Friday, May 18, 2018

Sea level rise, think "big picture"


Is sea level rise happening. I believe it is. What I have not been convinced of are the consequences that will befall Pacifica if we don't implement regulations to guard for the absolute worse. 
To call anything "proven science" only proves the science false. No science is "proven". It's constantly evolving and changing its conclusions. I'm afraid our town is losing site of the big picture in the frenzy of SLR* disaster scenarios being bandied about. 

Image result for Pacifica, CA Coast picture
Preserve our coastal community
A new Local Coastal Plan (LCP) is greatly needed. What is not needed in my opinion is an LCP driven by draconian predictions of flood and perdition. We need to be cognizant of what is going on concerning zoning changes, building restrictions, infrastructure relocation, and a myriad of other details. 
If all these details are driven by sea level rise I'm afraid we will end up with an LCP that handcuffs and prevents Pacifica from working toward a vital, much needed, coastal community, revitalized and humming with life. 

Commentary submitted by Jim Wagner

Related article. Wall Street Journal/Opinion Fred Singer, 5/15/18, "The sea is rising, but not because of climate change. There is nothing we can do about it, except to build dikes and sea walls a little bit higher." (Note: the Wall Street Journal requires subscription to read the full article.)
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Reference, City of Pacifica, CA - Sea Level Rise.  Local Coastal Plan (LCP) draft update, 10/17/17, pdf pages 13.  *SLR acronym: Service/Light Industrial/Residential (SLR) mixed use district, description by the Planning Department/City of San Francisco.     Note photograph from Pacifica Patch/CA News Wire Service, 4/28/17, "Pacifica home prices near All-time high..."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

36 comments:

Donald Trump said...

Sea Level, Pee Level. Sea level rise is a hoax, A fraud, led by Charlatan .

Anonymous said...

Sea level has already been rising, and the rate of sea level rise has been increasing. There are hard data that show this. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

A scientific skeptic said...

11:06, you're reply is commensurate with the rest of the zealots that prevent a rational, intelligent conversation to commence. Just remember, put 20 people in the same room, prevent name calling, facilitate conversation, and you may be surprised at the result. Calling people deniers labels them in a negative manner. To many of us, calling someone a name to make your point does the opposite because you have nothing else to add to a rational discussion. Why not give it a chance.

Anonymous said...

5:39 You're kidding, right?

The Real Donald Trump said...

Sea Level ruse us cause dirt and rocks fall into the Ocean.


I am smarter then all of you.

Dan Murray said...

At one time I had a Pacifica calendar that showed a picture of Rockaway Beach circa 1912. The sandy beach extended all the way out to the two points aligning with the quarry on the north. So in little more than 100 years, that beach has all but disappeared and high surf now crashes over the seawall during the winter.

I'm not sure who put out that calendar, but perhaps someone could locate that old photo and post it on this thread. Readers might be surprised at how Rockaway Beach once looked and wonder what caused all that beach erosion.

Doubt it was just dirt and rocks falling into the ocean.



Markus said...

Thanks for your comment. Spot on!

Anonymous said...

Some of the erosion at Rockaway Beach, maybe most of it, is due to the rip rap seawall that was placed there.

Anonymous said...

May 20, 2018 at 12:25pm
FAUX SCIENCE!! NOBY PROPAGANDA!!

Markus said...

Yes, words you're using such as "some" and "maybe" definitely gives your statement validation that it's based on real science. Can you please share with us the references you have to make such a matter of fact statement? Thanks

Larry the Cable Guy said...

Wouldn't it be a change to have each person validate their assertions with some documentations. Might change the IQ here a little. You're a poop, no you're a poop doesn't really cut it.

Anonymous said...

Hahaha. More denial. You deserve whatever happens.

Markus said...

At anom 9:52 PM. Am I missing something? I see people on this thread accusing commenters of being SLR or Climate change deniers. What I don't see is very many, if any commenters actually denying that there are Climate changes and SLR going on. Many people believe a LCP driven by Managed Retreat will destroy this city. You simply can't render our coastal revenue streams, nearly worthless and expect to continue getting the same revenue. Businesses can not operate as usual if they can't get loans or insurance. As I said before, you can't cut the heart or brain out to save the rest of the body. What is Pacifica without Manor, West Sharp Park, West Fairway Park, Rockaway Beach, lower Linda Mar and Pedro Point? Let's get real.

