Killing Baja on Surfline/S. Dedina

SURFLINE.COM

KILLING BAJA

Five reasons the Baja we know and love will be gone in a decade -- and what
you can do to save it

http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/article.cfm?id=2613

Summertime's coming and just about everyone who lives for the long point
waves of Baja believes in the Pristine Myth -- the conviction that Baja will
be empty, desolate and wild -- forever. This delusion is at erroneous at
best and dangerous at worst. The Baja California that drives us to live for
that frenzied first round-the-bend glimpse of a pumping swell at a "secret"
point we've surfed for the past quarter century is going fast and could
disappear in ten years.

Here are five reasons why the Baja you love, the Baja you dream of, the
Baja that makes you feel like a primeval surf explorer will no longer exist
in a decade -- unless you take action to save it:

Energy Development. In the past four years some of the world's biggest
energy companies -- Sempra, Shell, Chevron-Texaco, and Marathon Oil -- have
either built or proposed the construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
terminals along Baja's Pacific coast. Sempra-Shell is already halfway
through a terminal that destroyed famed Harry's. Next on the list of doomed
sites -- the Coronado Islands where Chevron-Texaco plans a massive facility,
and Cabo Colonet, where a LNG terminal would also be housed to a major new
port and industrial complex (see below).

Port Construction. The Port of Ensenada is planning a five billion dollar
massive industrial, LNG and urban complex on one of the last pristine
stretches of coastline between Ensenada and San Quintin at Cabo Colonet.
This new port will be larger than the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles
combined. The city associated with the Port will eventually rival Ensenada
and will envelop every surf spot around Cuatros.

Marinas and Mega-Resorts. In 2003, John McCarthy, Mexico’s Chief of Tourism
Development (FONATUR), announced plans to roll back a plan to build marinas
at six point breaks on Baja's Pacific coast including Scorpion Bay and Punta
Abreojos. Unfortunately, FONATUR recently announced plans for new marinas at
Punta Abreojos and La Bocana. These projects are planned despite the fact
that a similar marina at Santa Rosalillita is filed in with sand and will
forever sit idle. Major resorts and marinas are also now on deck in Bahia de
los Angeles, San Jose del Cabo, and Loreto.

The Baja Land Race. With the detonation of the second home market in Baja
and the availability of once previously locked off coastal property (due to
previous inability of ejidos or collective agrarian cooperatives to sell
land), the race is on to buy up and develop every speck of coastal Baja.
Even though under Mexican law coastal access is a right, after all of this
development occurs, entry to the coast for visiting surfers and local
rippers will become almost impossible.

Coastal Pollution. Runoff from the Tijuana River has made Imperial Beach,
Coronado some the most polluted surf breaks in California. Just north of
Baja Malibu, a creek at San Antonio delivers about 12 million gallons of
sewage to the coast every day, 365 days a year. Development around San
Miguel sends sewage right into the lineup after it rains. Cabo Pulmo the
northernmost coral reef in North America, located in the heart of the East
Cape, is severely threatened by septic tank related pollution. Expect new
coastal development to pollute your favorite wave in Baja.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Protect the Coast. You can protect the coastal property you own or plan to
buy in Baja through a conservation easement -- a dedicated legally valid
document that prohibits your land from ever being developed into a
mega-resort even after you sell it. Email Saul Alarcon at saul@wildcoast.net
to learn more on how to protect your beachfront property in Baja and get a
tax break in the process.

Save San Ignacio Lagoon. WiLDCOAST, Pronatura, NRDC, and the International
Community Foundation, recently protected 140,000-acres along the shoreline
of San Ignacio Lagoon (midway between Abreojos and Scorpion Bay), in a
project that also plans to conserve Punta Abreojos and the coast north of
Scorpion Bay. You can help save one of Baja's great wilderness surfbreak
areas for ten dollars an acre. Go to savethegraywhale.com and donate now.

Save Punta Abreojos. WiLDCOAST and the Natural Resources Defense Council
have joined the Environmental Law Center of Mexico and the Group of 100 in
challenging an inadequate environmental impact assessment for the newly
planned Punta Abreojos marina, but we need your help. Please email the
following Mexican government officials and let them know (respectfully) that
you are opposed to building the FONATUR marina at Punta Abreojos that will
destroy one of Baja’s most treasured waves and coastal ecosystems: Biólogo
Juan Ricardo Juárez Palacios, Dirección General de Impacto y Riesgo
Ambiental (here) and Ing. José Luis Luege Tamargo, Secretaría de Medio
Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (here). Please cc all emails to
saul@wildcoast.net

Leave No Trace. Pack it in and pack it out. There are no suitable landfills
anywhere in Baja at all. The accumulation of plastic from cities and from
surf spots is a major source of ocean pollution. Every surfer who visits
Baja can make a difference just by packing out trash. Go to www.lnt.org and
learn about how to save your favorite Baja break from being overrun with
garbage.

Clean up the Tijuana River. WiLDCOAST and our community partners on both
sides of the border have launched an effort to clean up the Tijuana River
(yes it can be done) and reduce beach closures in Playas de Tijuana,
Imperial Beach and Coronado. Email Benjamin@wildcoast.net to have your surf
club or business endorse our Clean Water Action Plan.

Party at the Waterman's Weekend. For the Surf Industry, the annual social
calendar is capped by this summertime gala that provides a serious source of
funding for organizations working to save Baja's surf breaks. This year the
event takes place on August 4th and 5th at the St. Regis Monarch Beach
Resort and Spa in Dana Point. Go to www.sima.com and buy your tickets now.

So get a reality check. Get active. Just don't pretend that the spot south
of the border you live for with its once endless supply of crystal clean
water and righteous wave is going to wait for you forever. --Serge Dedina

If you care about our surf spots, sign up for Surfline's new EnviroAlert
Email List. We'll keep you informed about when a spot's in danger -- and
what you can do to help save it.

About the author:
The Executive Director of WiLDCOAST, Serge Dedina grew up a couple of miles
from the U.S-Mexico border fence and took his first trip to Baja back in
1972. He can be located at sdedina@wildcoast.net or surfing his home break
of Imperial Beach -- when it's not polluted.