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, February 22, 2010

Some Good News as the Construction Continues

Photo by Les Martin

Greetings fellow Surfriders and Friends,

First off, the Surfrider Foundation San Francisco Chapter would like to thank all who came out and attended the Sloat fundraiser last Thursday at the Park Chalet. We raised well over a $1000 at the event which will help our efforts towards minimizing the scope and impact of the rock revetment as well as the development of a long term solution that protects the beach.

There is some good news to report on the construction project. The latest DPW planning document has the rock wall at about 400ft in length. This is less than half the size of the original proposal (900ft). Also, there is now a commitment from DPW to re-use a small amount of pre-existing debris to shore up certain sections that would otherwise have seen new boulders. Lastly, it looks like we have an agreement for DPW to remove at least 2000 tons of pre-existing construction debris. This is a positive development. We would like to thank and credit DPW for taking these measures to reduce the impact of project. We look forward to working together with this agency as well as other stakeholders at coming up with a long term plan. It won't be easy, but we do believe in a future at Sloat in which no additional rock is placed and a healthy, native beach profile is restored.

Bill McLaughlin, Erosion Committee

4 comments:

  1. Surfrider is just another left wing organization espousing one side only.

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  2. I would like to see all of great highway turned from 4 lanes to 2. Huge success of Sunday streets proves that closure of the west side of the highway would enrich the lives of sf residents.

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  3. Sunday Streets is a pain to we residents in the neighborhood and happens TWICE a year which is more than other neighborhoods are asked to bear. This is what will happen if the Great Highway is closed to restrict traffic more.
    I endorse wise recreational use of our Ocean Beach but too many closures happen including Bay to Breakers, SF Marathon, and other random events which do not all belong here.
    A retreat long term method to erosion should include LESS use of the dunes and replanting them.

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  4. Traffic engineering is one of those things that is more art than science, and is always highly politicized. San Francisco has run the gamut from the hulking Embarcadero Freeway to making parking spaces into public parks. I'll try to get my hands on the last traffic study for the area (I hear it was 2004), and I'll try to include updates on the road as I find out more.

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