SATURDAY, NOV

Agencies, Blufftop Communities Contend with Coastal Erosion

Cyprus Cove Residents Call for Mitigation Efforts

BY COLLIN BREAUX, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

If you walk along the train tracks at Calafia State Beach and into the Cyprus Cove area, you’re bound to come across the withered remains of a coastal beach where barely any sand remains—the result of ongoing coastal erosion.

Private parts of the beach used to extend further out and previously accommodated family picnics, volleyball courts and a playground.

To address the issue, Suzie Whitelaw, a licensed environmental geologist, wants to see a breakwater, or groin-like protective structure, built near the shore for neighboring Cyprus Cove and Cyprus Shore communities—the latter of which sits atop an ancient landslide.

Whitelaw, who lives in Cyprus Cove, has seen the beach diminish. With commuter train services halted again between South Orange County and Oceanside because of shifting rail tracks, she is calling on the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to construct a breakwater as a mitigation measure.

“You look at beaches like Newport Beach and Santa Monica. They’re not eroding,” Whitelaw said. “They’ve got groins. The sand stays between those groins.”

OCTA spokesperson Eric Carpenter said the agency’s priority is to stabilize the track and safely restore passenger rail service through the area as soon as possible. A provided statement did not mention the breakwater proposal.

“OCTA is working with a geotechnical firm, which is completing final design on an emergency project to install ground anchors at the base of the slope to stop the movement of the land beneath the track to help ensure its stability and allow for rail service to resume,” Carpenter said of the construction, which is expected to get underway soon.

“OCTA is working with all its part-

Some residents in the Cyprus Shore and Cyprus Cove neighborhoods are calling for a breakwater to be built nearby to mitigate the coastal erosion that has led to further movement of the railroad tracks as shown here at Calafia State Beach. Photo: Collin Breaux

ners—including at the state and federal levels, with the city of San Clemente and with Cyprus Shore property owners, along with Metrolink and Amtrak—to immediately work on this emergency effort to keep the slope from continuing to move, so service can resume,” Carpenter continued.

While this project moves forward, OCTA will continue to work with its partners at the state, federal and local levels to look at “more long-term solutions for this critical section of Southern California’s rail network,” Carpenter said.

Joe Street, a geologist with the California Coastal Commission, said a breakwater is an interesting idea, yet one that the CCC would need to evaluate first. Studies would need to be done and conclude that a breakwater is a successful option, Street said.

“I think it’s fair to say all options are on the table,” Street said of approaches to coastal erosion.

Being asked by San Clemente Times about a breakwater near Cyprus Shore was the first Street had heard of the idea.

Whitelaw is also calling for sand replenishment to be done on the beach at Calafia and in the area instead of the riprap, or large boulders, that have been placed on the side of the track as a stabilization approach.

“I’ve talked to the state parks people (and asked), what are you going to do about your park?” Whitelaw said. “We’re putting out more riprap. The technical people that I talked to, the bureaucrats, are saying all you got to do is protect your infrastructure. They’re protecting their infrastructure—the parking lot at Doheny, the parking lot down at San Onofre, but they’re not worried about Calafia.”

When reached for comment, the California State Parks department provided a written statement in which they confirmed they had spoken to Whitelaw over the past several months regarding her concerns about local beach erosion, particularly near the Cyprus Shore community.

“Staff from the Orange Coast District shared with Ms. Whitelaw the State Park’s Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy and the local interpretation of this guiding document,” California State Parks said.

“The department referred her to the City of San Clemente and their forthcoming beach nourishment program, and to the South Orange County Coastal Resilience Strategic Plan working group, which State Parks is a part of, to work through a regional planning process to identify the best solutions and projects along this entire section of coastline, including her particular area of concern,” the department said.

California State Parks said it’s hopeful that the City of San Clemente’s beach nourishment efforts will successfully replenish the downcoast beaches that Whitelaw identified as her primary concern.

Responding to a request for comment, (Cont. on page 9)

Cyprus Shore Residents Seek Permanent Protection

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES

Continued underground movement since the reactivation of an ancient landslide in September 2021 that heightened the cracking underneath four homes within the Cyprus Shore community has pushed neighborhood leaders to desperately clamor for a solution.

Steve Lang, past president of the Cyprus Shore Homeowners Association, told San Clemente Times this past month that his community needed sand at the coastline—as does all of San Clemente.

“It’s not just the fact that we’re not going to be able to go lay on the beach and get a suntan or whatever everybody does at the beach,” he said about the lack of sand. “It’s going to keep causing devastating damage, because it’s a buffer between the ocean and the bluffs, or the hillsides.”

In addition to tropical storms, drying riverbeds, and development contributing to dramatic coastal erosion at the base of the bluff, water found its way underneath the railroad just below the community, further compromising both the tracks and homes at the top of the bluff.

“There’s a clay seam that’s about 50 feet deep, and then (water) soaked under the tracks,” Lang said. “The land above the railroad tracks became a big hard sponge, and it reactivated an ancient landslide that the professionals and geologists claim is at least 10,000 years old.”

Geologists had previously proposed implementing caissons, or retaining columns, to stabilize the foundation of the bluff. A year ago, the Cyprus Shore HOA was looking to apply for a coastal development permit for the work through the California Coastal Commission.

It’s unclear, however, whether such plans are still being considered. Tim (Cont. on page 9)