Thanks to everyone who joined us last week at the Mission Bay Park Committee as the city’s De Anza Natural wetland restoration proposal goes before various city stakeholders and commissions on its way to city council later this year.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board will consider adoption of the De Anza Natural proposal as Item 103 on its agenda.
According to the agenda, the meeting with be held at the Balboa Park Club ballroom at 2135 Pan American Way.
We hope you can attend either in person or on-line to comment on Item 103, and specifically, to ask the board to consider one or all of the following points:
- Please request that the city include far greater detail on the impact of sea level rise on public assets at Mission Bay Park. It’s shortsighted for the city to plan this level of restoration without thorough sea level rise analysis, especially since the city is required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s SEP (supplemental environmental project) to provide 80 acres of restored wetlands by 2100.
- Please request greater detail on the potential for low-impact infrastructure, like low-cost camping options on the De Anza “island,” and how these facilities will evolve over time into additional acres of wetlands as sea levels rise.
- Please aim for at least 315 acres of restored habitat, whether salt marsh or other related tidal wetland and riparian habitats. With Wildest we’ve demonstrated that 315 acres is a feasible goal, and 350 acres of restored habitat is already required in the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) by 2030. Restored wetlands will go a long way toward putting the city on track to meet its legally-binding CAP benchmarks.
- A reminder that this is human-centric restoration with considerable value to people in the form of improved water quality, carbon sequestration, enhanced recreation opportunities like kayaking and paddleboarding among restored wetlands, and expanded public access to our park.
For more, check out several of the other posts at our ReWild Mission Bay news page, particularly talking points included here and here.
If you can attend but don’t want to speak, no problem — you can cede time to one of our speakers. This will be enormously helpful for us, whether you’re on Zoom or in-person! Click here for more on attending Thursday’s meeting on-line.
Also, thanks to our ReWild Coalition members who recently joined us for meetings with Council President Elo-Rivera’s office and Councilmember LaCava’s office, including:
- Mary Lynn Coulson, St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
- Maya Dahlke, Pacific Beach Rotaract
- Alex Ferron, San Diego Surfrider
- David Lockwood, Pacific Beach Rotaract
- Audrey Mattoon, Citizens Coordinate for Century III (C3) intern
- Meli Morales, ReWild Mission Bay supporter and District 9 resident
- Chris Olson, Beautiful P.B.
- Mitch Silverstein, San Diego Surfrider
Thank you again for your patience, presence, support and remarks supporting Wildest-level wetland restoration!
We’ll see you Thursday, July 20th, at 2 p.m. at the Balboa Park Club Ballroom for the July meeting of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board. Viva ReWild!
Banner photo by Sandeep Sandhar.
Footer photo by Karina Ornelas.
