PACIFICA — Climate change has led to rising tides and coastal erosion in the small city of Pacifica. Now, many people are asking what’s next.
In a December City Council meeting, residents spent 10 hours discussing whether they should defend their homes or start planning for a managed retreat.
“You think the seawall is going to stop the waves, but watch what happens when the wave hits the seawall,” said Bob Battalio, while looking out at the seawall. “It goes up and over. So, a wall can’t stop it.”
Battalio has called Pacifica home since 1989. His life revolves around the ocean. In his free time, he enjoys surfing, and professionally, he’s a coastal engineer.
He has watched as climate change accelerated the erosion throughout the city’s coastline. In 2016, an apartment complex was demolished because it was crumbling into the water.
“We’re looking at hundreds of millions of dollars of losses no matter what we do or don’t do,” said Battalio.
He believes the city needs to look at long-term fixes, like creating artificial reefs in the water that will help calm the waves.
“It creates a new sense of equilibrium where the shoreline kind of oscillates around this position that’s farther out, so it’s like it was 50 years ago or so,” said Battalio.
But Gary Griggs, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, believes managed retreat is the only feasible option.
“There’s absolutely nothing we can do over the long run to hold back the Pacific Ocean,” said Griggs. “Anything we do is really a Band-Aid. And those Band-Aids come with different price tags and different lifespans.”
Managed retreat is a concept involving moving people and buildings away from the risk. In this case, it would be moving people inland.
The California Coastal Commission proposed moving out willing residents and using public funds to buy out homes, but at this point this point, the proposal has not come to fruition. Not everyone is a fan of the idea, including 45-year Pacifica resident Mark Stechbart.
-“Everyone should calculate what your town would look like if you lost 30% of your town,” said Stechbart.
Stechbart wants to see the city improve the seawall.
“Put another two feet on it, curve it, put some wave breaks on it, and monitor it,” said Stechbart.
He believes managed retreat and moving everything east would negatively impact Pacifica. He said if the seawall is done right, it can work long-term.
“They’ll say you can’t fight Mother Nature. Well, if you put a roof on your house and maintain it, you’ll stay dry forever,” said Stechbart. “So, yeah, you can fight Mother Nature.”
A decision could be made in 2025. Pacifica City Council spent one of its last meetings of 2024 discussing the issue.
Now, the Coastal Commission is reviewing the city’s local coastal land use plan. The proposal is still a work in progress, requiring special exceptions under state law. The city council should get feedback on the plan by April or May.
Battalio said regardless of what is decided, he hopes most people will choose to get on board.
“I think we all just have to work together and try to get through it,” said Battalio.
As waves forcefully continue to crash against seawalls, the clock is ticking on maintaining and protecting Pacifica’s coastline.
