In 2023, New Yorker Magazine put the shoreline of Pacifica California on the national map. The article — Can Seawalls Save Us? by Daniel A. Gross — described the pros and cons of seawalls in coping with sea level rise and said that the oldest known seawall was built about 7,000 years ago. You can still see it, if you have a snorkel. Archeologists concluded that the discovery was “ominously relevant.”
Today, 72% of California's 1,100 mile coastline consists of actively eroding sea cliffs.
The California’s Ocean Protection Council 2024 annual report concluded, “California must take bold and swift action to protect nature and coastal communities from the impacts of sea level rise.” We agree. Bold swift action is exactly what we are proposing.
Pacifica’s current effort to cope with sea level rise offers a great opportunity to pioneer a better, and potentially less expensive, way to coexist with the 70% of our planet that is ocean.
Surveys have repeatedly shown that beaches are by far the most popular U.S. tourist destination. There are about 3.4 billion visits to U.S. beaches annually. This enormous number of visits is far greater than the combined annual attendance of:
• all amusement-park attractions (such as Disney World)
• all professional and collegiate games (football, basketball, baseball)
• all cruises
• all NASCAR events
• all State Park properties
• all National Park properties (from the Washington Monument to the Grand Canyon)
Beach tourists spend $240 billion annually which exceeds the value of all crops grown in America. Beach tourists also generate an economic output of $520 billion annually. Communities can increase their beach economy by supporting any new infrastructure needed to accommodate additional beach tourist usage.
We believe that we can widen the beach, reduce wave damages and slow down erosion of the shoreline, create fish habitat, and even help kelp. At the same time, our not so hidden agenda is to shape a new contest-quality surfing wave that will also contribute to the local economy and be enjoyed by some of the 2.8 million California surfers.
To that end, we are advocating the construction of a multipurpose barrier reef that, when combined with initial sand nourishment, will help retain that sand, achieve the above mentioned benefits, and locally delay the need to consider more impactful strategies like managed retreat from the shoreline.
We offer these ideas, none of them truly new, to the City of Pacifica, the Federal Government and all the appropriate agencies and authorities.
Sincerely,
Four surfers and One ocean swimmer
Bob Battalio PE (Lead Author)
• (former, retired) Chief Engineer, Vice President and leader of ESA’s Coastal Zone Engineering & Management Team
• Prior President of the California Shore and Beach Preservation Association
• Joe Johnson Outstanding Service Award recipient (2023)
• Member of The Surfrider Foundation
• (former) President of the California Marine Parks and Harbors Association
• Resident of Pacifica (35 years)
Sharp Park PacificaPhotograph: David Chamberlin 2024
Rob Birdlegs Caughlan (Introduction Author)
• (former) White House Advisor for the President Jimmy Carter
• (former) Special Assistant to the Administrator, United States EPA
• First President Surfrider Foundation
• Field Representative for Assemblyman Leo Ryan
• Dianne Feinstein's first campaign writer
Photograph: Don Montgomery
George Domurat (Consultant)
• Board Commissioner of San Mateo County Harbor District
• (former) Planning Commissioner, City of Pacifica
• (former) President of the California Shore and Beach Preservation Association
• (former) Vice-President of the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association
• retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers after 42 years in Oceanography, Coastal Engineering, Coastal Planning, Port and Harbor Engineering and Dredge Material Management
• Resident of Pacifica (43 years)
Brian Gerrity (Consultant)
• Project Manager overseeing coastal and maritime development projects
• Coastal Management Doctoral Candidate
Tom Kendall (Consultant)
• (former) Director California Shore and Beach Preservation Association
• (former) Treasurer American Shore and Beach Preservation Association
• American Society of Civil Engineers Government Engineer of the Year (2009)
• US Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Working Group “Long Wave” award recipient (2023)
• Resident of Pacifica (35 years)
