Work Gets Underway on Capo Beach Coastal Trail

Now that last week’s high tides and surf have returned to normal levels, OC Public Works crews are hard at work restoring the coastal trail that links Doheny and Capistrano Beaches in Dana Point. The trail is part of a network forming a sometimes broken path lining the 1,230-mile length of the California coast from Mexico to Oregon. The County of Orange was recently granted a California Coastal Commission (CCC) permit to shore up the trail to preserve the historic stretch linking the two popular beaches.

Work crews were busy today with a pretty impressive operation along the water’s edge. Heavy equipment is digging down 14 feet from the path’s edge, using a massive trenching structure to stabilize as huge sand cubes are lifted into place. This new “wall”, 5 cubes deep and 2 cubes wide will provide badly needed protection for the now crumbling path.

The work will continue along this stretch for several move weeks, before crews begin mitigations along three badly eroded areas along the shoreline at Capistrano Beach Park due south. Areas that have no protection at all have widened severely during the past few months as unrelenting surf action gouges the shoreline and further narrows the already slender stretch of beach. The Coastal Commission has approved more sand cubes as temporary protection against sand loss. The County filled in parts of the gaping holes with cobble and sand deposited in the parking lot during last week's heavy surf.

During the construction of Dana Point Harbor in the early 70’s, over 2 million cubic yards of sand were deposited near the mouth of San Juan Creek, much of it drifting south to provide wide, beautiful beaches along Doheny and Capo beaches and points south. The sand lasted 4 decades, but plans for ongoing replenishment were never made. By 2010, the area started to see serious erosion due, literally, to “sand starvation”. While sea level rise is also a factor, actual rise along the California coast has averaged only 8 inches in the last century (per NASA), although it is escalating and is expected to wreak more havoc in the decades to come.

The California Coastal Commission has embraced a policy of “managed retreat”, advocating for few hard protections, letting nature take its course and encouraging removal of infrastructure in its path. Unfortunately, along this stretch, the costs, of moving beach infrastructure, private homes, a railroad, and one day likely even Pacific Coast Highway are enormous, leaving public and private stakeholders struggling with how to preserve precious resources (including popular public beaches) for as long as possible. This week, residents and visitors are thrilled that the coastal trail will be saved - at least for now.