San Clemente’s Vanishing Beaches
San Clemente’s shoreline is eroding. Once wide, sandy stretches are now narrowed to rip rap and cobble, threatening recreation, ecosystems, and coastal infrastructure. Without action, the loss will accelerate, and the beach many of us grew up with will become a memory.
North Beach, San Clemente
1996 vs 2019
Photos provided by: Don Kindred, San Clemente Journal
Cottons Point, San Clemente
2008 vs 2021
The Root Cause: A Broken Sand Supply
For centuries, San Clemente’s beaches were naturally replenished by sand and sediment from nearby cliffs and from creeks like San Juan and San Mateo. That natural conveyor belt has been disrupted:
Upstream development and flood control structures trap sediment before it reaches the coast.
Creek armoring prevents erosion that once supplied beach-quality sand.
Studies show sediment loads along Southern California’s coast have dropped by as much as 91%.
With the pipeline cut off, the ocean takes sand away faster than it’s replaced.
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