Bringing Community and Nature Together Through the Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve and Wetland Restoration in Mission Bay

The Finest City

On July 10, 2020, C3 Board Directors Tommy Hough and Kristen Victor spoke with Andrew Meyer about the future of the Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve and Wetland Restoration in Mission Bay. Andrew is the Executive Director of San Diego Audubon, and also the Campaign Director for ReWild Mission Bay. Andrew shares news about the campaign, and a hopeful opportunity for wilder and more accessible bayfront park coastal communities.

Timestamps:

[1:29] Andrew has been involved with ReWild since the moment he set foot in San Diego Audubon over a year ago. As a resident of the Kendall-Frost Marsh neighborhood, Kristen was really wanting to be involved in seeing nature be regenerated and a future planning of adaptation for climate change and sea level rise.

[4:06] The City of San Diego has just proposed an alternative to the regional Water Quality Control Board, and much to the team’s delight, this supplemental program will definitely have more wetland restoration than the existing alternative.

[6:09] Kristen has been instrumental in the ability to draw a map based upon the wildest of the three wetland restoration options. She shares how she brought it to fruition.

[8:45] C3 is a member of the ReWild Coalition, and has been leading the path on how this project connects to the rest of the community. They have taken the large wildest wetland restoration footprint and fit that into a thriving park to show how it can be a vibrant space with many amenities.

[10:38] The restoration will be beneficial to a number of diverse communities for many reasons, one being the improved equal access to the park. There will also be opportunities for low cost camping, providing a space that overlooks a beautiful sunset, marsh, and ocean.

[14:58] The City of San Diego is dealing with a lot of issues currently including a new trolley system and rezoning, so they need parks and places to interact with the public. Our thriving natural systems provide both psychological and economic benefits and give people a chance to connect with their family and communities outdoors.

[18:38] Kristen is a hardcore bicyclelist, and would be delighted to be immersed with natural wildlife on her ride through the marsh.

About C-3

In its 60 years of existence, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has brought together local thought leaders from planning, design, policy, academia, community development, and more to address our region’s distinctive and pressing land use challenges. In founding C-3 almost 60 years ago, architect Lloyd Ruocco’s vision was to bring together our region’s most creative minds from the arts, sciences, academia, and government to share ideas, learn new perspectives, and build fellowship around the idea of creating livable communities.

Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement:

C3sandiego.org

rewildmissionbay.org/

San Diego Audubon Society