Welcome back to Marsh Madness! If you’ve been following the team you know we’re nearing the fourth quarter of wetland restoration becoming a reality, but we can’t score a win without your help. The ReWild project has been working for almost 10 years to restore wetlands in the northeast corner of Mission Bay, to ensure cleaner water, protect our shorelines, sequester carbon, and improve public access.
This week, the De Anza Natural Plan, the city’s plan to create restored wetlands in De Anza Cove will finally reach the Environmental Committee. It’s the finals, and we need you to show up in your ReWild jersey to let the committee know the plan has to be improved before it moves to City Council.
Luckily, we have a major player on our team, Council President Pro Tem Joe LaCava, whom you may have met at the marsh in recent years. He has been a wetland advocate since before his time in office, and a strong voice of support for us ever since. He is an attendee of our annual Love Your Wetlands Day and King Tide events, and joined us last year for a Ridgway’s Rail release in the marsh. At our King Tides event in February, he said it best: “Wetlands at Kendall-Frost and De Anza are extremely valuable for our quality of life, and our city’s resiliency. Which is why it’s important to protect and expand the wetlands at every possible opportunity.”
We know wetland restoration is in the City’s future–the Climate Action Plan requires 700 acres to be restored by 2035! At Love Your Wetlands Day this year, Lacava said, “We need to start adapting and…adapting quickly. Adaptation means natural solutions, it is the best response, and we can prove it right here, as part of the work we will do in Kendall Frost and as part of De Anza. There is no better place to make that start than right here in Mission Bay.”
This is not only a call to action from the ReWild Team but from Council President Pro Tem LaCava, “I look forward to seeing you all there, Wildly in support of more wetlands. We need wetlands and we need them now, for water quality, for sea level rise, carbon sequestration, and for recreation.”
Meet us at 12:30PM outside of the City Admin Building for a pre-meeting rally, if you’ve never given public comment with us, come grab a ReWild shirt and some talking points!
Don’t sit on the sidelines—be a part of Marsh Madness!
THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 AT 1:00 P.M.
CITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
COUNCIL CHAMBERS – 12TH FLOOR
202 “C” STREET, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101
If you’re unable to attend the meeting in person, you can give public comments via zoom, or use this outline to send an email to the Environmental Committee in advance of next week’s meeting.
A final thank you to Councilmember LaCava for his tireless support of wetlands “I have spoken previously on making sure we do the greatest expansion of wetlands going forward and I am looking forward to making that a reality with your help.” Together, we can score a win for nature and our community.
