Our neighbors to the north

Some interesting parallels may exist between the sand berm construction in Venice/Marina and a previous incident in Malibu. Each case is obviously unique, but these lines stood out from a 2008 Coastal Commission staff recommendation to issue a consent cease and desist order for unpermitted berms at Escondido Beach:

While it is not an element that is required for issuance of a Cease and Desist Order, the unpermitted development has also adversely impacted resources protected by the Coastal Act, including marine resources, the biological productivity of Escondido Beach and the surrounding habitat, and public access along Escondido Beach. Grading sandy beaches, constructing sand berms along the beach, and removing sand from the intertidal area have a number of unfortunate negative ecological consequences, as discussed below, given the interdependence of the intertidal and shoreline species.

Intertidal sand is habitat to a variety of invertebrates such as amphipods, isopods, and polychaete worms. All these species are very significant food resources for shore birds. Within the swath of the equipment’s grading of the beach, most of these organisms must be presumed to have been killed, and any accumulated habitat that was present on the upper beach was destroyed.

The same section goes on to talk about the impacts on grunion spawning (not a concern in Venice/Marina during the winter), and notes that "the foot of the steep berm was located within the intertidal zone, so the berm acted as a seawall reflecting wave energy" (perhaps there's a coastal engineer who can clarify if this matters in Venice/Marina). The document continues:

Finally, public access along Escondido Beach was impacted by both the operation of the equipment and the physical location of the berms. The unpermitted activity lowered the beach profile in the particular area where the grading occurred, thereby allowing wave run-up to move to a much greater distance inland on the beach. During higher tides, wave run-up reached the base of the berm making it nearly impossible to pass without walking in the water or up and over the berm.

Access is an important issue and is repeatedly referenced in the staff's recommendation. The walls on Malibu's Escondido Beach were only 6 feet tall. The ones in Venice/Marina are 15 feet tall. And in Malibu, even the time it took to build the berms was a concern: "The loader was seen driving from the intertidal area across the wet sand and up to the upper beach area for the construction of sand berms, criss-crossing the exact location where the public would have walked along the beach. The construction activity, alone, limited and deterred public access along the beach area."