El Nino Speeds California Erosion

The rains of El Nino battered beaches up and down the western coast, and now that it is all over, CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes reports that residents in Southern California are finding the ocean a lot closer to home:

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"This is a perfect example down here...all these rocks!" said beachfront homeowner, Lloyd Ahearn.

Ahearn is worried that what little beach he's got may soon disappear altogether because of erosion.

"I don;t want to walk out on a big rock pile, I want to walk on a beach," Ahearn said.

And apparently, so do millions and millions of tourists. In California, the beaches are the top tourist attraction. They are also the source of 500,000 jobs and $1.1 billion dollars in state tax revenue.

"There has to be a political will that beaches are an important benefit to our state and also the nation," said geologist Kim Sterrett.

But in Los Angeles County, not one cent in the most recent budget was set aside to nourish the eroding beaches, to dredge or to truck in sand for reinforcement.

While the erosion is a natural process, an Army Corps of Engineers study said that 86 percent of California's beaches are eroding. But nature's way of replenishing the beaches - sand flowing downstream from rivers to beaches - has been thwarted by dams and development.

Surfers in San Diego used to run over soft sand to hit the big waves - not tiptoe over rocks and pebbles as they do now.

For 33 years, Denny Stouffer has watched his beaches changing.

"It's gotten to a point, no matter what we do, it's past the point of repair, said Stouffer, who is the chief lifeguard for San Diego County.

And while legislation was recently passed that would make about $10 million dollars available to replenish San Diego beaches, geologists say erosion is constant, and that much more is needed to preserve California's entire coastline.

Reported by Sandra Hughes