Beach Health Indicators

Indicator Issues

Surfrider Foundation's research into the status of beach health indicators in our coastal states revealed the following:

Beach Access

Coastal access battles continued to be fought from coast to coast. In Hawaii, despite generally good beach access, there is a disturbing trend of coastal homeowners putting up signs or barriers to block public beach accessways. This is also the case in Florida, where there are efforts to pass comprehensive beach access legislation. Beach access was gained at Camp Hero State Park in New York and to a lesser degree at nearby Montauk Point State Park, where surfing has gone from prohibited to restricted. It appears that Chicago, Illinois will also be "decriminalizing" surfing. Access was gained in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina but is being restricted at Cape Hatteras in a complex beach ecology versus access conflict. Texas continues to beat back challenges to its Open Beaches Act.

Water Quality

Water quality (as measured by the number of beach closures and health advisory postings) continued to be a major problem in many coastal states. Several large spills occurred in early 2008 in Marin County, California. In Honolulu, Hawaii and in several other major metropolitan areas, cities are dealing with the expensive proposition of upgrading long-neglected sewer infrastructure. As an example, two 36-inch pipelines that carry up to 60 million gallons of sewage a day under Seattle's Salmon Bay were installed in 1935 and are made out of wood. Despite efforts to install sewage overflow tunnels and reservoirs, cities around the Great Lakes still experience combined sewer overflows during periods of heavy rain. More than 27 billion gallons of combined sewer overflows from 460 sewers around New York City impact the city's waterways every year. In Florida, there was good news when a major sewage outfall pipe to the ocean at Delray Beach was shut down. Drought conditions in California and in the Southeast have prompted not only water conservation measures, but also more comprehensive evaluations of water use, which has resulted less polluted runoff flowing to the ocean in some areas. Bacteria source tracking investigations were initiated in several Great Lakes and ocean coastal states.

Erosion and Erosion Responses

Erosion continued to eat away at our ever-more-populated shorelines. This has prompted continuing battles over whether coastal property owners can rebuild after their property is damaged in a storm. This issue was particulary acute in Florida and in Texas which have suffered substantial damage from recent hurricanes. In Florida and elsewhere in the Southeast, the ecological effects of beach fill projects on both borrow areas and on the beach became more of an issue and a beach fill project in Palm Beach was stopped due to ecological concerns. Federal matching funds for these projects continued to dry up, causing several states and counties (particularly in the Southeast) to allocate additional funds. Completion of beach fill projects in South Carolina and elsewhere on the East Coast has prompted new development closer to the ocean--a risky proposition. Beach fill projects in New Jersey and New York are coming under increasing scrutiny based on both economic concerns and issues raised by local surfers and fishermen. Some of these projects have also raised access issues.

North Carolina's long-term "no hard structures" policy has come under attack with proposed legislation to allow "terminal groins" at some barrier islands. New seawalls continue to be built and proposed in California, including some that apparently exist only to facilitate new coastal development – a violation of the California Coastal Act.

Beach Ecology

A survey of the 26 states covered in our report indicated little readily-available information on the ecology of sandy beaches in many states. In fact, the beach seems to be a neglected niche, despite its importance as a vital land/sea link and the home of many species of plants and animals. Beach ecology issues were raised in connection with beach fill projects in Florida, North Carolina and New Jersey.

Other Issues

Efforts to protect ocean ecology in California and Oregon with proposals to establish Marine Protected Areas has generated intense interest among various user groups. Proposals for renewed offshore oil drilling, new liquified natural gas facilities and alternative energy (wind, waves, tides) facilites at multiple locations along our coasts has prompted the discussion of "ocean zoning" in several coastal states as an attempt to balance resource protection with responsible energy generation.