Goleta Beach

Goleta Beach is a region of coastline located near Goleta, California, just east of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. A portion of the shore of Goleta Bay is managed by the County of Santa Barbara, as the Goleta Beach County Park (GBCP). The beach itself is partly man-made as sand was spread onto an existing sandspit in 1945. The beach is a seasonal habitat for migrating shorebirds, including the snowy plover, an endangered species, and is occasionally closed due to nourishment efforts. Elements Slough and wetlands Goleta Slough is a nearby tidal estuary that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The slough drains the Goleta Valley and watershed, and receives the water of all of the major creeks in the Goleta area, including the southern face of the Santa Ynez Mountains. The slough ecosystem has been affected by the numerous berms and tide gates that alter tidal circulation (Audubon, 2003). The Goleta Slough wetlands once covered approximately ; however, the current size is about . Most of the habitat conversion occurred in the early 1940s, when a small airport was expanded to accommodate an airfield for the Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara, located immediately south of the estuary on what is now the University of California at Santa Barbara campus. After the war, that airfield became the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport. Groups, such as the Sierra Club and Audubon Society, have been especially concerned regarding the flora and fauna in the Goleta Slough and its surrounding uplands. The UCSB student-supported and student-led Coastal Fund has worked with the Goleta Slough Management Committee, to conduct minor ecological restoration, such as the removal of non-native plants. The Goleta Slough Management Committee has been a vocal supporter of the California Coastal Conservancy’s plans for a major restoration project that would allow an experimental opening prior to a return to tidal circulation, in at least one of the marshland basins. It was able to secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to go ahead with the experiment as the action may affect the Santa Barbara Airport.