{"id":4382,"date":"2016-02-24T19:07:44","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T19:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debbieintheoc.com\/?p=4382"},"modified":"2022-12-07T06:36:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T06:36:05","slug":"do-you-want-to-help-protect-californias-coast-we-took-to-the-sky-to-get-the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debbieintheoc.com\/orange-county\/do-you-want-to-help-protect-californias-coast-we-took-to-the-sky-to-get-the-story","title":{"rendered":"Do you want to help protect California’s coast? We took to the sky to get the story."},"content":{"rendered":"
{Featured\u00a0story for OC Mom Magazine<\/a>}<\/em><\/p>\n We all love to walk the beautiful beaches of dreamy\u00a0OC, but are our heads in the sand when it comes to nature’s impact and man’s ingenuity? We wondered ourselves, so we soared high above for a firsthand look.<\/p>\n OC Mom Magazine<\/em> joined Orange County Coastkeeper,<\/a> the environmental nonprofit organization, to get a bird\u2019s-eye view of California\u2019s coastline. We took to the sky during the recent King Tides<\/a>, which reveal what the new normal of our shorelines will look like in 20\u201330 years due to sea level rise. The\u00a0mission was piloted by our fierce friends at Flighthawk, wonderful volunteers helping conservation.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Our savvy OC photographer Noel Beluzzi<\/a>\u00a0(mom of two and nature lover) flew above Huntington Beach to capture these photos for insight into\u00a0changes that will effect future generations.\u00a0We looked into the rising sea levels, climate changes and plans to combat California’s drought challenges. Noel’s\u00a0best\u00a0air-selfie below.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n {Also below is a more natural Noel, playing with her son. It’s so important to remember that our community’s actions today<\/em> will change\u00a0all of our children’s lives tomorrow<\/em>.}<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n On our aerial journey with Orange County Coastkeeper, who is\u00a0passionate about protecting and promoting water resources that are swimmable, drinkable, fishable, they focused on the area\u00a0over Huntington Beach, because it\u2019s the second most vulnerable city to sea level rise in California.<\/p>\n The area is\u00a0also\u00a0the proposed site for\u00a0a future desalination plant in Huntington Beach, proposed\u00a0by\u00a0Poseidon and to be\u00a0built on the HB’s floodplains\u00a0(the\u00a0$1 billion desalination plant goes before the Coastal Commission later this year). The area,\u00a0located on a floodplain, is highly subject to sea level rise. And how they will collect drought water (pulling\u00a0in collateral ocean life) is also controversial and concerning.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Coastkeeper shared with us how the plant project will require structural protective barriers, such as seawalls, groins, breakwaters and other coastal structures, triggering an additional suite of costs and impacts to our state and coast. Look closely, and you can\u00a0imagine those tides possibly effecting\u00a0the\u00a0plant.<\/p>\n “Desalination is already by far the most expensive option for an alternative water source and the added costs of distribution will only place an additional financial burden on rate payers,” said\u00a0Coastkeeper sources. “Poseidon stands to make billions of dollars in profits over the 50-year life of the project.”<\/p>\n As you’ll see below, Noel captured PCH waves crashing quite close and already collapsing cliffs. It makes you indeed wonder about the site in the future.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Some plant background:<\/strong><\/p>\n In November 2013, the Commission denied Poseidon an approval to build the plant. Poseidon has already spent over $50 million to obtain project approvals. As they see it, they are in the home stretch, but if the Coastal Commission denies its last permit needed to start construction, its funds and years of effort go down the drain.<\/p>\n