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Five reasons the Baja we know and love will be gone in a decade and what you can do to save it
by Serge Dedina
13/05/2006:// 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.
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.
[TJ Barron en-route to victory in Macy's E-Series Event #1 at Maili Point]
[Tassy Swallow]
[Toby Donachie]
The second of three events comprising the Macy's E-Series, presented by ASP Hawaii, will get underway as early as tomorrow at Ala Moana Bowls, surf pending
A Hundred groms from across the country congregated on Fistral Beach in Newquay to pit their wits and talents for the Moskito Surf Tour 2008 presented by Electric, Santa Cruz, Globe and FCS
St Merryn’s Toby Donachie fought one of the hardest contest battles of his career this weekend to ensure that he retained his title as the Quiksilver King of the Groms
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