Santa Cruz to begin studying Lighthouse Point erosion, potential future projects

After significant erosion along West Cliff Drive since the 2023 storms, the City of Santa Cruz is studying possible hazards at Lighthouse Point to come up with ways to address future problems. 

At its Tuesday meeting, the city council approved a contract of more than $387,000 contract for San Francisco-based environmental consulting firm Environmental Science Associates to begin the study.

“We’re moving now from a reactive process to a proactive effort on managing our coastline,” said Santa Cruz Public Works Director Nathan Nguyen. “While studies have been performed in the past, which will be utilized, it’s important that we collect current data.”

West Cliff has been hit hard over the past three years. The most dramatic damage occurred during the 2023 winter storms, which took out several chunks of pavement and a culvert, and exposed a sea cave underneath part of the street, closing a stretch of the scenic coastal road in at least one direction for about 30 months. 

Although crews wrapped up repairs from that powerful series of storms by the end of 2025, concerns still remain, including an indefinitely closed section of walkway just west of Lighthouse Point and across from Lighthouse Field State Beach. The city is also in the process of working with state and local agencies to relocate a 400-foot section of the road and pedestrian path about 50 feet inland into a portion of Lighthouse Field State Beach.

Santa Cruz Public Works Assistant Director Kevin Crossley said that studies have identified damage at the Lighthouse Point area since at least the early 1980s, when another series of storms battered the region. Now, he said, there is sea cave erosion that appears to be headed toward the lighthouse. During a recent public works department open house, where residents had the chance to view projects and ask questions, Crossley said the top question people asked was if the sea cave would “swallow” the lighthouse.

“The answer is not anytime soon,” he said. He added that an initial survey early this year showed two caves with about 20 feet of material in between them, and that the cave on the west side is still about 40 feet away from the lighthouse foundation. “The caves are not going to connect in the immediate near term,” Crossley said, “but we’re going to investigate what that rate of erosion looks like and when that could potentially happen.”

Crossley said the study is intended to guide both short-term and long-term plans to strengthen and preserve the area. That process will happen throughout the year, starting with the study and data collection. Crossley then envisions a community meeting or open house in the late summer or early fall to gather input to create a list of options and possible recommended actions to bring back to the council in about a year.

“We don’t get to do projects in a vacuum here. There are real-world boundaries that we have to work within,” he said. “That final report is intended to help inform our decision-making.”

The city councilmembers were supportive of the study, with all of them saying they recognized the importance of the landmark and public access around it. 

Councilmember Susie O’Hara asked whether engineers will consider how any potential projects would affect waves and surfing. Crossley said it’s a difficult question to answer, but the study aims to address that question as well in order to make a “defensible and data-driven recommendation.”

Vice Mayor Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson, like many members of the public at last week’s open house, asked if there’s a threat of the lighthouse collapsing within the next year, before the study is finalized. 

Crossley reiterated that there is not: “We don’t foresee any risk to the lighthouse in the next 12 months, or even five or 10 years.”

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