Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project

Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project

The proposed Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project would address shoreline erosion, severe coastal storm and wave hazards, and sea level rise which threaten city infrastructure, coastal access and recreational facilities, and public safety. The project area generally encompasses the portion of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach extending south from Sloat Boulevard to the northern edge of the Fort Funston bluffs, and the Great Highway from Sloat Boulevard to Skyline Boulevard, along with a portion of Ocean Beach north of Lincoln Boulevard where sand is harvested for placement south of Sloat Boulevard. Major project components include: (1) permanently closing the Great Highway between Sloat and Skyline boulevards, and reconfiguring affected intersections and San Francisco Zoo parking access; (2) removing rock and sandbag revetments, and rubble and debris from the beach, and reshaping the bluff to provide a more gradual transition between beach and upland areas, and planting native vegetation; (3) constructing a multi-use trail, beach access stairway, coastal access parking, and restrooms, and enhancing habitat; (4) constructing a buried wall to protect existing wastewater infrastructure from shoreline erosion; and (5) long-term beach nourishment (sand replenishment). The project is a collaborative, multi-agency initiative involving the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), San Francisco Recreation and Parks, San Francisco Public Works, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), the Federal Highway Administration, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. The city is also coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) on the potential for beneficially using Corps dredged sand for the project’s beach nourishment program. For long-term beach nourishment the City and County of San Francisco (the city) has identified two primary sand sources and placement methods. The first is the San Francisco Harbor – Main Ship Channel, which is dredged annually by the Corps as part of that agency’s ongoing federal navigation channels maintenance program. Under this “large placement” option a Corps dredge would pump up to 575,000 cubic yards of sand in a slurry form onto the beach, rather than disposing of it offshore. The second primary source is North Ocean Beach (i.e., north of Lincoln Boulevard). Under this “small placement” option the city would continue its practice of excavating and trucking excess sand from North Ocean Beach to South Ocean Beach and placing coarse sand from other sources as a top layer (referred to as sand backpass). The small placement option would involve trucks dumping up to 85,000 cubic yards of sand onto the beach and bluff. The city could also obtain a smaller volume of sand from a commercial vendor if necessary. The type and frequency of sand placements would depend upon sand availability (i.e., Corps and North Ocean Beach) and shoreline conditions (e.g., sea level rise and related erosion rates). Sand placements would occur about once every four to 10 years, generally in summer or fall.

San Francisco

San Francisco

Citywide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of State Parks, Division of Boating and Waterways, California Department of Transportation, District 4 (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region 2 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW)

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW)

Recreational (Multi-use, trail, restroom, parking), Other (Shoreline and utilities protection (buried wall) ), Transportation:Other (Closure and removal of Great Highway segment )

SFPUC Approval

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Coastal Zone, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Growth Inducement, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Schools/Universities, Sewer Capacity, Solid Waste, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian, Wildfire