While protecting the structures they front, such coastal armor is now known to alter the natural flow of sand, thereby destroying downshore stretches of beach. At Faria, yesterday's beachfront home is today's oceanfront property. But because of the protective rocks and seawalls that extend southward from the Santa Barbara county line, much of this sand is now directed offshore. Sand is delivered, them moved about by daily changes in tides, waves, and winds. The rise in sea level, presence of dams and debris basins, and shape of the beach also influence the flow of this river of sand.
Beaches change from season to season.
During winter, when powerful storms blow in from the north Pacific, large pounding waves scour the beach and deposit sand offshore. Subsequent waves break on these sand bars, dissipating their potentially destructive energy before reaching the beach. During the calmer periods of late spring and summer, longer, more gentle waves move sand back to shore. The beach fills in just in time for the tourist season. Ventura County's coastline has endured a long history of losses to the ocean.