The City of San Diego has released an updated Notice Of Preparation for its ongoing De Anza Revitalization Planning process. The information can be accessed at the City’s De Anza Cove Amendment website. This comes 14 months after the ReWild Coalition supported the City’s proposal at the Regional Water Quality Control Board to access funds to create a new, wetland-rich land use plan for the northeast corner of Mission Bay that must deliver at least 80 acres of restored wetland in 2100 using sea level rise projections. Today’s plan shows that the ReWild Coalition advocacy has paid off, but is not over.
Over 25 years ago, the Mission Bay Park Master Plan called for restoring wetlands at the mouth of Rose Creek. Decades of dredging and filling the bay has left us with Kendall-Frost Marsh as the last of our Mission Bay marshes, the last 1% of the original habitats. San Diego Audubon’s 2018 ReWild Mission Bay Feasibility Study showed that sea level rise will soon swallow Mission Bay’s remaining tidal wetlands and their many benefits, unless we take significant steps to restore them.
“This is a positive step forward, but there are many more steps the City needs to take here,” said Andrew Meyer, Director of Conservation at San Diego Audubon Society. “The City must prioritize water quality improvement, contiguous habitat for endangered species, resilience to sea level rise, and access for all San Diegans, especially Native American communities whose connection to this specific spot extends countless generations into the past and must continue generations into the future.”
The ReWild Coalition of supporting organizations and businesses has been growing over the last two years since it started. The 65 member-organizations of labor unions, houses of worship, local businesses, and non-profits are advocating for prioritizing wetland restoration, because everyone benefits when Mission Bay is clean, resilient, sequestering carbon, and full of birds, fish and other wildlife. The ReWild Coalition will be reviewing the NOP over the coming week and advocating for improvements to the City’s land use plan.
Coastal wetlands and their restoration value will be on full display at this year’s Love Your Wetlands Day, an annual celebration of Kendall-Frost Marsh, the last 40 acres of remnant wetlands in Mission Bay. This event is a partnership between UC San Diego Natural Reserve System, the Parks and Rec Department, and San Diego Audubon. The event will feature family-friendly activities including kayaking and native animal presentations, working tours of the marsh, directed work to repair nesting platforms for the endangered Ridgway’s Rail, booths from community groups and speeches from the Mayor, Chair of the County Supervisors, and more. More information is available here - we hope to see you there!
