The beach is a seasonal habitat for migrating shorebirds, including the snowy plover, an endangered species, and is occasionally closed due to nourishment efforts.

The slough ecosystem has been affected by the numerous berms and tide gates that alter tidal circulation (Audubon, 2003).

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,[3][4] 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.

The estuary mouth fluctuated along the beach while 40,000 years of coastal uplift raised the mesa to the east and west.

Cattle grazing in the watershed begun in 1846 and fires caused hillsides to erode and fill parts of the Goleta Slough with sediment.

In the 1960s, further construction continued on the wetlands including a sewage treatment facility and California Highway 217, and the state park was turned over to Santa Barbara County.

A second group of stakeholders on the opposite extreme of the spectrum calls for managed retreat where existing utilities and structures are ripped out and nature is allowed to take its course.

A seawall is a concrete wall placed against the base of bluffs or sea cliffs that runs parallel to the ocean.

In addition to the direct transporting of sand to the beach, it would also be helpful if sediment built up in upriver basins (behind dams) be removed and placed slightly downstream to be naturally washed down to the ocean.

Between 1992 and 1999, the Gold Coast City Council worked with experts on a proposed plan to stop beach erosion.

Further dredging of nearby areas provided sand that was used to fill large geotextile sandbags that were dropped nearshore to create the reef.

The area in dispute is currently fully armored with large boulders to the west of the restaurant building and has been so for a number of years.