Carpinteria studying change in shoreline at Carpinteria Beach

CARPINTERIA, Calif. -- The Carpinteria Noon Rotary Club was out Friday, surveying the beach for erosion and other environmental changes. The measured Carpinteria State Beach at two locations, near Sandyland Road and Ash Avenue and Liden Avenue and Sandyland Road.

Club members used yardsticks to measure the slope of the beach. They measured it at multiple points in the sand leading to the water. Measurements were taken in centimeters.

Alec Hardy is the president of the Carpinteria Noon Rotary. He said based on the slope of the beach, researchers can measure how much sand is coming in or going out over the course of the year.

This is the first full year of the project. And they are sending their data to other researchers like at the University of California Santa Barbara.

They’re hoping over time they can get a clear picture of the shoreline in Carpinteria. And hopefully, will be able to see what kind of impact the weather and humans are having on the beach.

“Once it’s all put together we’re hoping to do a much bigger presentation with that information to kind of show how the slope of the beach changes over years," said Hardy. "Or kind of show how the sand moves in and out.”

Hardy added they try to use the same spots around the same low tide time every month to have a consistent frame of reference.