Mission Bay Park is one of San Diego’s greatest treasures. As the largest human-made aquatic park in the country, it is a nationally renowned recreational destination where generations of San Diegans and visitors seek time outdoors. It remains one of the most accessible and inclusive coastal recreation areas in California, and its ongoing success hinges on careful decision-making.
Right now, the city of San Diego is planning the future of Northeast Mission Bay under its De Anza Natural plan. Every year, millions gather in this corner of the Bay to camp, boat, bike and enjoy the kind of public waterfront that’s becoming harder to find statewide.
As the City Council finalizes its fiscal year 2026 budget, San Diegans deserve to know that funds set aside in the Mission Bay Park Improvement Fund will be used wisely.
This limited funding is critical to maintaining the park and its facilities, especially amid ongoing cuts to our citywide parks system, and long-term proposals for the park’s future must be carefully studied before they are funded — so decisions are backed by science, not speculation.
That is why it is concerning to see an advocacy effort emerge last month to redirect limited dollars toward the city’s conceptual proposal for Northeast Mission Bay, which hasn’t been fully studied.
Viability concerns have already been raised by the California Coastal Commission, which recently urged the city to conduct a full hydrology and water quality study before moving forward with its plan. This is a prudent approach. Why should the city — and the Coastal Commission — approve a conceptual plan before completing the studies needed to justify it, let alone the hundreds of millions required for implementation?
Specifically, the city’s current plan includes potentially carving a channel out of the existing landform at De Anza to connect its waters to Rose Creek. ers may argue this will improve tidal flow and benefit future wetlands, but there’s no scientific proof.
In fact, Rose Creek already carries high levels of pollution into our Bay, leading to occasional public beach closures. If this pollution is directed straight into the new public beach envisioned under the city’s plan, we may put the public’s health at risk. We also haven’t studied how sediment build-up or stagnant water might harm the environment.
Before we start cutting checks we can’t cash, let’s get the science down.
As someone involved in Mission Bay Park planning for years — both as a resident and through my role on the Mission Beach Town Council — I’ve seen how fragile the Bay is when change isn’t thought through. We can’t afford to remove infrastructure or spend millions on something that may not even be viable, especially during a budget crisis.
That’s why the Mission Bay Park Improvement Fund should only fund what we know works: ing recreation, keeping waterways open, financing science-backed environmental projects and addressing basic park needs — like bathrooms and pedestrian paths used by the public every day.
These aren’t luxuries. They’re the foundation of what makes Mission Bay Park safe and accessible to millions.
It’s also important to that the Mission Bay Park Improvement Fund exists in part because of lease revenue from current tenants like Campland on the Bay and Mission Bay RV Resort. The city’s proposed plan will reduce existing campsites at both locations by up to 50%. Today, these campgrounds offer coastal access for residents and generate millions in reliable revenue for the city.
According to the State Coastal Conservancy, wetland projects of the scale envisioned by the city take 20 to 40 years on average to plan, fund and complete. That’s because these projects are complex and costly and must be studied extensively or we risk pouring hundreds of millions of public dollars into a boondoggle.
Before we spend precious public resources, we need independent scientific and economic studies.
Until then, we should stay focused on the basics: clean bathrooms, safe docks, accessible recreation and a Bay that works for everyone.
Gardner is the Mission Beach Town Council vice president and a San Diego small business owner. He lives in Mission Beach.
