How We Influence Resilience in the Santa Monica Bay
The Bay Foundation (TBF) has many projects that increase coastal resilience and improve the health of local habitats, including beach and dune, kelp, seagrass, wetland, and stream restoration projects. By planting plants, trees, and grasses, and promoting kelp growth, we improve water quality, benefit wildlife, and protect the coast. Learn more about these projects on our other topics pages: Protecting Beaches, Restoring Oceans, Engaging Communities, and Revitalizing Wetlands.
Protecting and Restoring the Coast
TBF is growing sand dunes and exploring innovative nature-based solutions to reduce the impacts of sea level rise and erosion on coastal infrastructure, beaches, and other habitats. Many plants adapted to grow on beaches trap sand blown by the wind or pushed onshore by ocean water. Through planting, TBF can grow dunes that make the beaches taller, protecting our coastlines from flooding and extreme storms.
Frequent storms and larger waves pounding the Southern California coastline are major causes for concern if we hope to preserve our beaches and rocky shorelines for future generations’ enjoyment. To address this, TBF has restored over ~70 acres of kelp forest off the Palos Verdes Peninsula through our Kelp Forest Restoration Project. To better understand how kelp forests protect the shorelines, TBF and researchers undertook the Kelp Forest Hydrodynamics Project. The study showed that mature kelp forests dampen the effects of small waves and slow down water movement inside the kelp forest, both of which result in keeping sand and other sediment contained nearshore and reducing erosion.
Seagrasses grow in the sand or on rocks in impressively large meadows, improving water quality, and benefitting wildlife. TBF is transplanting seagrasses to other locations to learn if we can do this successfully. If so, we can make more habitat and likely reduce erosion along the coast.
Related Links:
Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program (SMBNEP) Plans & Reports
