NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada talks to experts about the future of this popular beach in Encinitas.
A landslide last Wednesday has created unsafe conditions on a popular beach access trail to Encinitas' Beacon's Beach, prompting city leaders to close the area.
The bluff began to slide downslope and to the west amid the winter weather system last week that brought rain and high winds to the coast. At the same time, high tides known as king tides were bringing thrashing waves closer to the bluffs. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse or if weather was a factor.
"Effective immediately, the beach access trail is temporarily closed and the beach area around the trail should be avoided by all persons until further notice," the city said in a public notice. "The City discourages residents and visitors from breaching the current fence or entering this unsafe area."
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Pat Abbott, a geology professor at San Diego State University says this isn't a good time of year for repairs.
“Right now, where the hillside there’s new fractures, this is a bad time to repair it, because with a likely having a lot of rains in February or March, that will add to the water in the hills and help promote instability all the more,” Abbot said.
Last week's landslide affected is part of "episodic instability" due to an existing historic landslide that is at times reactivated, most recently in May 2022. Prior to that, the slope has seen very little movement since 1990, according to the city. Landslides created by winter storms in 1982 and 1983 damaged an old staircase that led to the sand.
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The parking lot currently remains open but city leaders may choose to close the lot if conditions on the bluff worsen, the city said. There was no estimated reopening date for the trail.
In 2019 at Grandview Beach, just north of Beacon's, three women were killed in a bluff collapse. Their families are suing the city of Encinitas and California for negligence in their response to signs of dangerous erosion, according to the lawsuit.
Collapses have also affected the city of Del Mar, which is working with SANDAG to determine how they can restore the bluffs and move coastal rail tracks off of the unstable cliffs. SANDAG received more than $300 million from the state in 2022 for the project.
