Lori Saldaña: ‘I Have Questions About City’s Approval of SeaWorld’s Masterplan and Sea Level Rise’

By Lori Saldaña

On October 13 the San Diego city council voted to approve the Seaworld master plan and expansion update on Mission Bay, across the river from the Sports Arena/ Midway region. This includes plans for a hotel and below-grade parking

To the Park’s credit, they did an excellent Sea Level Rise (SLR) assessment and vulnerability analysis- but it’s already nearly 7 years old.

Also- the park is counting on the city to maintain adequate access roads as sea level rises around Mission Bay:

“Based on the information above, a SLR of 3.3 feet has been identified as the threshold for exposure in Planning Area 2 (Guest Parking). In order to maintain uninterrupted access to SeaWorld facilities, adaptation measures outside of the leasehold would be required. As impacts to public infrastructure (i.e., roads) are anticipated, it is likely that before SLR has reached 3.3 feet, adaptation measures that look to address inundation of the public roads will have already been implemented by the City.” [emphasis added] From here

The Council approved this plan – and if they had read this SLR analysis, they did so with the understanding the city will be taking “adaptation measures” to maintain “uninterrupted access to SeaWorld facilities.”

Does the city have an adaptation plan and money for maintaining these access roads? SeaWorld Drive is already showing signs of SLR stress. It’s in very rough shape. Groundwater pressure is already creating problems in this area. It has lifted up the road and stressed the asphalt and road bed on Sea World Dr.

Pumping out groundwater nearby – as done near Morena Blvd, while building a pump station for the PureWater project along the San Diego River – may also destabilize the nearby roads.

This is likely what happened when a sinkhole opened on Morena Boulevard in January, just over the I5 bridge, a mile east of the park and near Seaworld Drive (indicated with a red star in the map above)

I’ve suggested to Councilmember Raul Campillo that before they do a final reading of that agreement, they might want to ask for an assessment of the roads leading into the park.

If SeaWorld can’t expand as desired, and/or loses revenue due to road access issues, because the city’s infrastructure isn’t keeping up with their activities and/or expansion plans, Sea World could withhold lease payments as they did during COVID, triggering years of litigation and millions of lost revenues for the city’s park budget.

This is what the Council approved:

“Proposed Actions:

“The proposed project is to approve the 2020 SeaWorld Master Plan Update for future site enhancements with expansion opportunities across all five planning areas within the park, such as updated attractions, improved visitor facilities, and long-range conceptual projects. The 189.4-acre site is located at 500 Sea World Drive in the RS-1-7 zone and the Coastal Overlay Zone (State Jurisdiction) in the Mission Bay Park Master Plan area (2020 SeaWorld Master Plan Update).”

(R-2027-7)