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SR 05-24-2016 3K City Council Report City Council Meeting: May 24, 2016 Agenda Item: 3.K To: Mayor and City Council From: Dean Kubani, Sustainability Manager, Office of Sustainability & the Environment Subject: Memorandum Of Understanding for Beach Dune Restoration Pilot Project Recommended Action Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with The Bay Foundation to conduct a pilot restoration of a three acre portion of Santa Monica State Beach. Executive Summary The Bay Foundation is proposing to complete a pilot project involving the passive restoration of a three acre portion of Santa Monica Beach with the intent to restore native plant and animal species and demonstrate a low-cost, natural approach to address future sea level rise and coastal flooding related to climate change. This project would be fully funded and implemented by The Bay Foundation with guidance provided by City staff. The Memorandum of Understanding (Attachment 1) outlines the terms and conditions that The Bay Foundation would need to meet in order to proceed with the project. There is no financial or budgetary impact to the City from entering into the Memorandum of Understanding with The Bay Foundation. Background Over 17 million visitors frequent the beaches of Santa Monica every year. Southern California beach systems and associated wildlife are highly impacted by threats, including native species extirpation and extinction, erosion, non-natural sediment and sand transport through mechanical means, pollution, and loss of natural morphology due to daily vegetation and top soil removal through grooming and other regular maintenance. However, these systems also offer essentially the last line of defense in dunes support and protect homes, roads, and infrastructure, providing a natural buffer from sea level rise (SLR) as well as from tidal and wave action from the ocean. Beach habitats and dunes are critical in managing sand transport to create resilient beach morphologies, which naturally adapt to climate change impacts. Since the 1960s, beaches in the Los Angeles area, including Santa Monica State Beach, have been subjected to the continuous removal of natural features. Mechanical maintenance of beaches has significant impacts on the physical and biological 1 of 5 processes of natural beach and dune ecosystems. Over much of the state, and in many parts of the country, beaches are not frequently groomed, but are instead allowed to develop natural features such as low dunes away from active recreation areas. These features not only support native, and in many cases, rare and endemic species of plants and animals, they also provide a cost-effective buffer to storm surges and other regular, predictable threats, including SLR and increased erosion. In addition to providing habitat for birds and other animals, including federally- habitats have a varied native vegetation community and provide a vital habitat for invertebrate species. Thus, the current condition of groomed and flattened sand with vegetation removed provides almost no habitat value and removes all of the ecosystem services. Without vegetation, erosion is more frequent and there is nothing to trap wind- driven transport of sand. Discussion The Bay Foundation (TBF), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1990 to restore and enhance Santa Monica Bay and local coastal waters, approached the City of Santa Monica with a proposal to develop a pilot beach dune restoration project to achieve goals of restoring native plant and animal species and demonstrating a low-cost, natural approach to address future sea level rise and coastal flooding related to climate change. Staff dete could benefit the City by providing a more sheltered habitat for the threatened western evaluating a possible model for mitigating impacts of future sea level rise along the -accessible natural habitat area on Santa Monica Beach that would provide opportunities for bird watching, science education and passive recreation activities. TBF has obtained support for the pilot project from the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, University of California, Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount University, Audubon Society, California Native Plant Society, Heal the Bay, Friends of Ballona Wetlands, several elected officials, and additional expert scientists. The preferred site for the pilot project is a single contiguous three acre zone of beach located adjacent to the northern City boundary, between the high tide line and the beach bike path and just north of the Annenberg Community Beach House (Attachment 2). This pilot project would involve utilization of existing sediments to passively restore and transform a portion of the current beach into a sustainable coastal strand and foredune habitat complex which would be resilient to sea level rise. It would involve installation of sand fencing around the perimeter of the site and hand seeding of four species of native dune plant species throughout the area. After seeding and planting vegetation, sandy coastal strand habitats and plant hummocks would develop, which 2 of 5 would then begin to support invertebrates and birds. As the vegetation grows it would begin trapping sand transported by wind, naturally increasing the elevation of plant hummocks over time to an estimated height of 2-3 feet. Because beach dunes accrete sediment transported from the ocean they would continue to grow concurrently with rising sea levels. This dynamic process can continue as long as the vegetation community is robust and healthy. This process has repeatedly been demonstrated in in Ventura County. Future restored conditions would include no mechanized raking or flattening of the sand and removal of vegetation, however the site would continue to be accessible to the public via pathways and from the shoreline. All funding for the project for fencing, signage, seeds and plant materials and other project expenses would be provided by TBF. Permitting, implementation, and post- restoration maintenance and monitoring would also be coordinated and conducted by TBF. TBF would consult with the City of Santa Monica on all project logistics, design and implementation and would not proceed without City approval. TBF would implement a biological, physical, and social monitoring plan before the restoration to collect baseline data, for the duration of the restoration project, and several years beach would be collected as part of a before-after-control-impact ecological assessment monitoring program. Data would be collected for up to ten years to evaluate the ecological health of the created coastal strand ecosystem and its potential for long-term adaptation to accelerated rates of sea level rise. Funding for monitoring and maintenance will also be provided by TBF. Public Outreach TBF has met with members of the Beach Club, which is directly adjacent to the proposed project site to discuss the project and identify any potential concerns. At that meeting the Beach Club did not identify any significant concerns with the proposed project and expressed general support for it moving ahead. TBF also hosted a public meeting at the Annenberg Community Beach House on April 27, 2016, to which property owners and residents along Pacific Coast Highway, between the project site and the Santa Monica Pier, were invited. Eighteen people including local residents, members of the Audubon Society, Heal the Bay, and other stakeholder groups attended the meeting. Questions and discussion focused on the location of the pilot, accessibility of the site to the public, the types of fencing to be used, and the maintenance and monitoring of the site. No significant concerns were raised regarding the proposed project. This pilot project has the support of adjacent property owners and other stakeholders and would benefit the City of Santa Monica by restoring native plant and animal 3 of 5 species, demonstrating a low-cost, natural approach to address future sea level rise and coastal flooding related to climate change, and providing a publicly-accessible natural habitat on Santa Monica Beach. Environmental Analysis Section 15333 of CEQA Guidelines provides (Class 33) exemption for the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of habitat (no greater than 5 acres) for fish, plants, or wildlife provided that: 1) There would be no significant adverse impact on endangered, rare, or threatened species or their habitat 2) There are no hazardous materials at or around the project site that may be disturbed or removed, and 3) The project will not result in impacts that are significant when viewed in connection with the effects of past, current, or probable future projects The project consists of the utilization of existing sediments to passively restore and transform approximately 3 acres of the current beach into a sustainable coastal strand and dune habitat complex which would be resilient to sea level rise. The project would result in a beneficial impact on wildlife and would not result in the disturbance or removal of hazardous materials at the site. Furthermore, the project will not result signification impacts in combination with other projects. Therefore, this project is a Class 33 project that is categorically exempt per Section 15333 of the CEQA Guidelines. Financial Impacts and Budget Actions There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Prepared By: Jennifer Simmons, Administrative Staff Assistant Approved Forwarded to Council Attachments: A. MOU for Beach Dune Restoration Project - Attachment 1 4 of 5 B. Admin_Beach Dune Proposed Project Location - Attachment 2 5 of 5 wĻŅĻƩĻƓĭĻʹ ah bƚ͵ ЊЉЌЉВ Λ//{Μ