Jetty Fix or Foul-Up?

For the past week and a half, work on the Mission Bay channel entrance has been under way. Visitors and locals have watched a 350-ton crane capacity derrick barge with two support tugs labor at placing loads of jetty rock along the southern jetty. So far, most of the work — funded by federal “stimulus” money — has been done inside the channel, from the beaches eastward.

Over the years, storms and tides have caused shifting of the rocks that make up the jetties. Another problematic issue is sand buildup inside the channel.

A main area of concern is the tip of the southern jetty. This area takes the brunt of the big winter swells that hit our coast. The southern tip was repaired in the recent past with an extension southward to help absorb wave energy and buttress the area with more rock. It appears now that this last repair has sloughed off, creating a rock strewn sandy area that is a hazard to navigation, especially at low tides. Breaking surf can be seen there almost always from the Ocean Beach side.

Surfers that frequent the jetties, either Mission Beach or Ocean Beach, are concerned about the effects the repairs will have on the surf breaks. Their concerns are that the swells could be blocked or refracted away and thus ruin the surfing in those areas.