State to Cut 120 Beach Lifeguards

The number of lifeguards who patrol California’s 28 state beaches will be slashed by 20% this summer to help close the state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

In a year when record attendance is projected at state beaches, the Department of Parks and Recreation will have 120 fewer guards on duty during the busy summer season.

Officials said Friday that they are still working out the details of the cuts and won’t have them ready until Gov. Gray Davis’ final budget is completed.

“If we have six towers on a beach, we might reduce it to four and ask people to stay in the proximity of those four,” said department spokesman Roy Stearns.

“There’s cause for concern, but not cause for alarm.”

Orange County will be the most affected, because it has the most state beaches, six. They are Bolsa Chica, Corona del Mar, Crystal Cove, Doheny, Huntington and San Clemente.

Ten beaches in Los Angeles and Ventura counties also face cuts.

Most beaches will remain fully patrolled during peak weekend hours.

Fewer lifeguards will be on duty toward the end of the day, and swimmers may be asked to move near towers that are staffed.

Weekday lifeguard patrols will also be reduced.

Officials announced the cuts Friday to warn swimmers that they need to be especially careful when they hit the beaches this summer.

“Our message is that everybody needs to be personally aware of their safety and their limits,” Stearns said.

“If people are aware and alert, there is no reason why anybody should drown.”

At state beaches last year, 17 swimmers drowned and 7,400 were rescued.

Under the proposed cuts, Orange County would lose 30 lifeguards, San Diego would have 25 fewer and Los Angeles and Ventura counties would each be down 12 lifeguards.

At many state beaches, lifeguards typically staff the towers until 6 p.m. but will stay late if many beachgoers are still around. Now staffing at busy beaches in the evening will be limited to roving patrols.

“We’re going to do our best to make sure the public doesn’t notice a reduction in lifeguard service,” said Mike Tope, superintendent for the state park system’s Orange Coast District.

Tope said there have been other cutbacks in his district.

Off-season hours at many parks have been reduced, and some overnight campgrounds had to be closed during non-summer months.

The cuts will be felt at state parks and recreation areas across California.

“We have 267 parks across the state,” Stearns said. “We are cutting all of them. Everybody is taking their proportionate cut.”

Stearns said state parks had 82 million visitors last year, and 90 million are projected this year.

Much of the increase was from beach visitors taking advantage of discounts in day and overnight use fees, Stearns said. “Last year we had a huge increase in visitorship,” he said. “It required a great deal of overtime to staff our beaches. We’re still paying that bill.”

The overtime costs amounted to several million dollars, he said.

Funding is being slashed at every level of state government due to a budget shortfall triggered by dwindling tax revenue and an increase in refund claims at a time when state expenses are rising.