Fairview Park Bluff Erosion
Channel: Fairview Park
Date: 14/02/2019

City staff presentation from the February 5th, 2019 Costa Mesa City Council Meeting where emergency funding was approved to protect the Fairivew Park bluffs from erosion. Not only is this a public safety issue, it is also threatening to drain vernal pool 1 if nothing was done to stop the erosion.

There are a few reasons why this is happening.

Trampling what is left of the bluff vegetation that holds the bluffs together. People often walk on the wrong side of the cable railing and even up and down the bluffs to get to Talbert. Lack of vegetation and foot traffic creates channels for the water to flow over the bluffs.

The hyrdology of the park is another issue. Although it is undeveloped open space, there has been a lot of dumping in the park after the farming period up until the 1970's. This infill has created a lot of drainage problems. It is also contaminating the archaeological site that was not capped off properly and made even worse with east to west channels crisscrossing certain areas of the park. At some point in time it will need to be removed.

Maintenance vehicles driving on the bluffs, especially after a rain. This creates channels for the water to collect and be directed over the side of the bluff.

In the future, a good open space to trail ratio for a new trail system as well as removing the infill would help protect the parks biological resources, cultural resources, and the bluffs as well as create a more enjoyable nature park experience for walkers, joggers, and bikers.

The bluffs and their bluff scrub habitat aren't just important ecologically, they are also a geological feature that symbolizes and defines our city as a coastal mesa. Without the bluffs, there would be no Mesa in Costa Mesa.