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, September 9, 2013

A Tale of Two Coastal Lagoons

Laguna Salada: Sharp Park's Coastal Lagoon and Beach: early 20th Century
(photo: PWA-Wild Equity Conceptual Restoration Plan and Feasibility Assessment, Laguna Salada, Pacifica, Ca)







Greetings Surfriders and Friends,

Look for a fresh update on the Implementation Phase of the Ocean Beach Master Plan at our next chapter meeting Tuesday October 1st.  7pm at the Tides Center in the Presidio 1014 Torney Ave. In the meantime, here is some more information about our campaign to restore Sharp Park:

The Sharp Park golf course, located in Pacifica, is owned by the city of San Francisco.   It was built in the 1920's on land surrounding a coastal lagoon. Just like Lake Merced, Laguna Salada of Sharp Park is fed by creeks that drain runoff from nearby hills or mountains. During winters with heavy rainfall, these lagoons fill up to the point of spilling their excess water into the ocean. When the dry months of spring and summer set in, the water levels in the lagoon stabilize, the dunes regenerate, and the process begins anew. To learn more about these watersheds and how they work, download this scientific study of Laguna Salada.

At Sloat, we have a zoo, a large sewer tunnel, and a coastal road located right near the shoreline where Lake Merced used to spill into the ocean. Restoring Lake Merced back into a fully functioning lagoon is not on the table at this point in time. However, the restoration of Laguna Salada at Sharp Park is.  A plan has been drafted to close the golf course, give the land to the National Park Service, and incorporate the watershed into the GGNRA.  The Park Service has plans to vigorously restore the native flora, fauna and natural process of the lagoon system.  Surfrider backs this proposal because restoring the watershed means removing the seawall.  This would create long term beach preservation in an area that desperately needs it. We should seize the opportunity to restore Sharp Park.

You can learn more about the issue by visiting our partner's website Wildequity.org  You can help today by writing a letter to our public officials (see column on the right).  Also, don't forget to comment on any media story regarding Sharp Park, Sloat, or other issues related to beach erosion and managed retreat.  Thanks for checking in!
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