Anonymous said...

"Whenever a hard structure is built along an eroding coastline, the shoreline will eventually migrate landward on either side of the structure (fig. 6). The effect will be gradual loss of the beach in front of the seawall or revetment as the water deepens and the shoreface profile migrates landward. This process is designated as passive erosion and has been well documented along many different shorelines (Griggs,
2005). Passive erosion takes place regardless of the type of protective structure emplaced. This process is perhaps the most significant long-term effect of shoreline armoring." The Effects of Armoring Shorelines—The California Experience
https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5254/pdf/sir20105254_chap8.pdf

Anonymous said...

Yes, let's get real. How are you going to protect Manor, West Sharp Park, West Fairway Park, Rockaway Beach, lower Linda Mar and Pedro Point from sea level rise and erosion? How are you going to preserve the infrastructure, the sewer lines and the pump stations and everything else? Build giant seawalls all along Pacifica's coastline? How will you pay for that?

Anonymous said...

Markus your argument is waaay too cogent for the "managed retreaters" whose real intent is the destruction of Pacifica with the exception of course, of their little hovels. They want ocean front property status to boost their wealth. What better way than to move the coastline inland.
Faux science hypocrites.

Anonymous said...

There it is again. "Faux science hypocrites." That's denial of the established fact of sea level rise and climate change.

Anonymous said...

Yes, let's get real. How are you going to protect Manor, West Sharp Park, West Fairway Park, Rockaway Beach, lower Linda Mar and Pedro Point from sea level rise and erosion? How are you going to preserve the infrastructure, the sewer lines and the pump stations and everything else? Build giant seawalls all along Pacifica's coastline? How will you pay for that?

Yes, let's get real. If you're unwilling to find the means to protect it, how are you going to move all the infrastructure, the sewer lines and the pump stations and everything else? How will you pay for that?

David said...

Instead of giving up let's take a look at what other communities are doing with their coastlines. We don't have to reinvent the wheel here. The first duty of our planners should be "Do No Harm" not discuss that we are defeated and will have to strategically retreat. Seawalls, rip rap, armor the shores. Then re-armor if you have to. Don't give up on our town. Letting the coast go will destroy this town.

Sharon said...

@ 10:19 why not? The dutch do it and use use a mix of modern and antique technology to keep dry. No big mystery there.

Markus said...

Exactly! You can't insert "Managed Retreat" as official city policy for the LCP without creating a Catch 22 situation. How do cities get funding for costly projects? There are several entities, in addition to locals, that are very interested in keeping this vital coastal artery open. SM county, State as well as the Federal governments, have a huge economic reason, to help with funding. It's all about the money, folks. Always has been. Sure, it's costly, but Pacifica may have to fork out only a small portion of the funds. Matching funds will be much more difficult to obtain if our city leadership is not on board.

wake up Pacifica said...

"Hahaha. More denial. You deserve whatever happens."
This sounds like a Tod Brayism.
Actually you are getting what you deserve. An illegitimate council majority won by deceit and manipulation is catapulting you and the entire city towards a massive devastating lawsuit. Our regional politicians (Hill, Mullen, Hoarsely, Spears) have all stated on the record that it's the local governments responsibility to protect life and property in Pacifica. They have all assured us that they will do everything possible to assist us in procuring county, state and federal resources to tackle this threat head on. The only caveat is that Pacifica government must take the lead on this effort and apply for funding. Has this happened??? Doesn't look like it.
In fact it looks like just the opposite has occurred. Instead of pursuing a protective fix, our crooked council led by Deirdre, Keener, Digre and Kaufman have scooped a pile of money into Bob Battallio's pocket to write a phony term paper promoting managed retreat. They have enlisted their fellow faux-enviro buddies and crazy obstructionist friends to exaggerate and gin up SLR fantasies as an excuse to to do nothing but force Pacifica to declare West Sharp park, the Golf course, and western Rockaway a flood zone to support their nefarious agendas. This is personal and purposeful malfeasance.
As far as their deceptive application of the phenomenon of armament causing down beach erosion and loss of sand, yes this does happen in some instances. However the hardened retaining wall on Beach Blvd north of the pier has been there for 47 years. The Sharp Park State Beach which is downstream from the wall is the biggest beach in Pacifica due to a super deposit of sand.
Pay attention to these lies being put out by this cult and start preparing to sue them for destroying our town.

