The research agenda

These are the questions Citizen Coast is working on, in the open. Each one starts from a public promise, names who made it, and asks the same thing: by when?

Know of a promise about our ocean or coast that nobody is tracking? Tell us where you heard it, whether that's a meeting, a press release or a plan. Subscribe and reply to any issue, or leave a comment on a post. We check every lead against the source before it goes on the record.

Now: open questions

The questions we're actively working on. Where we've asked an agency in writing, we say so, and we'll publish the answer, or the lack of one.

DDT off Los Angeles

• What explains the 2023 jump in DDE at the slope station? We've asked the scientists who sampled it in writing. See the record.
• When will the state update its fish advisory for the area? The advisory people use today dates from 2009. We've asked OEHHA in writing.
• Will the federal DDT research bill be funded? S. 5563 / H.R. 10536 was referred to committee on Sept 24, 2026. It authorizes research, but it doesn't fund it or set any cleanup deadlines. We check its status weekly.

Sand and seawalls

• What happens to a beach backed by a seawall when the sand doesn't come? Most heavily walled beaches we looked at have relied on sand being brought in. We've asked the state and regional sand programs what happens when that stops. See the record.
• When will the region's next sand project happen? SANDAG told us in writing on Oct 20, 2026 that there is no target date. Its state grant request went unfunded when the state funded no beach grants that year, and it plans to reapply. See the record.
• Who pays for sand next? San Clemente's Measure M goes to voters on Nov 3, 2026. The result goes into the sand ledger.
• Will the next round of state beach funding cover the sites already waiting? The state's next round is expected to award money by June 30, 2027.

The rail line on the bluffs

• For every time the line has closed, what fix was promised, and by when? We're matching each closure to the commitment that followed it.
• When will anyone decide to move the tracks back? We're tracking every agency's stated threshold for moving back from the coast.

Next: the rest of the marine ecosystem

Areas where public promises come with dates. We take them one at a time, starting with what people notice most.

• Water quality. Commitments on cross-border sewage, sewage spill response, and how often beaches are posted or closed. First up.
• Marine protected areas. What the state's reviews promised to measure, and what they've reported.
• Kelp. Restoration pledges compared with how much canopy has actually come back.
• Fish and fishing. Consumption advisories, and the stock assessments behind them.

Always: the standing checks

• Weekly: the status of bills that touch these records.
• Quarterly: every ledger, checked for commitments that came due and whether they were met.
• Yearly: a promises scorecard, with what was kept, what slipped and what still has no date.

This isn't about blame. A promise without a date can't be late, so we ask for the date. Corrections to anything on this page go in the public log.