Proposed Imperial Beach Breakwater Target of Suits

Two lawsuits filed against the state Coastal Commission may once again block construction of a mile-long breakwater off Imperial Beach.

A La Jolla geologist, whose 1981 suit held up the project for almost four years, and a group of surfers both contend in their suits, filed in Superior Court last week, that the proposed breakwater would cause more harm than good to Imperial Beach.

The 1981 suit was decided in favor of geologist William C. Kellogg, who claimed that the breakwater would cause erosion to the beach rather than prevent it. The judge instructed the commission to rehear the issue, considering the effects of sewage flowing into the area from the Tijuana River and the feasibility of replacing sand lost through erosion.

On July 11 the commission reapproved the original plan and granted Imperial Beach permission to proceed with the $5-million project.

Under the plan for the mile-long structure designed by the Army Corps of Engineers, an existing rock jetty near Carnation Avenue would be extended to 600 feet from shore, and a new one would be built about a mile to the south. The two “groins” would be connected at the seaward ends by a breakwater made of rocks, rising 10 feet from the sea floor to the surface of the water.

Corps officials said the project, which would take four months to complete, is the only one of its kind in the United States.

Kristin Johnson, a Coastal Commission analyst who helped develop the proposal, said the purpose is to protect the beach and adjacent public property from erosion by surf and storms. She described the structure as a “box” which will break the wave energy coming into the beach and provide protected swimming.

But Kellogg said that “artificial sand replenishment would be a more environmentally feasible step,” when and if erosion takes place. However, he added that erosion is not a serious problem at Imperial Beach. “In 1981 we went through the biggest storm in years, but the beaches have been restored,” he said.

He said wave refraction off the breakwater would cause increased erosion to the north and south, threatening the Silver Strand, the strip of beach between Imperial Beach and Coronado.

Kellogg said his current suit asks for a restraining order to prevent construction of the breakwater and asks the Coastal Commission to reconsider sand replenishment as an alternative to the breakwater.

Because of the pending lawsuits, Johnson refused to comment on Kellogg’s allegation that the breakwater would cause erosion to increase.

The suit filed by the Surfrider Foundation also calls for a halt to the project and for a sand replenishment program in place of a breakwater. The suit claims the commission did not follow the Coastal Act, which requires approval of the least environmentally damaging alternative--in this case sand replenishment. “The Coastal Act was thrown right out the window,” said Tom Pratte, of the Surfrider Foundation.

Pratte said a section of the act that requires the Coastal Commission to protect ocean wave recreation was also ignored.

Jim Knox, a longtime resident of Imperial Beach and a member of the foundation, said, “It’s going to ruin a mile of good beach break surf in Southern California. California can’t afford to lose any beach because there’s already so much pressure on the coast.”

Johnson agreed that the project would eliminate surfing along the one-mile strip, and said the commission plans to monitor the effects on surfing over five years before analyzing the impact and suggesting a solution. She said she didn’t know what the solutions could be.