Santa Monica Bay Coastal Resilience
The disruptive changes include:
Adding Resilience to Key Habitats
SMBNEP and its many partners have many ongoing projects that are increasing coastal resilience and improving the health of our local habitats, including beaches and dunes, kelp, seagrass, wetland, and stream restoration projects.
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The Bay Foundation (TBF) implements many initiatives that protect and restore Santa Monica Bay.
TBF is growing sand dunes and exploring innovative nature-based solutions, to reduce the impacts of sea level rise and erosion on coastal infrastructure, beaches, and other habitats. Many plants adapted to grow on beaches trap sand blown by the wind or pushed onshore by ocean water. Through planting, TBF can grow dunes that make our beaches taller protecting our coastlines from flooding and extreme storms.
Frequent storms and larger waves pounding the Southern California coastline are major causes for concern if we hope to preserve our beaches and rocky shorelines for future generations’ enjoyment. To address this, TBF has restored over ~70 acres of kelp forest off the Palos Verdes Peninsula through our Kelp Forest Restoration Project. To better understand how kelp forests protect the shoreline TBF and researchers undertook the Kelp Forest Hydrodynamics Project. The study showed that mature kelp forests dampen the effects of small waves and slow down water movement inside the kelp forest, both of which result in keeping sand and other sediment contained nearshore and reducing erosion.
California is home to over four million boaters, making it one of the top states for recreational boating in the U.S. While boating offers countless recreational opportunities, it can also impact our waterways. Boat-related pollutants—including sewage, used oil, hazardous waste, marine debris, invasive species, and emerging contaminants—threaten water quality. Launched in 1996 with a Clean Vessel Act Education and Outreach grant, TBF’s Clean Boating Initiative works to engage boaters in pollution prevention efforts. This ongoing educational program serves Southern California’s boating communities, providing essential tools and resources to help safeguard the health of local waterways for generations to come.
Furthermore, TBF works to foster reuse in restaurants and reduce marine debris. In 2018, TBF partnered with ReThink Disposable, a technical assistance program of Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund, to prevent excess waste before it starts. In doing so, restaurants and other food operators cut costs and improve patrons’ dining experience. In 2023, the City of Los Angeles launched its Reusable Foodware Microgrant Program to help advance single-use reduction and assist food service establishments with their transition to reusable foodware and foodware accessories. TBF is proud to have supported the program with implementation and technical assistance alongside Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable and APTIM. 120 restaurants participated in reducing single-use disposables at the source and championing reuse for dine-in.
Frequent storms and larger waves pounding the Southern California coastline are major causes for concern if we hope to preserve our beaches and rocky shorelines for future generations to enjoy.