Solvang, CA Coastal Erosion Rate
What USGS measures 9.1 miles south of Solvang, CA
USGS's shoreline-change data puts this stretch, 9.1 miles south of Solvang, CA, at 0.17 feet of erosion a year on average, a long-term rate for this specific ~3.5-mile section, not one storm's damage. At that rate, the shoreline has lost roughly 1.7 feet over the last decade.
What "Solvang" means on this page
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 Solvang, CA, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 34.47, -120.20. The survey behind it runs to 1852-2016, in USGS's California assessment, using the LRR method. Shoreline surveys aren't repeated every year, so this is the most recent long-term measurement USGS has published for this coast, not a live reading.
What 0.17 ft/yr means over time
Run 9.1 miles south of Solvang, CA's 0.17 ft/yr rate forward 25 years and it implies about 4 feet of further retreat, assuming nothing changes, which is exactly the assumption a seawall or nourishment project exists to break.
Where this fits nationally
38 transects feed this segment's number; 95% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.07 ft/yr either side. Among the 1211 US coastal segments with a measurable trend, this one ranks 544 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. For scale: Grand Isle, LA, 1798 miles away, ranks 38 of 1211 nationally for erosion, 6.6 ft/yr, many times over this stretch's own rate. 2.5 miles away, Solvang, CA is the nearest other measured stretch: also no significant trend.
Solvang, CA on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.