Zuma Beach Sand Loss Among Worst in California

=.  And wildflowers may be confused by heavy rain … there months of drought …. And then more heavy rain.

=. But the spring bloom has started in parts of the santa Monica Mountains. 

Zuma Beach has some of the worst sand loss in California … says a new scientific study. 

Zuma Beach … in fact … is one of the biggest sand losers in the state.

The study says the Zuma Beach are has lost more than 10 million square feet of sand … 

That’s about 8 inches of beach per year … washing away … according to the study.

That is a loss of millions of square feet of beach area at Zuma and nearby beaches. 

California beaches have actually grown in size over recent decades …. just not in Malibu.

A recent scientific study … using satellite radar data … shows that Southern California experienced net beach growth of over 21 million square feet in the past 30 years.

The beach growth is uneven.

And it can be explained by sand being captured at piers and jetties …. And sand dumped from harbors being dredged and dumped on beaches.

The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. 

And it says there is adequate sources of sand along the California coast … enough sand to stabilized the beaches 

The problem is … this sand is not getting distributed to the beaches that are vulnerable to sand loss.

Some beaches are getting much wider … like Santa Monica … where the pier and several old jetties have capture huge amounts of sand.

There used to be a yacht harbor next to the Santa Monica Pier … but it filled in with sand decades ago.

The shoreline along the coast at Pacific Palisades used to sit under what is now Pacific Coast Highway …. And sand catching rock piles called groins have caught sand moving down from Malibu.

Nothing like that exists in Malibu … and the beaches here are in trouble. 

The study says the three beaches that have had the most sand loss are at Ventura … Southern Orange County … Oceanside

And especially at Zuma Beach.

The Zuma are and the northernmost portion of the Oceanside area have some of southern California’s most widespread shoreline erosion.

Both areas have beach segments that have been eroding at rates exceeding 1 meter per year … during the last three decades.,

This has critically narrowed beaches and caused erosion and wave-related damage to public and private property.

The study was done by a team led by Jonathon Warrick … a U S Geological Survey scientist based in Santa Cruz.

Zuma is the most popular beach in Los Angeles county… Attracting an estimated 15 million visitor days per year.

Already… Sections of the beach have completely washed away at times … near Point doom..

The state and the county are looking into expensive solutions … possibly trucking in thousands loads of sand from distant mountains.

And the county is looking into installing underwater rocks along Zuma Beach … to trap more sand. 

3 Democrats, 2 Republicans Essentially Tied In Race For Governor

Five candidates are now in a close competition in the top-two gubernatorial primary in June.

But none of the candidates has anything close to a commanding lead … four months before the June primary election. 

Two Republicans are taking advantage of a traffic pileup of democrats in the race … splitting the Democratic vote. 

Steve Hilton … a Republican talk show host … 14 percent.

Katie Porter … former Congress member and Democrat … 13 percent.

Chad Blanco … the Republican sheriff in Riverside … 12 percent. 

Eric Swalwell … the Bay Area democratic congressman  … 11 percent.

And Tom Steyer … the Bay Area democrat billionaire … 10 percent.

Other candidates are swirling the drain with less than that … including Xavier Becerra and  Antonio Villaraigosa at 5 percent each … and Matt Mahan at 3 percent. 

Add them all up … and the nine Democrat candidates are splitting 70 percent of the preferences … 

The six republicans are splitting 30 percent. 

And for the California congressional races …  six in ten likely voters favor the Democratic candidate over the Republican candidate.

And Democratic likely voters are more enthusiastic than others about voting in this election. 

Majorities of Californians disapprove of the job that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is doing, 

Majorities approve of recent protests against ICE actions, and believe that ICE actions have made communities less safe.

The poll was conducted by the nonpartisan California Public Policy Institute

San Diego May Impose Big Tax On Vacant Houses

Coastal cities in California are emptying out.

A recent survey in San Diego turned up a significant proportion of houses that do not actually house people. 

Rather … they are kept as second homes … vacation homes … for people who live elsewhere.

Or … they are rented out as short term rentals.

Other coastal cities in California are noticing this.

San Diego housing advocates say the severe housing shortage there is being aggravated by empty houses kept as vacation homes by people who reside elsewhere.

San Diego activists are proposing a tax … up to 12 thousand dollars per year… on the thousands of empty second homes.

