Carpinteria, CA Coastal Erosion Rate
What USGS measures 3.5 miles southeast of Carpinteria, CA
3.5 miles southeast of Carpinteria, CA, the coast is advancing, not retreating, at a measured 0.23 feet a year, sediment accumulating faster than any erosion USGS recorded here. At that rate, the shoreline has gained roughly 2.3 feet over the last decade.
What this reading actually covers
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Carpinteria, CA, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 34.36, -119.45. USGS's California assessment last surveyed this stretch through 1852-2016, computing the rate with its LRR method. Other US regions were surveyed in different years, sometimes decades apart, so this page states its own rather than implying one national vintage.
What 0.23 ft/yr means over time
Holding the 0.23 ft/yr accretion rate 3.5 miles southeast of Carpinteria, CA for 25 years would add roughly 6 feet of shoreline, again assuming nothing about the local sediment supply changes.
Where this fits nationally
94 transects feed this segment's number; 7% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.2 ft/yr either side. Among the 1211 US coastal segments with a measurable trend, this one ranks 942 for erosion, 1 being the fastest-retreating coast in the dataset. Source: USGS National Shoreline Change data release (ScienceBase, DOI 10.5066/P94J0K7Z), Kratzmann 2024 / Data Report 1187. Sarita, TX sits at national rank 1038 for growth (0.58 ft/yr), one reference point among the 1211 scored segments, 1395 miles from here. Carpinteria, CA, 1.6 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, itself no significant trend.
Carpinteria, CA on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.