Sloat Restoration through Managed Retreat

Sloat Restoration through Managed Retreat
This is our original vision for Sloat Restoration - graphic courtesy of PSA and Associates and the Ocean Beach Task Force

Our Vision of Beach Restoration and Preservation

The shorelines of Ocean Beach south of Sloat Blvd and Sharp Park in Pacifica are threatened by rip-rap seawallls and long-term erosion. This blog chronicles our campaign efforts to restore these beaches. Check out the web view of this site to see our proposed solutions and how to help- in the right hand column below. For all the latest about our efforts, see our monthly posts.

We advocate a managed retreat strategy to restore both Ocean Beach south of Sloat and Sharp Park.

At Sloat, our vision involves:

A long-term plan to relocate threatened infrastructure
(including the south of Sloat Great Highway, the two oceanside parking lots and the sewer lines underneath them).

The cleanup of all the rock and rubble littering the beach.

The use of sand dunes as the primary tool to slow erosion.

For Sharp Park, we advocate the decommissioning of the golf course, the removal of the rip-rap berm, and a full restoration of the wetland.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Projected Sea Level Rise for Ocean Beach - Why Managed Retreat as a Long Term Strategy


The Future of Ocean Beach? The beach at Sharp Park (Pacifica) is disappearing under a pile of armor. Click photo to see close-up.


Dear Surfriders and Friends,

Many may be surprised to hear that there is a looming threat of beach loss at central Ocean Beach. Below are a few links to scientific reports that have informed this projection. They deal with sea level rise. According to the Pacific Institute report, sea levels off the CA coast have risen 8 inches over the last 100 years. By 2100, sea level rise is predicted to rise another 1.0-1.4 meters (4’-5’). Although sea level rise projections are estimates, the trend lines behind this projection are serious. We should prepare for significant impacts. Middle Ocean Beach has been eroding for some time. We should expect beach loss to continue. However, as compared to Sloat, there is a greater opportunity to slow it down with sand nourishment and strategic sand management practices. This should allow us to buy time for proper planning.

Surfrider believes the sooner we embrace a strategy of Managed Retreat, the better off we will all be – taxpayers, beach users, and ecology. An encroaching high tide line is part of a natural process. If our city chooses to hold fast to existing boundaries, we can expect to see results like we have in the photo above. This is a group of revetments recently placed on the beach at Sharp Park, in the neighboring town of Pacifica. It's not a pretty picture. They are wiping out their beach.

This ia a graphic derived from the statewide study showing the potential erosion by 2100 based on 4.6’ of sea level rise. http://www.pwa-ltd.com/about/about_news.html#OPC_Report

The report by PWA:
http://www.pwa-ltd.com/about/news-CoastalErosion/PWA_OPC_Methods_final.pdf

Here is a link to the Pacific Institute report that this work fed into:
http://www.pacinst.org/reports/sea_level_rise/

Here is the State Adaptation Strategy that was affected by this work:
http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation/

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