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Regional Coastal Adaptation Monitoring Program

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Contact

Sustainability@SantaBarbaraCA.gov
(805) 564-5631

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Santa Barbara's coastline is highly dynamic and can change gradually over years or suddenly after large storms. Monitoring how the coastline changes is critical to understanding what areas are becoming vulnerable to hazards, such as flooding and erosion, what adaptation actions are needed, and when to act.

The City has partnered with the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON), a joint power authority composed of member agencies from coastal cities and counties between Point Mugu and Point Conception, to develop a Regional Coastal Monitoring Program (often referred to as RCAMP) to track coastline changes across the region. 

This monitoring program is key to implementing the City’s Adaptation & Resilience Program with a data-driven approach, informing the timing, location, and size of adaptation projects based on the actual changing conditions.

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Monitoring Plan

A Monitoring Plan was developed to provide a roadmap for the City and other BEACON members to implement a regional monitoring program through recommended monitoring strategies and pilot studies. The Monitoring Plan recommends the components (such as sea levels, shoreline and bluff erosion, and storm impacts) that are critical to monitor to understand the impacts of sea level rise and when adaptation projects are needed. 

View the Final Draft Monitoring Plan (released in January 2026).

The Monitoring Plan will be revised based on the lessons learned from pilot projects (described below), and the Final Monitoring Plan will be released in late 2027. 

Monitoring Pilot Projects

The City and BEACON are currently collaborating on pilot projects to start monitoring coastal conditions, build processes for analyzing monitoring data, and refine the RCAMP Monitoring Plan. The current pilot projects include:

  • RCAMP Demonstration Report: A prototype of a regularly updated monitoring report (intended to be updated every two to five years).
  • Shoreline Data Analysis and Monitoring: Partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to analyze recent shoreline changes with satellite imagery and recommend methods for future shoreline monitoring. 

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