City of Carpinteria Awarded $1.62 Million Grant for Living Shoreline Project

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The City of Carpinteria has secured a $1.62 million grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy to fund the Carpinteria Living Shoreline Project. This critical initiative will help protect the city’s vulnerable western coastline against the growing threats of sea level rise, flooding, and erosion identified in Carpinteria’s Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan.

The low-lying Carpinteria City Beach, surrounding beach neighborhoods, and downtown area lack any hardened coastal armoring, leaving them exposed to escalating climate change impacts. The Living Shoreline Project will implement a sustainable, nature-based solution along the city beach using “living” elements like vegetation and sand to provide resilient shoreline protection.

“Our coastline is a critical habitat, recreational space, and economic driver. I am proud of the State’s significant investment in protecting and enhancing our coastal resources,” said Assemblymember Gregg Hart.

The $1.62 million will fund extensive community engagement plus the development of detailed plans, engineering designs, technical analyses, and environmental review to ready the Living Shoreline Project for implementation along Carpinteria City Beach. The City will collaborate closely with local, regional, and state partners throughout the planning process.

This innovative project marks a major step forward in Carpinteria’s proactive efforts to adapt to climate change and secure a resilient future for its irreplaceable coastal areas. By working with nature’s defenses, the Living Shoreline will provide sustainable protection while preserving the beach experience for all to enjoy.

CityofCarpinteria

Written by CityofCarpinteria

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16 Comments

      • Another great reason to keep pushing for EVs. Imagine how much construction-related pollution we can reduce with electric construction vehicles. Volvo has a line of bulldozers and excavators and many other companies are joining the race.

    • EDNEY – I was very opposed to the polluted dirt that was hastily transported and dumped on Goleta Beach, but this isn’t the same thing.

      I wonder if they plan to use sediment dredged from SB harbor for this? Seems like a good idea if it doesn’t affect what they currently use it for. I think there are many ways to make this a much cleaner and less contentious nourishment than they did with the toxic storm waste in Goleta. They have the luxury of time now to hopefully source any such materials more carefully.

      • As I understand it, the sand dredged out of SB Harbor is released offshore and is carried by the longshore current to the beaches east of SB, just as it would have traveled if the harbor and breakwater weren’t there to stop it in the first place.
        The sand dredged out of the harbor isn’t necessarily “filthy”, just from the harbor. New sand filters into the harbor every day, and it’s dredged at least twice a year.

  1. The question to ask is what does this “beach nourishment” involve? Offshore dredging? Sediment from the Santa Monica debris basin? or?
    sacjon, with only $1.62M they won’t be able to string a dredge line the 10 miles from SB to Carpinteria. with pump stations along the way. There might be an offshore sand deposit they are intending to use, but seeing the budget and without knowing the exact plan, I’m guessing Santa Monica debris basin is the source of the nourishment. That would make sense because that creek drainage was historically a major source of sediment replacement and it is sediment that would have wound up on that beach anyway.

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