In June STAY COOL joined the “ReWild Coalition,” a fledgling alliance of San Diego organizations supporting wetlands expansion on the north shore of Mission Bay.  The City of San Diego’s current planning for revitalization of the area presents a timely opportunity for redeveloping a shoreline with resilience to climate change in mind. Click here to read the letter we submitted in June, 2019.

Will our grandkids take their kids boating on Mission Bay?  Will they dare let them swim in it? Let’s advocate for a future where Rose Creek meets the Bay in an adaptable expanse of salt marsh, tidal channels, sand flats, mudflats, and eelgrass, nurturing sea life and birds, mitigating floods, and cleaning the water that enters the Bay.  Now is the time to do so.  

The Mission Bay Park Master Plan of 1994 anticipated expansion of the wetlands that currently cover about 40 acres on the northeast edge of the Bay, but planning for the area was delayed for decades with lawsuits over the mobile home park at De Anza Cove.  With vacating of the homes beginning in 2016, the City began work on the De Anza Cove Amendment to the Mission Bay Park Master Plan.

Meanwhile, the San Diego Audubon Society (SDAS) embarked on a wetlands restoration feasibility study with funding from the California State Coastal Conservancy and the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  “ReWild Mission Bay,” the feasibility study report issued in 2018, presents detailed historical and current data with projections of future habitat distribution under sea-level-rise scenarios, and three design alternatives for effective wetlands restoration – “Wild,” “Wilder”, and “Wildest” – for the City’s consideration in planning De Anza Revitalization.

This year, De Anza Revitalization became a project of focus for Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3).  C-3 is a San Diego organization that since 1961 has advocated for high standards in urban design, community planning, and access to public open space.  For this effort, their members are leading workshops to integrate SDAS’s “Wildest” wetlands alternative into designs for the full project area, which currently also provides for camping, boating, golf, tennis,  ball fields, and retail. Mission Bay leaseholds are an important source of revenue for the City.

This spring, operators of the Mission Bay RV Resort (adjacent to the old mobile home park) notified the City that they would not renew that lease, and the City Council accepted a proposal from the RV resort owners to operate the site and cleanup the abandoned mobile homes in return for future rent credits.  Though City officials say this agreement is short-term, it concerns ReWild advocates, who do not foresee that shoreline being suitable for camping.

For the first time in decades, the community has a chance to help determine how these public lands in Mission Bay are used. These lands belong to us and we encourage STAY COOL advocates to join in the planning for Mission Bay North, and support design elements that anticipate climate change. For more background, see

Our next step is to meet with San Diego City Council members and their staff. Contact Linda to learn more or get involved.