The ReWild Coalition representing over 70 environmental and conservation groups rallied on Sept. 20 outside City Hall to request that the City Council earmark $250,000 in next year’s budget for ReWild Mission Bay wetlands restoration.

“After almost 30 years of inaction on the master plan, the City must show leadership, vision, and decisive action to restore the lungs of the bay, reconnecting us and protecting our communities from the climate crisis. It’s time to ReWild Mission Bay,” said Andrew Meyer, director of conservation at San Diego Audubon Society, at the wetlands rally.

“This investment in the restoration momentum that the project has built would bring the City a strong return from outside grants and opportunities. There are multiple state and federal agencies that want to fund coastal resilience, habitat restoration, improved access, and carbon sequestration – all benefits that come to San Diegans through the ReWild project.”

“Wetlands sequester and store more carbon than terrestrial forests, but only 10% of California’s historic wetlands remain,” said Mary Liesegang of environmental nonprofit Wildcoast. “We must protect remaining wetlands and restore degraded wetlands so that they will continue to be carbon sinks for thousands of years to come.”

“The expansive restoration of tidal wetlands has far-reaching benefits to the health of our communities,” said Rachel Abbott from San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air. “By expanding Mission Bay’s wetlands, we will address climate change, improve air and water quality, and amplify our City’s natural space to positively transform our community’s health and wellness. With the approved Climate Action Plan that calls for 700 acres of tidal wetlands in San Diego by 2035, this down payment could ensure we reach our legally binding climate goals.”

Mission Bay is a microcosm of the worldwide battle being waged to save the remaining dwindling wetlands. That battle is being played out locally with ReWild Mission Bay, a project of San Diego Audubon and its partners to enhance and restore wetlands in Mission Bay’s northeast corner.
ReWild Mission Bay’s proposal is to enhance and restore more than 150 acres of wetlands in the northeast corner of Mission Bay, including the enhancement of 40 acres of existing tidal wetland habitat. The project will also create approximately 100 acres of tidal marsh and mudflat habitat and 30 acres of transitional/upland habitat.

Mission Bay’s wetlands supply habitat for hundreds of local wildlife species and protect San Diego from climate change impacts such as flooding while improving area water quality.

Over the last several decades, science has confirmed that wetlands are critical to maintaining a balanced, oxygenated, diverse set of habitats, while the public has come to appreciate the value of wetlands as an aesthetic choice and “green infrastructure” that provides clean water, improved habitat, and climate resiliency.

Following the wetlands rally, Meyer of San Diego Audubon pointed out that a draft budget memo including early funding requests will go out at the end of September for next year’s City budget deliberations beginning in May.

“The ReWild Coalition is strongly encouraging the City to prioritize wetlands funding in next year’s budget,” said Meyer adding, “The City is moving in the right direction.”

The ReWild project would ultimately have to be approved by both the City Council and the California Coastal Commission.

ReWild Mission Bay

Is a project of San Diego Audubon and its ReWild Coalition partners to enhance and restore the natural wetlands in the northeast corner of Mission Bay for cleaner water, greater climate resiliency, carbon sequestration, and improved access to public space, including for Native Americans, along San Diego’s shared bayfront.

Mission Bay is the largest man-made aquatic recreational area in the United States with:

• More than 15 million visitors enjoy Mission Bay every year;
• Mission Bay comprises 4,600 acres of water outlined by 27 miles of shoreline;
• At least 144 bird species and 56 plant species call Mission Bay home.

Wetlands is a catchall term for habitats that are at least periodically saturated with salt, fresh, or brackish water. In San Diego, this can include open water, bays, mud flats, eelgrass, salt marsh, transition/upland habitats, and rivers. Wetlands are a natural component of Southern California bays and waterways, but over time, almost all native wetlands have been lost to development.