By Lookout News

June 1, 2016 -- A three-acre portion of Santa Monica State Beach will be included in a pilot project to restore coastal dunes, part of an effort to restore native plant and animal species and demonstrate a natural approach dealing with flooding and other issues.

The Bay Foundation will be in charge of the project along a stretch of beach adjacent to the northern city boundary, between the high tide line and the beach bike path and just north of the Annenberg Community Beach House, officials said.

Neighbors in the area have been contacted and agree to the project, according to City staff. The City Council approved it at its meeting last Tuesday. The City manages the beach. All of the project’s costs, however, are handled by The Bay Foundation.

Late this summer and into the fall, volunteers will start planting native vegetation, work on dune restoration, help install fencing and post signs if needed, staff said. There will also be several beach cleaning days as part of ongoing monitoring of the project.

“After seeding and planting vegetation, sandy coastal strand habitats and plant hummocks would develop, which would then begin to support invertebrates and birds,” staff wrote in its report to the Council.

“As the vegetation grows it would begin trapping sand transported by wind, naturally increasing the elevation of plant hummocks over time to an estimated height of 2-3 feet.”

Similar projects in other California counties, such as the Surfer’s Point restoration project in Ventura County, have been successful in demonstrating “a low-cost, natural approach to address future sea level rise and coastal flooding related to climate change,” staff wrote.

The site would continue to be accessible to the public via pathways and from the shoreline.

More than 17 million visitors frequent the beaches of Santa Monica annually. Like other Southern California beaches, those in Santa Monica feel the impact on wildlife, as well as the rest of the natural eco-system.

Beaches and dunes provide “the last line of support” for homes, roads, and infrastructure, offering a natural buffer from sea-level rise, the ocean’s tides and waves and climate change, staff said.

Since the 1960s, beaches in the Los Angeles area, including Santa Monica State Beach, have been subjected to the continuous “grooming” and removal of natural features and vegetation, leaving little to trap wind-driven sand.

The Bay Foundation’s restoration project is supported by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount University, the Audubon Society, the California Native Plant Society, Heal the Bay, Friends of Ballona Wetlands, several elected officials and experts in the field, staff said.