Clemente-based nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit against the city last year, opposing the access restrictions.
Dana Point and the Coastal Commission, a state panel that regulates beaches, have been at odds over the gate for more than a year. The commission said Dana Point needed to apply for a permit and keep the gate unlocked during the application process.
Dana Point City Attorney Patrick Munoz said after a City Council meeting Monday that the council hadn't decided whether to appeal Lewis' ruling. But he said the gate and access hours would stay as they are for now.
All the paperwork regarding Lewis' decision, including a document solidifying the ruling, hasn't made its way through the court system.
"There hasn't been a judgment yet," Munoz said. "Why would we (take down the gate)?"
Jennifer Kalnins Temple, a Surfrider attorney, said: "We're disappointed to see the gates and signs are still here. While the judgment technically hasn't been entered, that's a mere formality."
Andrew Willis, a Coastal Commission enforcement officer, said Thursday that the city hasn't reached out to the state panel since the ruling.
"We're hopeful we can work it out," he said. "But if the gates aren't removed, we'll have to use enforcement tools available to us."
Those tools include issuing a cease-and-desist order and fines.
"We intend to put a lot of resources into getting this resolved so the public has the access the commission asked for," Peter Douglas, the commission's executive director, said Wednesday at a commission meeting in Marina del Rey.
Sanford Edward, developer of The Strand at Headlands, said removing the gate is the city's decision. He said he believes the city will appeal Lewis' decision and that it will be overturned.
There are three other entry points to the beach, known as North, Central and South Strand. North and South are ungated, but access is allowed only during normal beach hours, 5 a.m. to midnight, according to court documents. A sign at Mid-Strand shows how to get to them. Central is gated and is used only by motorists who live in The Strand development. The Coastal Commission approved that arrangement with The Strand's development permits.
Rick Erkeneff, vice chairman of Surfrider's South Orange County chapter, said he would like access hours at Mid-Strand to also be 5 a.m. to midnight.
"I come down here before the sun comes up to see the dolphins and the birds," said Erkeneff, a Dana Point resident since 1972. "I come here well after dark to see the sunset. The gates are a detriment to my lifestyle.
"It's just a matter of time before they chip away the rest of our access," he said.
Local police officials have said that if Dana Point didn't have extra limits on Mid-Strand access, the Headlands would become "an amusement park" with teenage drinking, smoking and sex parties. The city declared a public nuisance at the site and described the gate as a way to protect public safety.
Surfrider called the move an attempt by the city to "create a private enclave for its tax-generating benefactor, the Headlands," according to court records. Edward has said that's untrue.
Lewis said in her ruling that the city's rationale for locking the gate was based on speculation and that the city acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" while declaring a public nuisance. She said the matter should be reviewed by the Coastal Commission for further action.
Contact the writer: blevine@ocregister.com, twitter.com/danapointnews or 949-492-5135
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Santa Barbara Celebrates International Surfing Day
Reposted from Surfline.com - http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/press-release/santa-barbara-celebrates-international-surfing-day_56642/
PRESS RELEASE
Surf Happens Surf School and SB Surfrider Foundation present International Surfing Day 2011, Saturday June 18th, 9am-3pm. Located at the new Surf Happens beach headquarters on Santa Claus Ln. in Carpinteria. Featuring a medley of fun events for the whole family; FREE Grom surf contest (under 18) with trophies and prizes, learn to surf clinic, advanced coaching, live music, beach clean up, and works by local artists and activists. Our goal is to gather like-minded people and organizations together to celebrate the sport of surfing, and share passion and love for a clean healthy ocean. Please join us in our celebration! Surfing Clinic 11-1pm: As part of our surfing clinic we are offering free surf lessons with our expert instructors, guaranteed to get you standing on a wave! INT softboards and Quiksilver/Roxy wetsuits are included. More advanced? Our head surfing coaches will be there to offer advanced tips to step up your competitive game or learn new maneuvers. Our all star team of local experts will help you take your surfing to the next level. RSVP for clinic Grom Contest 9am-1pm: Surf Happens will also hold a FREE Menehune surf contest for beginning and advanced youth surfers (under 18) with the chance to win trophies and killer prizes! RSVP for contest We will provide a potluck style beach BBQ for all participants and family members. We encourage everyone to bring a dish to share and to help us reduce waste by bringing their own dishware, utensils, and cups! Live music all day along with local artists and environmental groups. It's a lifestyle, not a sport so come on down and enjoy the ride!
International Surfing Day is open to the public and all event features are absolutely free! The clinic and contest are RSVP only, to guarantee please pre-register through e-mail info@surfhappens.com Surf Happens is Santa Barbara's premier surf school, offering kids surf camps, lessons, parties, team building and advanced coaching. For more info or to check out the schedule of events visit surfhappens.com Surf Happens1117 Las Olas AvenueSanta Barbara, CA 93109Phone (805) 966-3613
Monday, June 13, 2011
Long Beach Breakwater Reconfiguration Study Halted
Reposted from The Log - http://www.thelog.com/news/logNewsArticle.aspx?x=12379
By: Taylor Hill | Wednesday, June 08, 2011 12:00:00 AM
Last updated: Thursday, June 09, 2011 4:55:00 PM
LONG BEACH -- Beach-goers, environmental activists and surfers who have long called for the reconfiguration of Long Beach’s 2.5-mile long rock breakwater to provide bigger waves and increased water circulation will have to wait even longer. The Army Corps of Engineers released its budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, with no funding approved for breakwater studies.
Breakwater Study – Due to Army Corps of Engineers budget cuts, the previously planned Long Beach Breakwater Reconfiguration Study Plan will not be funded this year. Proposals to alter the breakwater to increase water circulation and wave action at Long Bcach date back to 2007.
