California Sea Grant is working to leverage decades of state, local, and regional investment in coastal management and climate and sea-level rise adaptation in the Santa Barbara Littoral Cell, covering Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Through a critical partnership with the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON), our work attempts to link the pathways from science to policy development and decision-making. Our approach is to outline gaps in current research, identify on-going monitoring activities, and examine how to integrate physical, ecological and social science initiatives to support decision-making.
Projects
BEACON SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SAC)
California Sea Grant coordinates and facilitates the BEACON SAC, which is tasked with setting the coastal research priorities for the region. This effort includes continuing engagement of local coastal managers to help provide guidance on research agenda and needed science activities.
- BEACON Manager-Scientist Workshop Summary-June 2021
- BEACON Research Agenda- Adopted December 2021
SEDIMENT FATE AND TRANSPORT STUDY
Through a Prop 68 grant from the Ocean Protection Council, California Sea Grant is working with BEACON and partners on developing methods and processes for aligning permitting of opportunistic sediment on appropriate beaches to better connect watersheds to their drainage beaches. The goal of the program is to develop a regional sediment management program for the Ventura and Santa Barbara region focused on sea-level rise adaptation and coastal resiliency, employing nature-based beach and dune pilot projects utilizing regional upland sediment resources. Other project partners include the U.S. Geological Survey, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County Flood Control District, CSU Channel Islands, and the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Additional resources
Santa Barbara Area Coastal Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment (CEVA)
Laura Engeman