Erosion Concerns Arise in Morro Bay

At Bayshore Bluffs Park in Morro Bay, there has been a serious concern over erosion at the end of the staircase. The staircase is at risk because the erosion is slowly creeping towards the staircase. This is a danger to people who go to this park because of the steep drop. It won’t be much longer until the erosion fully reaches the staircase, and it collapses.

Locals are concerned about the potential danger and want action taken soon to fix the erosion from getting any worse and causing a larger problem. According to KSBY News, the repair cost would be around $100,000. This is very expensive and going to be hard to reach; however, action needs to be taken soon before the damage worsens.

Erosion has been a concern in other places in Morro Bay, as well as along the bay. One example of this is the seawall along the rock. The rocks are moving due to erosion and because of how long they have been there. Another location of erosion is at the start of the bike and walking path going towards the rock. There is a wall that is being eroded, and the ground underneath is slowly eroding.

While repairing the erosion at the Bay Bluffs Park is $100,000, which is still a lot of money for the city to pay, the other damage could be as high as $56 million. This would need lots of funds. Morro Bay tried to pass a tax on every piece of private land of $10 a month, but the voters declined it. In order to fix this issue, the state would need to get involved in order to have enough funds for this problem. This issue will only get worse from here, so action needs to be taken soon before the damage gets worse and costs even more money to solve.

One of the causes for the erosion is the death of a lot of seagrass. The reason for this is that the seagrass held the seafloor together and dissipated wave energy. In 90% of places where seagrass once grew, there have been large amounts of erosion discovered. So without it, the waves hit the ground harder while the seafloor is already not held together as strongly. Another reason this is bad is because of the accelerated amount of sediment filling the bay. If the erosion does not slow down, the bay will be filled with sediment in 300 years, which is usually a process that takes a few thousand years. This is very dangerous for the sealife that stays in the bay. The bay is home to so many animals, such as otters, seals, and many different species of fish. Morro Bay is one of the major homes for sea otters, and without it, a lot of the population would suffer.