Long Beach City Council members overwhelmingly approved the $8.3 million feasibility study last year, with the Corps of Engineers agreeing to a cost-sharing agreement to run over four years, to help fund the study.
But, the Corps’ funding has been the subject of repeated federal budget cuts -- decreasing from $5.5 billion in 2010 to $5 billion in 2011 -- and the Corps’ 2012 budget is expected to be decreased to $4.6 billion.
Currently, the breakwater study funds are not included in the preliminary budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in October. But Corps of Engineers officials can continue to pursue funding for the project.
Proponents of an altered Long Beach breakwater believe it would provide cleaner city beaches and swimming areas, due to greater circulation of harbor water, along with improved surf for recreation. Critics have questioned whether shortening the breakwater could make harbor facilities, local boats, shoreside homes and businesses more vulnerable to storm surge and flood damage.
Plans to alter the Long Beach Breakwater have been long and arduous for supporters, starting in July 2007 with the Long Beach Breakwater Reconnaissance Study originally being awarded $100,000 in funding by Long Beach City Council, to find out if there was federal interest in altering the breakwater.
The study included input from more than 100 community members, interviews with dozens of stakeholders and input from consultants Moffatt & Nichols.
Designs included reconfiguring the breakwater to staggered sections and creating gaps allowing for wave action on the shoreline; lowering 1,800 linear feet of the western end of the structure to mean lower low water to provide increased wave transmission; removing the entire western third of the structure (down at least -30 feet) and leaving the eastern structure intact; and realigning the ends of the breakwater by removing an end section, with a new section constructed perpendicular to the existing end of the breakwater.
Alternatives ranged in cost from an estimated $10 million to $310 million.
The delayed feasibility study would determine what environmental and structural effects altering the breakwater would have on San Pedro Bay.
According to supporters of breakwater alteration, the rock breakwater has produced a number of negative impacts in San Pedro Bay, ranging from increased pollution to obstructing natural surf along the Long Beach shoreline.
The breakwall was originally completed in 1949 to protect Navy ships, and was designed to provide a variety of coastal defenses for low-lying property and structures in the area.
According to the Reconnaissance study, an altered breakwater could provide an estimated $50 million in additional beach tourism for the local economy.
News of the funds not being appropriated for the next fiscal year came as Long Beach officials were busy hosting Breakwater Awareness Month activities. City Council member Patrick O’Donnell hosted a social forum at a surf shop on Fourth Street and handed out awards to breakwater reconfiguration advocates. The second annual Paddle Out in Memory of the Waves was held May 21 -- where surfers in support of the breakwater study were encouraged to “come dressed in black or wear your wetsuit to this funeral-themed event to memorialize the death of waves in Long Beach.”
By: Taylor Hill | Wednesday, June 08, 2011 12:00:00 AM
Last updated: Thursday, June 09, 2011 4:55:00 PM
LONG BEACH -- Beach-goers, environmental activists and surfers who have long called for the reconfiguration of Long Beach’s 2.5-mile long rock breakwater to provide bigger waves and increased water circulation will have to wait even longer. The Army Corps of Engineers released its budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, with no funding approved for breakwater studies.
Long Beach City Council members overwhelmingly approved the $8.3 million feasibility study last year, with the Corps of Engineers agreeing to a cost-sharing agreement to run over four years, to help fund the study.
But, the Corps’ funding has been the subject of repeated federal budget cuts -- decreasing from $5.5 billion in 2010 to $5 billion in 2011 -- and the Corps’ 2012 budget is expected to be decreased to $4.6 billion.
Currently, the breakwater study funds are not included in the preliminary budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in October. But Corps of Engineers officials can continue to pursue funding for the project.
Proponents of an altered Long Beach breakwater believe it would provide cleaner city beaches and swimming areas, due to greater circulation of harbor water, along with improved surf for recreation. Critics have questioned whether shortening the breakwater could make harbor facilities, local boats, shoreside homes and businesses more vulnerable to storm surge and flood damage.
Plans to alter the Long Beach Breakwater have been long and arduous for supporters, starting in July 2007 with the Long Beach Breakwater Reconnaissance Study originally being awarded $100,000 in funding by Long Beach City Council, to find out if there was federal interest in altering the breakwater.
The study included input from more than 100 community members, interviews with dozens of stakeholders and input from consultants Moffatt & Nichols.
Designs included reconfiguring the breakwater to staggered sections and creating gaps allowing for wave action on the shoreline; lowering 1,800 linear feet of the western end of the structure to mean lower low water to provide increased wave transmission; removing the entire western third of the structure (down at least -30 feet) and leaving the eastern structure intact; and realigning the ends of the breakwater by removing an end section, with a new section constructed perpendicular to the existing end of the breakwater.
Alternatives ranged in cost from an estimated $10 million to $310 million.
The delayed feasibility study would determine what environmental and structural effects altering the breakwater would have on San Pedro Bay.
According to supporters of breakwater alteration, the rock breakwater has produced a number of negative impacts in San Pedro Bay, ranging from increased pollution to obstructing natural surf along the Long Beach shoreline.
The breakwall was originally completed in 1949 to protect Navy ships, and was designed to provide a variety of coastal defenses for low-lying property and structures in the area.
According to the Reconnaissance study, an altered breakwater could provide an estimated $50 million in additional beach tourism for the local economy.
News of the funds not being appropriated for the next fiscal year came as Long Beach officials were busy hosting Breakwater Awareness Month activities. City Council member Patrick O’Donnell hosted a social forum at a surf shop on Fourth Street and handed out awards to breakwater reconfiguration advocates. The second annual Paddle Out in Memory of the Waves was held May 21 -- where surfers in support of the breakwater study were encouraged to “come dressed in black or wear your wetsuit to this funeral-themed event to memorialize the death of waves in Long Beach.”
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