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The Calm Before the Storm:
North parking lot summer scene with a south swell rolling in.
Thanks to Surfrider activist Greg Gordon for submitting this pic.
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As word of a major El Niño is upon us, residents of the
City’s west side may recollect the last episode of 2010. That winter, a
series of storms drove powerful waves into the base of the Great Highway south
of Sloat. Coastal erosion was so severe that a piece of the road was undermined
until it collapsed onto the beach. Luckily no one was hurt. Five years later, a
fix for the Sloat erosion mess has been outlined in the Ocean Beach Master Plan.
Led by SPUR, and forged with community input, a real long term solution for
Sloat erosion is now making its way through the bureaucracy. As we have covered
in this blog, the plan is to relocate the south of Sloat section of the Great
Highway so that the beach can be restored. In order to protect the remaining infrastructure,
sand dunes will replace the rock and concrete debris now littering the beach. A buried seawall may serve as the last line of defense for the wastewater plant and its supporting structures. We maintain that any kind of buried seawall should be re-aligned as far landward as possible.
The Ocean Beach Master Plan's design and other short term measures - such as sand stockpiling - are about to undergo review
by the California Coastal Commission. Look for public meetings on these issues soon. Better yet, send us your contact info and we will add you to our Sloat activist list. Sign up at erosionob@gmail.com
Thanks for checking in!
