Sea level rise impacts on coastal access

Climate change and associated sea level rise (SLR) will have substantial impacts on coastlines worldwide, threatening beaches, infrastructure, economies, and communities. In California, communities and individuals rely on the state’s public coastal access to physically reach and use the beaches and nearshore waters. Such use constitutes a key component of the state’s ocean-dependent coastal tourism and recreation sector, and contributes significantly to state and local economies, coastal culture, and individual’s coastal attachment. This study investigates the impacts of SLR on coastal access, first by using geospatial tools to develop a higher resolution database of the location and elevation of coastal access sites (opportunities, amenities, and facilities, including parking) at various coastal access sites statewide. Then, using the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) SLR run-up model, we project the loss of coastal access opportunities due to SLR. We find that impacts to coastal access increase incrementally with SLR and vary widely by access feature type and location, with larger impacts accruing more rapidly in the southern half of the state. We project that access to California’s shoreline will drown at the rate of approximately 100 access opportunities per 1 foot of SLR. Losses of coastal access will impact individual communities and groups differently and are sensitive to the effects of different strategies designed to manage coastlines in the face of rising sea levels.