{"id":722367,"date":"2026-06-24T02:13:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T02:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/722367\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T02:13:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T02:13:25","slug":"as-waves-pound-pacifica-surfers-pitch-a-reef-to-defend-the-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/722367\/","title":{"rendered":"As Waves Pound Pacifica, Surfers Pitch a Reef to Defend the Shore"},"content":{"rendered":"

But coastal experts are not as bullish on the idea. They agree that the solution could, in principle, slow waves and widen the beach, but caution the city to take a whole-shoreline approach rather than piecemeal projects.<\/p>\n

The wave riders named the somewhat nature-based adaptation project \u201cRob\u2019s Reef<\/a>\u201d in honor of their friend Rob Caughlan, the founding president of the Surfrider Foundation, who passed away in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was our big driver, and he asked the really good questions that would then spin us up in terms of exchanging ideas,\u201d said George Domurat, a long-time Pacifica resident, surfer and commissioner with the San Mateo County Harbor District.<\/p>\n

Until recently, the group would plan over coffee at the Chit Chat Cafe, located on the Pacifica Municipal Pier. But the pier\u2019s cracking led to the cafe\u2019s forced demolition.<\/p>\n

The thrashing waves stole the group of dreamers\u2019 gathering space while showcasing the very problem that their spitball sessions sought to solve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, it\u2019s ironic, but it\u2019s more ironic that people are surprised that things are failing,\u201d Battalio said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t unexpected; that\u2019s why we came together to come up with a solution, because time is not on our side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Building walls is not working\u2019<\/p>\n

Their proposal calls for submerging the equivalent of around 20,000 truckloads of boulders in a triangular pattern \u2014 the pointy side facing the sea \u2014 600 feet offshore. It would also restore a beach along the seawall, initially using roughly 50,000 dump-truck loads of sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we would like to do is create a new equilibrium by restoring the beach to its historical dimensions,\u201d Battalio said. \u201cTogether they should reduce the wave height and the frequency of waves reaching the seawall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bob Battalio points to a proposed artificial reef design in Pacifica on June 17, 2026. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

Battalio said the proposal would cost around $100 million to expand the beach and build the offshore reef. That cost would be in addition to the city\u2019s more than $80 million seawall plan.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Trump Administration shortlisted the city for a $50 million grant to help pay for the seawall\u2019s replacement. But the federal government canceled the program that would have provided the grant. Now the city is seeking additional funding while awaiting the federal government\u2019s restart of that program.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually people look at the price tag and go, \u2018That\u2019s too big, we don\u2019t wanna do that, why don\u2019t we just build a wall?\u2019\u201d Battalio said. \u201cBut just building walls is not working.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(From left) Bob Battalio, Tom Kendall, and George Domurat sit at the end of Carmel Avenue in Pacifica on June 17, 2026, near the proposed site of an artificial reef designed to reduce coastal erosion and help protect the shoreline. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

The locals said that the combination, while an expensive suite of solutions, could benefit the coastal ecosystem and the high-dollar real estate that sits behind the existing seawall. And then there\u2019s the possibility of creating a \u201cworld-class surfable wave\u201d in Pacifica, said Adam Libert, an area surfer and engineer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that would create real economic value of coming to Pacifica and watching surf competitions from the pier,\u201d Libert said. \u201cIt\u2019s a vision of not just this kind of dystopian world where sea level rise happens, and we get in big fights about managed retreat, but rather how do we actually build a world we want to live in and achieve positive outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Kendall, a Pacifica surfer and retired civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hopes \u201cit becomes very popular with local interests,\u201d who could encourage the city to pursue it.<\/p>\n

\u2018Pacifica is the canary in the coal mine\u2019<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s plan to rebuild the seawall<\/a> 4 feet higher along Beach Boulevard would slow erosion and reduce, but not eliminate, all overtopping and flooding in the short term.<\/p>\n

While engineers finish the design of the seawall, Pacifica\u2019s Mayor Christine Boles is concerned that a taller seawall could mean \u201cmore wave energy,\u201d which \u201ccould cause more overtopping and impact the roadway, homes and people.<\/p>\n

\u201cA reef would help dissipate that energy so we don\u2019t have all that dangerous overtopping,\u201d Boles added.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pacifica Mayor Christine Boles speaks during a news conference calling for federal aid for the Pacifica Municipal Pier on June 15, 2026, after structural damage led to the pier\u2019s closure and the demolition of the Chit Chat Cafe. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

The pilot project could show the city how to slow erosion elsewhere in Pacifica. Over the last decade, Boles said, the city has lost 11 homes and three apartment buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city is limited in time to be creative,\u201d Boles said. \u201cTo have people who are willing to step back and look a little bit more creatively about what other options might be available is super exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several artificial reefs have been built in Australia and New Zealand. Another, constructed in Southern California, was ultimately removed because waves deteriorated it. Oceanside is currently testing a physical model<\/a> of a potential buildout.<\/p>\n

Artificial reefs \u201chaven\u2019t been tested in such an active, strong ocean environment as we have here,\u201d Boles said. She hopes Pacifica, home to fewer than 40,000 people, can become a proving ground for this protection that includes some nature-based principles.<\/p>\n

\u201cPacifica is the canary in the coal mine for the effects of a warming ocean,\u201d Boles said. \u201cSo wouldn\u2019t it be great if the reef did work?\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s less sure that the project will create an epic surf break. But if the possibility motivates the community, she said she\u2019ll encourage it.<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t think we are looking at a silver bullet\u2019<\/p>\n

Pacifica still needs to study the reef\u2019s scale, how much sand is needed and its environmental impacts, said Borja Gonzalez Reguero, a professor with the Coastal Science and Policy Program at UC Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far it\u2019s a concept, but it could be a viable one,\u201d Gonzalez Reguero said. He qualified that by saying the reef is not a \u201csilver bullet\u201d solution on its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beach on its own won\u2019t be a solution,\u201d he said. \u201cOr the rock armory or the flood wall. Altogether, that could be a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The coastline in Pacifica on June 15, 2026, where erosion remains an ongoing concern. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

Gonzalez Reguero said that Pacifica needs fixes, as larger waves and rising sea levels will only worsen the city\u2019s challenges due to climate hazards and sea level rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s bad news for Pacifica,\u201d Gonzalez Reguero said.<\/p>\n

But Gonzalez Reguero said that slowing waves with a mostly underwater network of boulders or other materials could reduce pressure on the seawall and lower repair costs. He suggests the city further develop a strategy to adapt its entire coastline for future waves and higher tides. Boles said that Pacifica plans to launch a visioning process for the entire coastline this fall, with significant public input.<\/p>\n

If the goal is to reduce erosion beating up the seawall, Gonzalez Reguero said, slowing waves is an integral step to consider.<\/p>\n

San Mateo County has discussed the feasibility of the artificial reef with the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz. Patrick Barnard, the group\u2019s research director, said he has questions about the project\u2019s scale and its potential effects on nearby beaches, water levels, and wave energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gap with a lot of these solutions is that there hasn\u2019t been enough testing to understand how well they perform,\u201d Barnard said. \u201cThese are the kinds of solutions that, if they work, could be worth pursuing, but they need to be evaluated thoroughly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But coastal experts are not as bullish on the idea. They agree that the solution could, in principle,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-722367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}