BEACON, the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment, has raised about $1.4 million in the past four years, Marc Beyeler, the group’s executive director, told the Santa Barbara City Council Tuesday.
The council heard a status update on BEACON — which operates as a joint powers agency of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as well as for the cities of Carpinteria, Goleta, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The presentation focused on BEACON’s projects and accomplishments.
BEACON, established in 1986, addresses beach nourishment, coastal erosion issues and sea-level rise adaptation.
Mr. Beyeler pointed to data that has shown the region could lose up to two-thirds of its beaches without proper action. He said BEACON has its own group of scientists who study, specifically, what is going on in the region.
He also highlighted a regional monitoring project, which trains graduate students who conduct shoreline profiling.
“BEACON is being seen more and more as a statewide model for regional cooperation because there aren’t a lot of areas in the state that have the regional dedication to coastal issues that we have,” Councilmember Eric Friedman said. “We’re one of the only, if not the only one, that works like this.”
Santa Barbara pays annual membership dues that fund BEACON’s operations, which totaled more than $42,200 for fiscal year 2022, according to a staff report. BEACON has proposed increasing that fee to $44,397 for the next fiscal year because of inflation, the report said.
Tuesday’s meeting was fairly quick. Aside from the BEACON report, the council received a status report on a Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Plan and accepted three grant awards from the California Coastal Commission.
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
