In August, the California Coastal Commission held a half day joint workshop with the League of Cities, California State Association of Counties, and local government officials on sea level rise. At the workshop, progress made by the Local Government Sea Level Rise workshop was reviewed, experiences were shared related to statewide Local Coastal Program updates, and public input was gathered on the working group’s 2022 goals. The working group is made up of representatives from cities, counties, and Coastal Commission staff.
EAC spoke at the meeting, alongside other NGOs and government representatives. Joining other coastal NGOs, like Surfrider and WILDCOAST, we voiced our support for nature-based solutions, public access, and voiced our oppostion to armoring the coast.
“Related to adaptation planning, our priorities are focused on supporting pro-active phased adaptation with triggers, long-range planning, and nature-based and blue carbon solutions (rather than hard armoring), which we are generally opposed to.”
We emphasized the need to prioritize biodiversity and coastal resources, while using the best available science. We pointed out that our courts have consistently prohibited seawalls for new development.
We also raised public access and equity issues.
“Often [people] that travel from inland areas to our local beaches to seek respite from the heat are not represented in these discussions. If everyone gets a carve out, we will lose our beaches.”
You can count on EAC to advocate for our collective coastal resources and public access to the coast! We all need to find a way to move forward collaboratively in a way that is consistent with the voter-created Coastal Act.
More info:
Review the meeting documents Aug. 12, Agenda Item 4
Watch back the Aug. 12th hearing
