Seawall loses federal funding

“We have grave threats facing Pacifica, and those grave threats are the same threats that are facing our country,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have a president of the United States who is unwilling to stand with communities like Pacifica against those threats, threats of climate change.”

The coastal city of Pacifica is well known for its oceanside recreational opportunities but, in recent years, community members and local leadership alike have struggled with finding a unified pathway forward in addressing the immediate threat coastal erosion is creating.

In the past, residents’ desire to protect property and homes with physical barriers and redevelopment have clashed with Coastal Commission regulations on sea-level rise and erosion, which favors strict remodel standards and minimizing armoring in threatened areas.

That’s part of the reason why plans to protect local infrastructure and beach access with a combination of new seawall and natural shoreline infrastructure are so important to the community, Liccardo said.

“Pacifica has been moving forward together as a community through a very difficult and sometimes contentious discussion around this project and others that are critical to save this community, and they have reached a common solution,” he said. “Now we hear on April 4 that [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] is pulling the funding.”

FEMA, which funds BRIC, announced that all applications to the program from 2020 to 2023 would be retroactively cancelled.

Already, around $7 million has been put into repairing the Beach Boulevard road, pedestrian walkway and pier in the last 10 years, Pacifica Mayor Sue Beckmeyer said. She, alongside other community leaders, highlighted the importance of investing in climate resiliency infrastructure before damage from natural disasters exacerbates existing problems and necessitates greater financial investments.

“We need BRIC grant funding to implement a project here that has been years in the making, restoring and improving the resiliency of a half-mile stretch of coast here on Beach Boulevard to protect our infrastructure, to protect homes, businesses and to promote economic development and to continue to provide safe access to the coast,” she said.

A lack of investment in infrastructure like a new seawall will also be economically detrimental for local businesses, Jennifer Christiansen, who owns the Pacifica gallery Art Space, warned.

“Being so close to the ocean, we see many impacts from climate change in our district,” she said. “We, as a downtown district, really struggle to bring in new businesses, and I know that this is directly related to the challenges that we have with our aging infrastructure.”

San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, who represents the coastside, highlighted the importance of BRIC funding for climate resiliency projects along the coast. Nearby coastal city Half Moon Bay had recently applied for BRIC funding for the aging Mirada Road, he said.

“The next time you’re watching television and you’re watching a seawall collapse and that water come in and take out people’s homes, or you’ll watch a road fall into the ocean, or you’ll watch a bridge fail, ask yourself, ‘what happened to the program that used to fund those improvements?’” he said. “I can tell you what happened to it — the Trump administration canceled that program.”

Even without federal funding, Pacifica and other Bay Area communities will push forward to ensure these vital projects are constructed, Liccardo said.

“We’re going to protect our communities regardless of what President Trump does,” he said. “We’re going to find a way.”

holly@smdailyjournal.com

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