Friday, May 23, 2008
There has been a lot of news lately pertaining to local beach access and environmental issues, which we'll try to condense here.
Bacara and Beach Access
The Bacara and the City of Goleta continue to anger many surfers and beachgoers, including Santa Barbara Surfing. The Bacara has proposed over two dozen changes to the City's General Plan. Included among them is the ability for the Bacara to build 62 timeshares in a sensitive area, to limit beach access hours, and to move the beach access parking lot and trail. You can read the latests Independent and Daily Sound articles for the full story. As a refresher, the Bacara has already moved where beachgoers can park, closed off the old parking area, installed cactus to deter walking on pre-Bacara paths, and generally made going to this low key, non touristy, family friendly beach more of a hassle. Interested parties can check out the Surfrider Foundation for ways to oppose Bacarafest Destiny.
Water Quality
Heal The Bay released their annual water quality report, and Santa Barbara County had it's best results in years. Good news doesn't sell papers, so you haven't heard much about the improved water quality this year, but 19 out of 20 of our beaches got an A during the dry months. Not surprisingly, Arroyo Burro (Hendry's, The Pit) got a B. Wet conditions showed problems at the usual suspects. One thing to note: Rincon got an A+ during dry conditions and an A during wet conditions, septic tanks and all.
- Beach | April-Oct | Dry Year Round | Wet Year Round
- Guadalupe Dunes A A C
- Ocean Beach A+ A+ F
- Jalama Beach A A B
- Gaviota State Beach A+ A B
- Refugio State Beach A A B
- El Capitan State Beach A A A
- Haskell’s Beach A+ A A
- Sands @ Coal Oil Point A A B
- Goleta Beach A A C
- Hope Ranch Beach A A B
- Arroyo Burro Beach B A C
- Leadbetter Beach A B A
- East Beach @ Mission Creek A A F
- East Beach @ Sycamore Creek A+ A+ C
- Butterfly Beach A A B
- Hammond’s Beach A A A
- Summerland Beach A A A
- Carpinteria City Beach A+ A B
- Carpinteria State Beach A A C
- Rincon Beach@ creek mouth A+ A+ A
Rincon Sewer
The Rincon sewer project is still full steam ahead, although an appeal is expected by the opponents of the project. It is estimated to cost every homeowner $35,000 to $80,000 to put their home on the sewer. Although Rincon is mentioned most, other nearby communities that will get on the sewer is Sandyland Cove, Sand Point Road and Padaro Lane. Since Rincon straddles both Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, it has made the process a bit more difficult.
Parking Fees
Santa Barbara Blog has a snidbit about the County trying to quietly pass a proposal to start charging parking fees at county parks. Of interest to beachgoers is Goleta Beach, Arroyo Burro Beach, Rincon Beach, Lookout Beach, Ocean Beach, and Rancho Guadalupe Dunes County Park.
link to this
Santa Barbara Surfing. Created by Tim Maddux. Continued by Pope.
