The establishment of a 40 acre oceanfront Ocean Beach Park (Great Highway Park) is a separate question from the discussion of the seawall in front of the Water Treatment Plant.  Any press or statements conflating these two issues is meant to confuse residents and voters.  Environmental groups (including Surfrider Foundation) support the creation of Ocean Beach Park, and Surfrider continues to advocate on all of our behalf for the reduction of man-made impacts on surfing spots around the globe.

The Southern Extension of Upper Great Highway is already legislated to close to car traffic, part of a plan in the works since 2010 and crafted–with extensive community input–by the city of San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), and Surfrider Foundation.  Like climate change itself, this change is non-negotiable.  

The resulting Ocean Beach Master Plan includes the construction of a low seawall directly in front of the Water Treatment Plant, a seawall that will then be buried, with a bike path and walking paths on top of it.  Everyone agrees that protection of the Water Treatment Plant is urgently needed, but what isn’t yet agreed upon is the design details of the project, especially related to the height of the buried seawall.

Any firm structure placed within contact of ocean waves will have adverse effects, whether the structure is a road, a drain structure, a water tunnel, or a seawall.  

We don't know whether a low buried seawall south of Sloat will harm or improve the sandbars and the surf nearby. This is everchanging Ocean Beach, so it’s likely to do both, at different seasons, tides, and conditions.

Read more about Surfrider’s advocacy on the Southern Extension here. Read Surfrider’s Letter of Support for Prop K here.