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QUOTED. From the New Yorker article “Can Seawalls Save Us? Huge coastal barriers could protect the world’s cities. But they’ll have unexpected costs“. Daniel A. Gross.
“Writing for a community blog (InPerspective on Coastside Buzz!!), Gregg Dieguez, a critic of this plan, objected not just to its price but to the “moral hazard” it would create: by forestalling erosion, the seawall might only encourage more people to live in risky places.
“Once sea level rise gets here, it’s never going away, at least not for thousands of years,” Dieguez wrote.
Meanwhile, he noted, only one per cent of the homes in Pacifica were at risk.
“You will have to decide, as a group, whether paying to hold back the tides is a good use of your precious money,” he concluded.
It’s a question many more of us will soon be asking.
When do seawalls make sense?
And when is it better to give in to the tides?”
Pacifica’s new Seawall is a Moral Hazard
More on the Pacifica Seawall and the Casa Mira California Coastal Commission Seawall Lawsuit on Coastside Buzz
City of Pacifica Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project
In 1984, the City of Pacifica constructed an 18-22-foot-tall seawall with a rip rap revetment and promenade along Beach Boulevard north of the Pacifica Pier. The southern section of the seawall was constructed in 1987 using a differing design.
Since its construction, the north seawall has experienced failures in multiple locations and continues to be an increasing public health and safety risk for the City. Most recently, a large wave event on January 5th, 2023 caused significant wave overtopping along both north and south walls resulting in flooding and deposition of sand along Beach Blvd. and Clarendon Road.
The Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project (Project) is being designed to create a multi-benefit solution to protect public infrastructure, recreational activities, numerous homes, businesses, and the community at large, from further impacts due to continued coastal erosion. It aims to replace the current seawall and outdated infrastructure while building climate resilience into the most vulnerable segment of the City of Pacifica’s shoreline.
Project Overview
The Project is an infrastructure protection and improvement project that is critical to the public health and safety of the citizens and visitors in and around the historic West Sharp Park neighborhood.
Author: Coastside Buzz
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