Board of Supervisor's Meeting 2/2 and Next Steps

San Francisco Surfrider would like to thank all those who have written letters and attended recent public meetings to comment on the Sloat erosion issue. Well over 700 letters were sent and dozens of people showed up to comment. At yesterday's Board of Supervisors meeting, the emergency declaration was given final approval. Unfortunately, the rock revetment will be built. However, Surfrider and Save the Waves were able to forge a compromise plan with the DPW to limit the scope of their work, as well as to analyze the possibility of removing existing rock as mitigation (see Next Steps below for more detail). The great thing is that it was made very clear to our Supervisors that the addition of rocks is not seen as a positive solution to the problem. Nearly everyone mentioned the need to find a long term solution that does a better job at protecting the beach, not just the infrastructure. Thanks again to everyone who weighed in. We have gained excellent momentum going forward as we tackle this problem.

The Next Steps:

As the construction is about to begin, the chapter is actively working to ensure that the DPW limits the scope of the new rock revetment to only the most critical areas needed to protect the Lake Merced Wastewater Tunnel. Also, we aim to ensure that DPW does a serious analysis of possible re-purposing old rubble to add to the project (with a goal of a decrease in net new rock) and/or remove existing concrete rubble and quarry stone from other nearby areas as mitigation (a possible scenario of zero net new rock).

Meanwhile, work has begun toward developing a stakeholder’s group (gov. non-profits, general public) that will craft a long term solution to this vexing problem. Stay tuned for more details on this and other issues by checking in with this blog!

Bill McLaughlin
SF Surfrider Erosion Committee