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High tides provide glimpse into rising sea levels. A Long Beach neighborhood is on the front lines
High tides and a small swell overtop a berm built to protect a boardwalk and homes on the Long Beach peninsula.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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The highest tides of the year typically hit in summer and winter — around each solstice. That’s tracking so far this year, but a combination of natural phenomena and human-caused climate change are adding to the extremes of these normal cycles.
The Long Beach Peninsula — a narrow stretch of homes on the sand between the ocean and Alamitos Bay — is one place where all of those forces are coming together.
A brief history of the Long Beach Peninsula
The peninsula was once a dynamic sandspit, and the Alamitos Bay primary tidal marshes and wetlands, so the area is naturally prone to flooding. (The nearby Los Cerritos Wetlands are the last remnants of wetlands that once spanned more than 2,400 acres).
The first homes on the peninsula were built at the start of the 20th century, when beachgoers took the Pacific Electric "Red Cars" there from Los Angeles and Pasadena. The area even became known as the “Waikiki of Southern California” for its surfable waves. In 1939, the first national surfing championship was held there, according to Surfrider Foundation.
Once the U.S. military built the breakwater in the 1940s, the waves stopped and the natural flow of ocean currents was disrupted. That affected sand flow to replenish the beach and worsened pollution in the water. The hard infrastructure along the coast continues to affect erosion along the peninsula. Natural phenomena like El Niño and high tides, plus rising sea levels long-term, only exacerbate the issue.
High water
In mid-June, a combination of strong swell and high tides led to dramatic images of water splashing over sand berms, onto the boardwalk and into streets.
This week and last, tides topped 7 feet again. Without the same swell, the results were less dramatic.
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Higher-than-average tides are normal for this time of year, but they’re predicted to become the new normal overall by late century.
“What is happening rarely now will happen almost at every high tide when we get to the end of the century,” said Mark Merrifield, an oceanography professor at Scripps.
Merrifield said the recent tides have been high due to natural cycles related to the moon’s position to Earth this time of year. It’s also likely related to El Niño, a natural climate pattern that warms the Pacific Ocean — and warmer water takes up more space, leading to higher sea levels.
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That warm water tends to peak at the end of the year, which means winter, during the next high tide season, is likely to be even more “eventful,” Merrifield said.
On top of all that, pollution in our atmosphere is contributing to the warming and higher sea levels as well, experts told LAist. Since the Industrial Revolution, sea levels have been rising at an increasing rate, according to NASA.
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Long Beach’s response
The city of Long Beach’s climate action plan estimates sea levels will rise as much as 2 feet by 2050 and nearly 7 feet there by 2100.
“We're going to see sea level going up much faster as we go into the latter part of the century,” Merrifield said. “I think at some point it will come down to understanding how to live with high water, which is not something we've normally done.”
A map from Long Beach's climate action plan shows projected sea levels in the lowest-lying areas of the city.
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Courtesy city of Long Beach
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LAist
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And those who know Long Beach’s peninsula have noticed.
“The tides that we're seeing now, we did not see in the past,” said Todd Leland, Marine Bureau manager for the city. “We used to not have to build berms year-round. We'd only have to do it on an occasional basis here on the peninsula.”
It’s been in just the last 10 years that Long Beach has had to build sand berms to protect oceanfront properties from high tides and south swells, which the south-facing beach is particularly vulnerable to, Leland said.
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An earth mover rebuilds the sand berm at the end of the Long Beach peninsula after a storm flooded it in January 2023.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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City crews build up a sand berm as they prepare for high tide along the peninsula in Long Beach in 2022.
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Thomas R. Cordova
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Long Beach Post
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Six days a week, city workers truck sand from the wider, western side of the beachfront back to the peninsula to replenish the sand that gets sucked away by the water between the jetty and the breakwater down the beach. It all costs the city about $1 million per year, Leland said.
“We're running out of space to build the berms because we're not able to keep up with the sand movement,” Leland said.
To address that, the city hopes to break ground on a project later this year to dredge some 415,000 cubic yards of sand from the Alamitos Bay Channel and replenish the beach about 200 feet out again. That could cost as much as $14.5 million, according to the city, which is facing a major budget deficit. A spokesperson told LAist the city plans provide an update on funding the dredging plan next month.
“ With 200 more feet of area to work with, we potentially might not have to make berms,” Leland said. The city had considered long term plans to restore kelp beds and rocky reefs in front of the peninsula in part to help slow wave energy, but that effort has stalled.
Todd Leland, Marine Bureau manager for Long Beach, stands by berms on the peninsula.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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The view from the peninsula
Charles Thomas has lived on the peninsula for 50 years. He married his wife on the beach in front of his house.
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“It used to be the widest part,” he said. “We had a big 96-foot tent. It was a big party, and everybody had a great time.”
Charles Thomas has lived on the Long Beach Peninsula for 50 years and remembers when the beach was much wider.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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On a recent afternoon, just before high tide, water flooded over an eroded berm and underneath the lifeguard tower toward Thomas’ house.
“ We could not fit that tent there anymore,” Thomas said, shaking his head. Thomas said he supports the dredging project and hopes it will help more than the berms.
Down the boardwalk, Siobhan Gadallah stood with her husband and son, watching the water splash over the berms. The young child squealed in glee as the water came onto the boardwalk.
Cathy Gaddalah (left to right), Bauer Parks, Siobhan Gaddalah and her husband, Mitchell Parks.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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“The waves splash over pretty intensely, like to the point where I think it could knock over my 4-year-old pretty badly,” Gadallah said. “ Thankfully we haven't had any flooding [inside], but our entire porch has been pretty badly flooded.”
The family has rented here for two years, but they’re not too worried about the long-term prospects. Moving from downtown Long Beach, their new place feels like “living in a different country,” Gadallah said.
“ As long as you have those sandbags, they do their job pretty well,” she said.
Long Beach trucks sand from this western part of the beach back to the peninsula to help with erosion.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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A sand berm on the Long Beach Peninsula protects homes from flooding but also blocks the ocean view.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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As for the berms?
“ I do think the berms help, although I'm not a fan obviously,” she said. “I do think it creates some sort of barrier, but once it hits a certain point, it does absolutely nothing.”
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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