Homes owned by individuals … that are not occupied year round … would pay an $8,000 tax.

There are about 5,000 of those.

Unoccupied homes owned by corporate entities would pay 12 thousand dollars per year.

The tax’s sponsor … a San Diego city council member … argues that keeping homes off the rental or for-sale market deprives San Diegans of much needed housing.

The San Diego city council will consider the tax next week.

Malibu officials have in the past said they think the city’s declining population is being caused partly by large numbers of people buying homes for vacation purposes only.

The proposed SanDiego tax would not affect houses being used as short-term rentals.

The empty house tax is supported in San Diego by labor unions, community organizers and nonprofits focused on promoting affordable housing. 

San Francisco voters passed an empty homes tax in 2022.

Real estate interests sued the city a Superior Court judge struck down the law last October.

The city has appealed the ruling.

Opponents in San Diego say no city has the right to tell homeowners how they can or cannot use their property. I

One testified that he tried to rent out his empty house … 

But … he says… he tried renting these out. 

Say he: 

“You know, renters are dirty, they’ve got kids, they’re always destroying the place. 

“They need to go get their own place and stop being poor is what it really comes down to. Stop looking for handouts.”

2 TO Hospitals Cancel Surgeries Over Sterilization Problems

Surgical procedures at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks were shut down for multiple days.

Sterilization issues … the sterilization of medical equipment … was the  problem.

All surgeries at the hospital were stopped seven days ago … 

The hospital says the stop order was lifted after five days … when they got an all clear from their experts. 

The hospital’s president said equipment used for sterilization before surgeries was not working at optimal capacity …. and that experts were on site to diagnose the exact cause of the issues.

Equipment was affected at both main campus and at a satellite facility … called Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital.

Beginning last Thursday ….  ambulances were diverted from the hospital for a short period.

Stroke cases were diverted and sent elsewhere for several days.

Los Robles and the nearby T-O Surgical Hospital are the closest hospitals for residents of western Malibu … 

Many doctors who practice just over the hill send their patients there. 

The hospital president downplays the threat to patients.

But the nurse’s union says the sterilization issue raises alarming red flags about patient safety.

Nurses have said sterilization problems are not new and stretch back for about a year.

They say unsterile instruments and trays may have been used in patient procedures, which could have exposed patients, nurses and other staff to pathogens that could cause serious infections.

The hospital president sent out an email Sunday ,… to employees.

“Rest assured,” he wrote, “we remain thorough and meticulous in our sterilization procedures.”

This story is baed on reporting in the Ventura County Star. 

Current SM Mountains Wildflower Condition: Confused

Heavy rains in October … a dry November December and January … and more heavy rains this month ….

Wildfires may be confused … but they are already showing up in the mountains near Malibu.

Flowers typically show up later. 

But early season storms drenched the area, followed by weeks of warm, dry weather. Wildflowers splashed green hillsides with patches of yellow, orange and purple.

California poppies, lupine and native sunflowers are blooming along trails at  Point Mugu State Park off the Pacific Coast Highway. 

Also … at Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park.

Sunlife Organics Eyes Manhattan

A taste of Malibu is heading to Midtown Manhattan. 

East 59th Street.

SunLife Organics is setting up shop on the ground floor of Bloomingdale’s … at East 59th Street and Third Avenue.

This one is a pop up… but the chain is looking for permeant digs on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

They already have a store down in the trendy SoHo neihborhood.

The brand first opened in Malibu in 2011 … now has 22 locations nationwide.

SunLife created three exclusive drinks that won’t be available elsewhere … according to the New York newspapers.

A “Malibu” smoothie is designed to resemble the ocean in a cup.

No word if it will cost extra for seaweed. 

Record Breaking Heat Possible

Record breaking heat and a gentle Santa Ana wind are on tap for the next couple of days in Malibu.

The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees above normal… in the mountains and valleys above Malibu.

On the coast … highs of 77 or so.

Inland … up to 88.

A 5 millibar Santa Ana is setting up… with the air pressure weighing 5 millibars heavier in the inland deserts … as compared to over the ocean.

That will push warm and dry air through the mountains.

5 millibars is not very much … not enough to trigger strong winds.

And the rain door has closed. 

No rain is in the long range forecast … for the next 2 weeks.