![\"2009](\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/media\/photo\/2010-04\/53139566.jpg\")
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Authorities in Santa Barbara County aim to deflate Floatopia, a
\nmega-party set for Saturday that has exploded over the last few years
\nwith the aid of social media websites.<\/p>\n
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\nOfficials told county supervisors Tuesday that they plan to close
\naccess points to popular beaches in Isla Vista, near UC Santa Barbara,
\nthis weekend. Last year, as many as 12,000 revelers converged on the
\nnarrow strip of sand in a day of what county parks director Dan
\nHernandez called "unmitigated chaos."
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\nDeputies handed out 78 citations for alcohol-related crimes and made 13
\narrests, Sheriff Bill Brown said. Thirty-three participants required
\nhospital treatment for alcohol poisoning, heat exposure and cuts from
\nbroken bottles. Two of them toppled off the bluffs that border the
\nbeach.
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\nStarted about five years ago with several hundred people drinking just
\noffshore on rubber rafts and inner tubes, the celebration has been a
\nbarely planned rite of spring, with no formal sponsor, security
\nmeasures or provisions for emergency aid. It has inspired similar
\nevents, most notably in San Diego.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nIn Santa Barbara, the 2009 edition was bigger — and, to county
\nofficials, more environmentally damaging — than before: "Without
\nrestroom facilities, many attendees simply used the ocean, creating a
\nlarge concentration of human waste that threatened sea life," according
\nto a statement from the Sheriff’s Department.<\/p>\n