The ongoing study is currently researching the feasibility of removing the Long Beach breakwater, an 8.5-mile man-made structure that stretches along San Pedro and Long Beach.
The purpose of the restoration study, funded and led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is to evaluate feasible ecosystem restoration, recreational opportunities and general improvements on the shore in parts of Long Beach within East San Pedro Bay.
Part of the study includes inspecting the Long Beach breakwater and researching for data to determine whether or not it is beneficial to remove parts of the structure, the entire breakwater or keeping it intact altogether.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia has been a strong advocate of “improving the coastal experience.” He said the LA River directly flows into the bay in Long Beach, resulting in trash and sediment often getting stuck in the breakwater.
Restoring access to the coastlines would not only generate interest with residents and tourists, but also boost the economy, the mayor said.
“I think there would be more people coming to the beach,” Garcia said in a phone interview with the Signal Tribune. “It would be a more desirable place to be because of the restored coast. People are naturally going to have more interest and go out. Businesses would be even more successful.”
Since the formation of the structure, the waterfront and flow of the ocean in the area have diminished.
The breakwater is split into three parts. Construction on the San Pedro part of the breakwater began in 1899, the Middle in 1932 and the Long Beach portion in 1941, but it was halted in 1943 because of World War II until work resumed in 1946.
The San Pedro, Middle and Long Beach portions of the breakwater were all completed by 1912, 1942 and 1949, respectively.
The cost of the study is $3 million, a price that Garcia affirms will stay intact.
He said the Army Corps of Engineers is interested in exploring the decades of unnatural coastal tidal flow that has presumably done damage to the ecosystem. Part of the study is to restore the coast back to its natural state as much as possible.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-17-at-3.54.44-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”The East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study, funded and led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is currently researching feasible ecosystem restoration, recreational opportunities and general improvements on the shore in parts of Long Beach within East San Pedro Bay. The study is also collecting data on the feasibility of removing the Long Beach breakwater, which is pictured here at an unknown date. ” captionposition=”left”] Gabrielle Weeks, chair of the Long Beach Sierra Club, an environmental organization, called the city’s beaches unclean, adding that restoring the ecosystem will reduce health risks.
“Many people who swim or wade in the water in Long Beach get infections and health problems,” she said. “Reconfiguring the breakwater will improve circulation and water quality, bring waves which will bring more visitors and create a better ecosystem in the shallow waters near our city… Our waterfront could be so much more vibrant with a change in that breakwater.”
Much like Garcia, she too envisions a boost in business with a cleaner bay.
“Because the breakwater has been out there for so many generations, it has lots of plants and shells growing on it like a coral reef,” Weeks said. “Once parts of the breakwater are removed, it will be ideal for people learning to swim to rent snorkels or scuba gear to enjoy our cleaner bay, and then return to our shore hungry and bring our cafes business.”
The East San Pedro study has a reconnaissance and feasibility phase, but there are currently no plans for a call-to-action once the study is done until sufficient data has been collected, Garcia said. Over the course of the year, there will be community meetings to touch base with the public and to plan further action once the three-year study has concluded.
“It’s obviously very early in the study, so we’re just getting started,” Garcia said. “It’s a great partnership with the Army Corps and Long Beach… We’ll know in three years what we can definitively do and not do at the end of the study, and hopefully we can restore some of the shoreline back… We still don’t know if the study will suggest to remove the breakwater just yet. Right now, our priority is to restore the ecosystem.”
