*3.3. State of the Environment in the DESCR Framework*

Cortés [44] described the beach at La Mancha as having a dissipative profile with a bar, following the classification of Masselink and Short [45]. The sedimentary input comes from the northern dune field, with a net north-to-south longshore sediment transport. Ramírez Méndez [18] identified an overall trend of beach accretion, recording an advance of 58 m for 2005–2015, i.e., 0.109 km2 of beach. Chávez [46] reported that the beach sediment is a fine sand (according to the ASTM D 2487 norm), with a mean diameter of 0.176–0.305 mm.

The main geomorphological components at the inlet are as follows: the tidal flood delta, and the sedimentary bar on the northern side of the inlet, which is a storm berm and is part of the beach (see Figure 9, the area corresponds to Area B in Figure 1). The berm is built up by sediment during storm surge conditions (winter storms and hurricanes). When there is a sediment deficiency, usually associated with erosive wave conditions, the berm breaks up [15]. The inlet is usually open from August to November and closed in December, with no definite pattern from January to September [18]. When the sedimentary bar is low and the inlet is open for a long period, intertidal exchanges sequester sediments in the north of the lagoon, the area of the tidal flood delta extends and this part of the lagoon becomes shallower [15].

**Figure 9.** (**a**) Inlet area, and inlet profiles in La Mancha measured during winter storms in November (**b**) 2013 and (**c**) 2014 (data from [12]), see Area B in Figure 1.
