Not all beaches are eroding, but many are - enough to warrant spending large sums of money to add sand to Southern California's deteriorating coastlines.
But as a new study out of UC Irvine suggests, adding sand might not be the way to go in every case.
KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian spoke with Daniel Kahl, a UC Irvine Ph.D. student who heads the study.
"When we think about planning nourishment, we place sand on the beach, and we think sand is going to go in one direction, but it's actually going in the other direction...some cities down coast may wonder why a nourishment isn't benefiting their beaches," Kahl said.
After analyzing beaches between Long Beach and La Jolla using satellite images from the last 20 years, Kahl believes our current understanding of how sand naturally moves along the coastlines may be way off.
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The study offers new information suggesting technology could be the key to identifying interventions other than costly sand replacement/retention projects that would better serve our most vulnerable coastlines.
Kahl says that based on the data collected regarding sediment pathways, it is possible to identify the best locations for replenishments and where another method should be considered.
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