The Great Coastal Debate: Deciding the Next 30 Years of Santa Cruz’s Shores with Tiffany Wise-West

Santa Cruz city planners are moving fast, but the Pacific Ocean is moving faster. This week, Tiffany Wise-West, the Sustainability and Resiliency Officer for the City of Santa Cruz, dives deep into the ambitious 30-year roadmap to preserve our iconic coastline. She explains how different combinations of coastal adaptations from nature-inspired tech like “living” sand dunes, harder armoring and maybe even offshore artificial reefs might be utilized to combat rising sea levels as they bring in massive wave energy and swallow our shores. We also explore the possible future of "managed retreat"—the difficult conversation about relocating infrastructure before it falls into the sea. Even with the city attempting to proactively manage our coastline, is a 30-year plan enough to save West Cliff, or is time slipping away too quickly?City of Santa Cruz Shoreline Adaptation Blueprints👉 https://www.santacruzca.gov/Government/Climate-Initiatives/Resiliency/Resilient-Coast-Santa-Cruz/Shoreline-Adaptation-Blueprints 00:00 - Introduction to Coastal Resilience Planning01:04 - The Role of Tiffany Wise-West as a Sustainability and Resiliency Officer03:11 - Understanding the 30-Year Plan06:29 - Community Engagement and Policy Development14:06 - Nature-Based Solutions and Infrastructure17:10 - Challenges in Coastal Management22:08 - The Importance of Triggers and Thresholds43:21 - Future Vision and Community Support