San Diego Coastal Resilience Master Plan
Ensure adoption of nature-based resilience strategies that center the preservation of beaches and public access to them
San Diego's Coastal Resilience Master Plan consists of project proposals to increase the sea level rise/climate resilience at several of the City's most popular beaches - Sunset Cliffs, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Tourmaline, and La Jolla Shores.
Sea level rise poses an existential threat to San Diego’s beaches, culture, economy, and coastal infrastructure. Just one foot of sea level rise - expected by 2050 - can reduce beach width by over 50 feet. With 3-6 feet of sea level rise and increased coastal storms predicted by 2100, the time to plan is NOW.
Surfrider's San Diego Chapter has been highly supportive of the Master Plan's preference for nature-based solutions, i.e. dune restoration, over hard structures like seawalls that sacrifice beaches to protect the infrastructure behind them. The San Diego Chapter will continue to engage city staff, elected officials, and the community-at-large towards final projects that offer maximum resilience and access to city beaches.
Realization of a finalized, beach preservation-centered Master Plan in its entirety may take many years. Near-term goals include the following:
- Ensure City Council approves staff recommendations to bring Sunset Cliffs, OB, and Mission Beach sites to a 15% design, with clear preference for the more resilient proposals for OB & Mission Beach
- Advocate for more attention to OB parking lot reconfiguration to increase long-term beach resilience at for the beach (OB will be the pilot site)
- Bring additional scoping to the Tourmaline and La Jolla Shores designs to ensure the projects center beach preservation, rather than protection of existing infrastructure at expense of the beach
- Conduct meaningful public outreach to build support for forward-thinking coastal resilience planning!
Please join our chapter email list HERE for updates about San Diego's Coastal Resilience Master Plan.
More info on the SD Coastal Resilience Master Plan and San Diego Chapter engagement can be found below:
- City of San Diego Landing Page
- Jan 5, 2025 Chapter letter to City w/ recommendations to maximize resilience during initial public outreach period
- Apr 14, 2025 Chapter blog post
- Apr 19, 2025 Chapter letter to the SD Resiliency Advisory Board w/ recommendations
- June 11, 2025 Chapter letter to City Council Environment Committee w/ recommendations
- June 13, 2025 Blog post recap + video of the SD City Council Environment Committee meeting