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By Eric Johnson

October 29, 2024—Scott Rohlf, a planner with California State Parks and project manager of the Seacliff Resilience Plan, says public input is the key element of the process.

At an Oct. 21 evening webinar, Rohlf joined District Superintendent Chris Spohrer, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks Executive Director Bonny Hawley, and a small team of colleagues and consultants to discuss the project and field questions. They shared ideas about replacing facilities destroyed in a punishing series of storms in 2023, and introduced some innovative strategies to protect the beach and the park. At regular intervals, presentations were paused to field questions and conduct quick surveys.

It was the second public event associated with phase two of a five-part recovery process. Having performed a vulnerability assessment, State Parks is now identifying measures to adapt to the twin dangers of mega-storms and sea-level rise, and calling on park users to help decide how to proceed.

“Over the past 4 years, our community has been trounced by climate-change-fueled disasters,” says Hawley. “It’s moving to see the community come together to learn how we can create more sustainable coastal parks. Together, we’re inventing the future of these beloved spaces.”

The public is clearly engaged— 60 people showed up for the online event. An in-person community workshop held at the Seacliff Inn in Aptos on Sept. 26 drew more than 300 people—a sell-out crowd. Rohlf and his team see these events as crowdsourcing exercises to help them chart the best course to rebuild and protect the unique stretch of beach that comprises these two state parks, beloved for their campgrounds, picnic areas and visitor centers.

A geologist with an earth sciences degree from UC Santa Cruz and a planner’s certificate from San Jose State, Rohlf views the development of the Seacliff Resilience Plan through a scientist’s eyes. There are big decisions to be made, and as the members of the public state their opinions about what they want and don’t want, Rohlf views the feedback as data.

“Public involvement is crucial,” he says. “As California State Parks, our constituency is all of California. We serve the public by providing education and inspiration, the ability to recreate in wonderful outdoor spaces like Seacliff, and protecting biodiversity, for all of the California public. “It’s important for me as a planner to be able to spread that message far and wide and get input. And when I receive input, that gives me guidance.

“I can think of the things that a geologist might want in a coastal area, but it’s not up to me. Our strategy is certainly to have a science-based approach, and my background provides me the context for that. The project then involves weaving that together with community input and other data points to develop parks that serve the public for decades to come.”

A plan begins to take shape

The final half-hour of the Oct. 21 webinar focused on resilience—strategies to protect beaches, cliffs and park facilities from the type of massive damages they suffered nearly two years ago.

On Jan. 5, 2023, 35-foot waves took out half of the historic pier at Seacliff that connected with the famous cement ship (both of which had been closed for many years). The storm also destroyed significant sections of a timber bulkhead seawall. Rohlf says that resulted in massive losses of sand, gravel and crushed stone that formed the base of the park’s day-use area and campground. It also seriously damaged above-ground infrastructure such as restrooms and all the park’s underground infrastructure, including campsite hookups.

Over the next several months, a number of atmospheric rivers caused further bluff erosion and road damage. Then, on Dec. 28, another mega-storm brought 25-foot swells that further impacted the seawall and everything else.

“So we had two big-wave events, both noteworthy, that bookended the year,” Rohlf says, adding that the seawall was over-topped a total of seven times.

California State Parks has long known that it needs to plan for a future in which climate crisis-induced events threaten its assets, and planners and consultants have been at work looking for solutions. During the fall public meetings, attendees were introduced to strategies that might be implemented here.

The two traditional ways of protecting from coastal hazards involve structures such as concrete seawalls or riprap—piles of stone like those on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.

Rohlf points out that both methods reflect wave energy back to the beach—and that wave energy is erosive.

“A concrete seawall is very good at protecting things that are inland,” he says, “but you might lose your beach because of it. And if we are already looking at sea-level rise reducing our beach width, then we might be putting ourselves in a position where we need to import sand to keep a beach.”

For this reason, State Parks is also considering “living shorelines” and other Nature-Based Solutions, a term that is gaining popularity among land managers.

One such system that might be proposed for Seacliff State Beach—and perhaps the southern part of New Brighton State Beach—involves building sand dune structures and planting native beach plants. Rohlf says it would be possible to re-create ecosystems that evolved in response to coastal processes that exist locally.

In fact, State Parks is already implementing a pilot project just south of Seacliff at the Rio Del Mar State Beach Esplanade beach area, where they buried driftwood to provide structure for the beach sands, and are cultivating native plants in a nursery that will be planted in the winter.

Rohlf emphasizes that he and his team are in the earliest planning phases. He says there are more than a dozen options on the table, ranging from high-impact solutions like “groins”— mounds of riprap reaching out into the surf, such as can be seen at the Santa Cruz Harbor. On the NBS end of the spectrum, they are considering planting kelp forests offshore and even creating an artificial reef.

Again, he points out that when it’s time to make an actual plan, the public will be deeply engaged. And he expresses gratitude that his team has help from Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks in recruiting people to provide that input.

“As our operating partner, Friends gives us a pretty big lift,” he says. “It was incredibly useful to work with Bonny and her team to be able to get word out as much as possible and to have help with the outreach and the website (seacliffresilience.org).”

“To see so many people show up to our community meeting was amazing. From a planner's perspective, it's great to see a ton of interest, knowing that there's a strong community that really supports Seacliff and, and wants to see it into the future.”

Bonny Hawley pointed out that Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks has been working with the agency on a similar public process at Big Basin State Park, which was virtually destroyed by the CZU Fire in 2020. There, she said, “the community came together in an ongoing process to reimagine a more sustainable redwood park.”

“I want to thank you for taking the time to participate in inventing the future for these beloved state parks,” she said, pointing out that many individuals had also contributed to a Seacliff Resilience and Recovery Fund.

Chris Spohrer recognized that the Santa Cruz community has witnessed a lot of loss in recent years, including “cherished places that they’ve had access to.”

“Really, the only positive impact is it gives us an opportunity to get together with all of you to really think about what these places can look like in the future,” Spohrer said, “and to be resilient in what we know is a changing climate.”

Rohlf invites the public to take the online survey available at SeacliffResilience.org by Nov. 30. Your input will help inform the next phase of the project.