Sediment Management for Southern California Mountains, Coastal Plains, and Shoreline

The Environmental Quality Laboratory at Caltech and the Shore Processes Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography have jointly undertaken a study of regional sediment balance problems in coastal southern California (see map in Figure 1). The overall objective in this study is to define specific alternatives in sediment management that may be implemented to alleviate existing sediment imbalance problems (e.g. inland debris disposal, local shoreline erosion) and possible future problems that have not yet manifested themselves. These alternatives will be identified through a consideration of economic, legal, and institutional issues as well as an analysis of governing physical processes and engineering constraints.