DeAnza plan – current uses

San Diego is planning a huge investment to restore wetlands in De Anza Cove, work that may occur right over the Mission Bay golf course.

So why is the city spending money on electrical and irrigation upgrades to the course when its acreage may change?

The restoration work being planned is part of the 166-acre De Anza revitalization plan, for which a few alternatives are proposed - and environmentalists are worried the popular golf course won't be as temporary as they had hoped.

Currently, the course, one of five operated by the city's golf division, is one of the biggest land uses in the northeastern corner of the park, and critics say it's a relic. A water hog, taking up land that could be used for wildlife, carbon capture and meeting the challenge of sea rise.

In a unanimous vote last week, the active transportation committee approved a budget revision that funds the $1,040,000 improvements from the golf enterprise fund, as well as $285,084 to demolish the clubhouse and construct two portable buildings for golf operations and food service.

The irrigation and electrical upgrades are scheduled to start on February 7, 2022, last 16 months, and cost a total of $5,500,000.

Golfers have lobbied to keep the 18-hole, 2700-yard public golf course intact, which now takes up about a quarter of the planning area. Under one alternative, it would be reduced by 30 percent.

But the future of the whole area is still being decided.

"The committee would save the public a lot of money by not investing in the current land uses until the long-term land use plan is approved," said Andrew Meyer, conservation director at the San Diego Audubon Society and campaign director for ReWild Mission Bay.

While the De Anza project is being led by the city, the ReWild project is conducted by the San Diego Audubon Society to restore wetlands along Pacific Beach Drive and both sides of Rose Creek.

The city's plans for De Anza Cove, which is part of the 4,039-acre Mission Bay regional park, aim for a mix of public recreation, camping, wetlands, and other active park uses that will bring in revenue from leaseholds.

According to the Golf Committee, in fiscal year 2020, the course contributed rent payments of $295,000 to the General Fund, an amount that would be reduced in proportion to a reduction of its acreage.

Meyer says the parkland has greater value as natural habitat for flood protection, to sustain the area's threatened and endangered species, and to improve access for all San Diegans.

Sierra Club San Diego has criticized the funding of the golf course, saying the use of potable water for turf is reason enough to halt the sizable expenditures.

Andy Field, director of parks and recreation, said they recognize that one of the alternatives may well call for wetlands to be placed on top of the golf course, or offer other recreational experiences in its place.

The planning department intends to come back at some point in 2022 with a public process to identify the best future for the area, he said.

"But before that happens, we want to be sure the golf course that is occupying the space currently is in its utmost and best condition."

The improvements "will eventually pay for themselves, as they're going to be saving electricity and water over the years ahead."