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, September 16, 2011

Next SPUR Public Workshop October 29th


Greetings Surfriders and Friends,

The next SPUR public workshop has been announced for Saturday October 29th at the Golden Gate Park Senior Center 6101 Fulton St. @ 37th Ave 10am-12pm. This meeting will cover the initial Draft Ocean Beach Master Plan. Please mark your calendars and spread the word. It is absolutely critical that we get the Master Plan on track now to feature a robust restoration plan for the south Sloat area.

In other news, local surfer and coastal attorney Mark Massara has recently filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco for violating permits issued by the California Coastal Commission. The suit, filed with The California Coastal Protection Network, claims the City's rock revetments at Sloat are out of compliance on multiple items found in Commission permits. This is a significant development that will will be sure to cover as things unfold...
See: http://oceanbeachbulletin.com/2011/08/26/environmental-group-sues-san-francisco-over-ocean-beach-rock-piles/

Last, but not least, an economic study of the future effects of sea level rise for Ocean Beach has just been released by Phillip King of San Francisco State University. Mr. King is also a member of SPUR's Ocean Beach Master Plan Steering Committee, so this information will inform the Master Plan.
http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2011/09/13/the-price-of-rising-seas/

In his report, King models the economic effects of a sea level rise of 1.4 meters by 2100 (the current projection). His findings show SF and its residents would sustain more than $500 million in damage to infrastructure and private property - if no proactive measures are taken. This is exactly why we have been calling for a Managed Retreat strategy for Ocean Beach. The only way to responsibly deal with an encroaching high tide line is to move back and to give the ocean its space. This is true even if economics are the chief driver. The alternative strategy of armoring is messy, expensive in its own right, and destructive to our precious coastline. See above for more photos of the unfortunate situation at Sharp Park.
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