Encinitas, CA Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 2.1 miles west of Encinitas, CA?
The coast 2.1 miles west of Encinitas, CA shows no statistically significant trend either way. USGS's transects measured a rate here, but it's smaller than the survey's own margin of error for this stretch, so calling it "eroding" or "growing" would overstate what the data actually shows.
What "Encinitas" means on this page
Nothing here is parcel-level. USGS's raw transects run every few hundred feet along the shore; this page averages the ones nearest Encinitas, CA into one ~3.5-mile reading rather than picking a single arbitrary line to represent the area. Centered near 33.05°N, 117.30°W. 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 backs this reading up
Averaging 99 separate transects produced this segment's rate, with 60% individually reading as erosion, rather than relying on any single survey line. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.25 ft/yr either side. Taken at face value, this segment's raw -0.02 ft/yr reading would land it 754 of 1211 nationally - a number worth ignoring, since it's statistical noise rather than a real trend. Source: USGS National Shoreline Change data release (ScienceBase, DOI 10.5066/P94J0K7Z), Kratzmann 2024 / Data Report 1187. Rank 1015 nationally for growth belongs to Mexico Beach, FL, 1887 miles from this stretch, measured at 0.47 ft/yr. Solana Beach, CA, 3.1 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, itself no significant trend.
Encinitas, CA on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.