Anonymous said...

Read the front page article in today's Tribune. Nobody's talking about managed retreat. In fact, Bob Battallio was talking about a higher seawall on Beach Blvd. or a 2nd seawall behind what's there now.

Professor Peabody said...

Of course, all our genius howlers that managed retreat must be on the table and the beaches are disappearing know that during the winter sand is carried off to a sand bar out yonder by wave action and re-deposited during the spring and summer months. It's proven science.

Sharon said...

@ 5:13 re genius howlers, add the fact that years of drought reduced sediment moving down the rivers into the bay and out with San Francisco operating a large dreging effort to refurbish SF beaches thereby reducing the natural flow of sand and sediment to Pacifica beaches.

Anonymous said...

4:22


Please google seawall and retaining wall and get back to us.

Anonymous said...

4:22
Typical expertise level of the SLR/No on Everything cult.
It ain't a seawall, never has been. It's a retaining wall pushed by your genius know-it-all leader Peter Loeb decades ago.

Anonymous said...

I'm the comment at 4:22. 7:26 and 11:21 your comments are irrelevant. The point I was making was that managed retreat was not talked about at all at the community meeting. I'm not supporting managed retreat. Neither was anybody else at the meeting. Please pay attention.

amy vegan said...

I highly recommend folks view this sea level rise map. Check out Pacifica then check out the rest of the Bay Area.
This is a global issue but when deciding what to do in Pacifica, we need to work with the other counties/cities in the region.
Pump this map up to 6' and see where the BIG problems will be.
https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/

amy vegan said...

I went to all the SLR meetings. At the last one (the economic analysis), I believe I heard 92 million dollars per mile for a sea wall. Take a look at SLR rise projections for the entire Bay Area. Pump it up to 6 feet.
Then ask where the $ is going to come from. https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/

amy vegan said...

KQED article and radio interview on SF Bay Area sea level rise. Pacifica will have it easy.
https://www.kqed.org/science/1924579/like-it-or-not-the-water-is-coming-will-the-bay-area-defend-against-rising-seas-or-embrace-them

Anonymous said...

Here are my public comments for our city sea level rise planners:

What the city of Pacifica is failing to acknowledge is twofold. Number one is that sea level rise will be a small potatoes issue compared to all the other catastrophic aspects of climate change. The number one issue facing California and the world will be exponential heat and drought leading to the inability of crops to grow. Pacifica, San Mateo County and California must immediately plan for food and water security. Secondly, in terms of Pacifica's position in the Bay Area, if you look at the sea level rise risk maps from NOAA, you will see that the effects to Pacifica are quite minimal and the entire interior of the Bay Area including SFO airport, Silicon Valley, San Jose, and the East Bay plus cities in the North Bay, and Delta , strong economic engines for the Bay Area, will suffer the worst of drastic inundation. Pacifica must be realistic in terms of where funding is going to come from. The state of California will likely choose to spend money protecting San Francisco International Airport, Google and Facebook, San Jose Airport, freeways, and the ports in the East Bay, etc ... over our small and almost economically insignificant coastside community. I fully realize that the city of Pacifica and our community at whole is not willing to believe how severe climate change is actually going to be. We must start planning for food and water security. Nobody is going to die if they have to sell their house now and move to San Bruno or Walnut Creek. But everybody will die if we do not have adequate food and water. To see the NOAA viewer, use this link. https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/

Anonymous said...

Point taken about food security, but both that and sea level rise are not just regional but state and national issues. Any Pacifican who thinks that we ought to come up with our own plan is wasting time and resources. Why get ulcers because of things over which we have very little, if any, control? Let's not lose sight of the things that we do control and can change - it's the city's duty to identify and resolve those.

Anonymous said...

3:42 are you saying the city shouldn't waste time and resources planning for sea level rise?

Anonymous said...

I'm saying that they should do it in conjunction with all other agencies and not try to come up with their own plan in isolation.

Anonymous said...

Keep in mind that Deirdre, Keener, Batallio and Kaufman all believe that they are the smartest people in the room. Most assuredly they will come up with an isolated plan. After all their goal is not to protect life and property but rather to create a wetland preserve in West Sharp Park for the pleasure of their entitled, "I got mine" COMRADS.