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.

Monday, July 9, 2018

Sharp Park and Pacifica's LCP

Managed retreat is the best way to preserve the beaches of Pacifica.

Greetings Surfriders,

Pacifica is currently undertaking its own Local Coastal Plan (LCP) update. As explained in prior posts, an LCP is a city or town’s management plan for its coastal zone.

Public meetings for Pacifica’s LCP have already begun.  Apparently, there is a contingent very hostile to any talk of managed retreat. Once again, unfounded fears are being spread linking managed retreat to neighborhood flooding at Sharp Park.

Managed retreat includes the word “managed” for a reason. Relocation of threatened shoreline structures are managed.  Serious issues such as coastal flooding are accounted for and addressed.

For example, at Sloat, San Francisco's managed retreat plan will include protections for the nearby wastewater infrastructure. Sand dunes and restored beach areas are to work in conjunction with a buried seawall system. A combination of a restored shoreline and a back-up structure are used to slow erosion, prevent storm damage, and preserve the beach.

Pacifica has an extremely challenging erosion issue.  We encourage all LCP participants to get the facts from the scientific community; and to keep an open mind about managed retreat.

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