Acting swiftly to protect one of the region’s most cherished community resources, the County Parks Department mobilized heavy equipment Monday to armor an elevated vulnerable stretch of Goleta Beach property and facilities.

Rocks and boulders, trucked in and piled high on the west-end parking lot last Friday, will form an emergency barrier for the third time in the past four years.

An unrelenting series of early-season storms, combined with high tides, forced the move at the most visited of the county’s 23 parks. The California Coastal Commission staff, previously apprised of the situation, is expected to approve the revetment quickly.

Parks director Terri Maus-Nisich, operations chief Jim Isaac and others monitored the whitewater and waves splashing against the small cliffs. The surf came ominously close to their feet.

"The wind and rain was blowing so hard it gusted enough to knock me a step forward," Isaac said. "The sand is going away but the storms have not."

Some 80,000 cubic yards of sand spread from the pier toward the university, beginning in the fall of 2003, may be the component most responsible so far for buffering the popular grass area from damage.

Goleta Beach was widened as part of a multi-jurisdictional demonstration coastal replenishment plan under the auspices of BEACON — the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment.

"We haven’t lost any park turf but have only 10 feet of sand left to work with," said Maus-Nisich, a Goleta resident and UCSB alumna.

"We don’t want to chance losing parts of the park," Maus-Nisich continued. "Maintaining the park at status quo, while we continue to work at coming up with a long-term solution, is a priority."

Fresh off a strategy session with County Parks representatives, second district supervisor Susan Rose and Maus-Nisich anticipated the results of a consultant’s study due out next month.

The recommendations of Phillip, Williams Associates — based on the current and future state of the beach and park — will spell out an analysis and alternative ways to proceed with a master plan.

Rose, who spearheaded an 18-member solution-seeking advisory panel several months ago, remains hopeful the committee can agree on a recommendation despite earlier divisions. Members are mainly split between two courses of action at Goleta Beach.

One group, including key environmental stakeholders such as the Surfrider Foundation, are leaning toward a so-called "managed retreat" — permitting the tides, swells and storms to run their course.

Maus-Nisich emphasized any plan would have to be approved by the Parks Commission, the Board of Supervisors and other jurisdictional overseers of the shores like the Coastal Commission.

In the managed-retreat scenario, the landscape of the beach and park would change dramatically. Additionally, and at an unknown cost, this proposal could ultimately require County Parks or the responsible agencies to move gas, electric and sanitation facilities and utilities inland, and even perform complete parking lot reconfigurations.

Some supporters say the recreation and picnic areas will be better served in a sandy environment resulting from the natural conversion away from the man-made grass acreage.

Opposing them are backers of sand-covered rock barriers, to which the Parks Department resorted in 2000 and again in the winter of 2002.

County supervisors wanted the pros and cons of all proposals, and hired consulting firm engineers Moffatt and Nichol. The details of the engineers’ plan spelled out results on Goleta Beach shoreline erosion management.

One aspect, a beach nourishment project, ultimately came to fruition under BEACON. At a cost of $2 million, not paid for with tax money, it entailed dredging sand from the Santa Barbara Harbor and depositing it on Goleta Beach. While it is still under study, many are trumpeting its early successes.

Kevin Ready, BEACON’s 4-year former executive director, said Santa Barbara benefited from the annual procedure, which was designed to deepen the harbor west of Stearns Wharf by carrying away normal sand build-up, but Goleta Beach Park really came out on top. Maus-Nisich and Ready have no doubts the added sand greatly lessened storm energy.

"If not for the 75,000 cubic yards of nourishment, the erosion could have destroyed the park area and even the base of the pier," he said. "This shows we should have done more if we had more funding."

Moffatt and Nichol also suggested sand berms and a buried rock revetment as a "last line of defense."

One member of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce says that it’s high time for the last line.

"The interior park area is so fragile we don’t have the luxury of waiting for long-term plans or continued studies," said Nancy Graham, founder and president of the Friends of Goleta Beach and Park. "We’re asking the county to take action and protect the shoreline from continued erosion in the form of a permanent buried rock revetment."

Goleta City Council member Jonny Wallis, also on the advisory group, pointed to the challenge of satisfying a wide range of opinions while simultaneously preserving the beach and park.

"We need to choose wisely and pick a solution that will work, be affordable and achieve the goal important to our communities," Wallis said.

Photo by Ryan Witt/Brooks Institute