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MURRIETA, Calif. — A few years back, my girlfriend flew out from Albuquerque to spend a weekend with me in southern California. She loves the beach, Disneyland, and of course, me. Forget all the Hollywood starlets. We're the original BFF - best friends forever.

I was working (emphasis on working) in San Diego at the time and was in the ultimate "look but don't touch" situation. You could see the Pacific Ocean from the San Diego Union-Tribune's fifth floor patio, but there was never enough time to get yourself down by the water on your lunch break.

Yeah, they worked me like a dog, so during my first year at the newspaper, I wasn't practiced on finding my way around "America's Finest City."

That didn't stop me from getting to the airport after work to pick Michelle up for a girls' weekend in Escondido, where I lived, with side trips to San Diego, where I toiled.

Right off the plane, my best friend's first words were, "Get me to the beach." Easy. I drove west, toward the setting sun. Hardly easy. Between rush-hour traffic and a series of one-way streets and curvy pseudo freeways near Sea World, I just couldn't point my car in the direction of Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Fiesta Beach or any of the other fantastic beaches I'd heard stories about as I ate my lunch on a patio.

Between wishing I'd consulted a map and Michelle's adult equivalent of a child's "Are we there yet?" I finally pulled into a parking lot of "Dog Beach." My friend flew hundreds of miles to end up watching the sun set on one of San Diego's popular dog-friendly beaches. I made it up to her the next day by driving directly to the famed La Jolla Cove, where we spent the morning walking on the sand, sans dogs, cats or other household pets.

California beaches come in myriad styles, shapes and sizes. Something most of them have in common is the fact that they are disappearing. Erosion is the main culprit, and local governments and Chambers of Commerce have been fighting Mother Nature on this for years.

You might get away with being scrawny on a beach, but Californians do not put up with scrawny beaches.

In 2001, a San Diego regional planning agency poured $17 million into nature's version of an extreme makeover. How vain, you say? Why not let nature be nature, and take its course?

Because, when local government agencies such as the Shoreline Preservation Committee get together, discussions range from saving the environment to culling the tourism dollar. Skinny, rocky beaches do not make for a pleasant day at the beach.

Some sections of the San Diego County coastline, such as Torrey Pines State Beach, have managed to retain much of the sandy bulk that was dredged from the ocean floor five years ago. But after 2.1 million cubic yards of sand were placed on a dozen beaches from Oceanside to San Diego Bay, officials cite some of those beaches are beginning to look thin.

Consequently, some regional officials recently suggested that it is time to beef up area beaches again.

Funding is a big problem, with only $5 million of federal funding allotted to the 1,100 miles of California coastline. Other states reap a lot more funds from Washington, D.C. New Jersey comes in first place with $250 million.

Local officials look to other sources to fund the dredging. The 2001 project was also financed with grants from the Navy and the California Department of Boating and Waterways. This time around, beachgoers, including surfers, or "free riders," will likely help foot the bill. Parking fees would likely be added or increased as a relatively easy way to raise revenue. With an estimated15 million people living near the state's beaches, it shouldn't be too hard to raise the money.

The next time I pick up a visitor from the airport who insists on going straight to the water, I'll have to know my Mission Bay from my Del Mar. Or, risk having to pay for the pleasure of playing Frisbee with a bunch of happy dogs on a padded beach.