The California Coastal Commission has approved a project to build a more than 3,000-foot-long buried seawall along the southern portion of Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

Headed by San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the project looks to protect a massive underground sewage tunnel and a nearby wastewater plant from beach erosion.

Anna Roche with SFPUC told the commission, without the seawall the tunnel could be severely damaged.

“As you can see from these two photos it’s large enough to drive a truck through,” Roche said. “If this tunnel were to fail it would result in a major emergency for this side of San Francisco. Failure would mean hundreds of thousands of gallons of combined storm water and sewage spilling onto Ocean Beach and hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans unable to flush their toilets.”

Not everyone is convinced a seawall is the right solution to protecting this infrastructure.

Nina Atkind is with the Surfrider Foundation, an organization that works to protect coastlines. The group said the seawall is only a temporary fix.

As sea levels rise, they said the city will be forced to eventually relocate the wastewater infrastructure. The group argues that the city should look to do that now rather than later.

They also said a sea wall adds to beach erosion by pushing waves back out onto the beach.

“We feel like we’re going to lose this beach. South Ocean Beach is such a special place and most of California, 75% of California’s beaches by 2100 are going to be eroded. So, it’s a huge issue and the more sea walls that get permitted, the more sea walls are going to get permitted in the future,” said Atkind.

In the end, many of the commissioners echoed those same concerns with the sea wall solution but also said the alternative of simply moving the infrastructure would cost even more money… and wouldn’t be completed in time to protect the tunnel from damage.

 “I just don’t think it’s responsible of us to deny this permit given the implications of what could happen. I would encourage the city to keep looking at new technology, to look at new ways. I know this may be falling on deaf ears but technology is changing constantly and if any of this could be done away with, so be it,” said a California Coastal Commissioner.

The San Francisco Giants have been viewed as a suitor for Willy Adames over the past few months. On paper, the right-handed hitting shortstop would be an excellent fit for the Giants. But it won’t be easy to land him.

The expectation around Major League Baseball is that the 29-year-old will get a long-term deal that could exceed $150 million. 

It’d be a fair price for Adames, but there’s more to it than just his potential contract. The issue with the star is that many contending teams are expected to be interested in signing him. Among those squads are the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers have been viewed as the biggest threat to San Francisco, which isn’t good. If there’s one thing that’s been true around Major League Baseball over the past decade, it’s that Los Angeles is willing to spend with the best of them.

If Adames is someone the Dodgers believe could help them win back-to-back World Series, there’s a chance that’s where he ends up. 

Unfortunately for San Francisco, it isn’t just Los Angeles. Other high-payroll teams are in the mix. Jeff Passan of ESPN had the latest on Adames’ free agency:

The 29-year-old is coming off a 32-homer season with the Brewers and has hit the second-most home runs in the past six seasons among shortstops, behind only Lindor. Though he makes all kinds of sense for the Giants, Adames’ willingness to play third base ties him to the Mets and Yankees, too. The Dodgers will be in the mix as well. Adames should cash in, though any reports of contracts already offered are incorrect.

The Giants would rather those three teams not pursue Adames. However, their big pockets haven’t always been San Francisco’s biggest issue. While the three clubs have always spent with the best of them, the Giants haven’t been afraid to offer big contracts, either.

The problem may be that Adames might want to play in a hitter-friendly ballpark. For a guy who wants to produce at the highest level, he might want his numbers to be comparable to some of the top shortstops in Major League Baseball.

Not that he wouldn’t be able to do that in San Francisco, but his power might play better elsewhere.

These are all factors the Giants will have to keep in mind if they pursue Adames.

Even San Francisco, a liberal bastion and conservative punching bag, has found itself caught up in the nation’s rightward shift.

More than 15% of the city’s voters cast their ballot for Donald Trump in last week’s election, compared with 9.3% when he first ran in 2016, according to data from the California Secretary of State. It was the highest share for a Republican presidential candidate in San Francisco in 20 years.