By
Kevin Clerici, kclerici@VenturaCountyStar.com
January 23, 2007
Coastal
protection advocates and Ventura city leaders are trying to
rally political support to restore more than $2 million in
state funding for replenishing sandy beaches and studying
shoreline erosion.
The proposed state budget released this month calls for the
beach nourishment program to receive about $300,000 statewide
in fiscal year 2007-08. That's down from $1.6 million in the
current fiscal year and $2.4 million in 2005-06, an 87.5
percent reduction over two years.
The loss of funding could hamper a decade-old shoreline
restoration effort in Ventura that involves relocating an
eroding bike path at Surfers Point some 65 feet inland and
covering the old path area with cobble and sand.
"It's disappointing," Ventura Councilman Brian
Brennan said. "I am going to work hard to get the money
restored."
Brennan and other local officials were counting on the program
to help pay for the project. The $4 million restoration effort
recently received a construction permit from the California
Coastal Commission.
Once the bike path and an adjacent parking lot are relocated,
25,000 to 30,000 tons of cobblestones would be spread at the
water's edge, nourishing the rocky shoreline. Sand would be
laid over the cobble.
The city has about $2 million in hand for the project and is
seeking an additional $2 million in federal and state funding.
Coastal engineers, state leaders, environmentalists and
beachgoers have embraced the project because it is among only
a few in the state that would offer greater beach space and
public access rather than encroach on California's shrinking
shoreline.
Budget cut a surprise
Because of such support, city officials were expecting to get
a good chunk of the state beach fund. Now, they will still
press ahead with the project but not start actual construction
until all of the funding is in place.
Steven Aceti, executive director of the nonprofit California
Coastal Coalition, said the proposed budget cut came as a
surprise. The reduction was not something the Governor's
Office did, Aceti and a governor's spokesman said.
Administrators overseeing the Department of Boating and
Waterways budget decided that they were not required by law to
fund beach restoration programs and would only do so if forced
by the state Resources Agency or the Legislature, Aceti said.
"The cities, counties and regional agencies will have to
make a strong effort in Sacramento to change this shift in
policy," Aceti said.
Aceti said he has contacted state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny,
D-San Diego, who could be an immediate ally. Ducheny wrote
legislation in 1999 that originated the beach nourishment
program and has expressed concern about the potential loss of
funds.
"She would like to see the program continue," John
Ferrera, Ducheny's chief of staff, said Monday.
Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, a coastal restoration
proponent, said he didn't know enough about the proposed cut
to comment.
H.D. Palmer, a state Department of Finance spokesman, said the
primary role of the Department of Boating and Waterways is to
promote boating activities, safety programs and boating
access, such as providing loans to build docks. The department
serves an estimated 3 million boaters in California.
The department's coastal beach erosion and restoration grants
are its only nonboating expenditures, and revenue from boat
gas taxes, registration fees and harbor loan repayments are on
the decline, Palmer said.
The department's annual budget ranges from $70 million to $100
million, reports show.
Jim Bailard, a technical adviser for the Beach Erosion
Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment Administration, or
BEACON, said the grants have provided critical funding for
coastal erosion studies and beach improvements.
‘Loss of opportunity'
Sand movement and erosion is a constant issue, particularly in
Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where the Channel Islands
generate unique tidal currents. The state grants have paid for
the science often needed to get beach nourishment projects off
the ground, he said. The money has even paid for sand.
"This budget shift would be a real loss of opportunity to
carry out these important projects," he said.
Beach tourism is one of the state's largest industries,
generating $12 billion to $20 billion annually, Brennan said.
To him, losing sand means losing money.
"We make a lot of money off the coast and sometimes we
need to put some money back," he said.
Copyright
2007, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
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