A SPECIAL REPORT: THE COAST
LIFE’S A BEACH: After last summer’s bad weather, look for record crowds this year at Orange County state beaches--and maybe shorter park hours, less maintenance and fewer lifeguards. . . . “The budget problem seems to get worse as the months go along,” says Jack Roggenbuck of the parks department, which oversees such popular beaches as Crystal Cove and Bolsa Chica. This year “you might not see every lifeguard tower with a lifeguard. Instead, it might be every other one.”
Hitting the Beach
Attendance has dropped 17% since 1990 at Orange County’s state beaches--Bolsa Chica, Huntington State, Crystal Cove, Doheny and San Clemente.
Millions of visitors
1987: 3.57
1988: 3.89
1989: 4.36
1990: 4.45
1991: 3.69
Source: California State Parks Orange Coast District
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