Senate Bill 272 requires all coastal counties to develop a plan to prepare for sea-level rise by Jan. 1, 2034.
Marin County will need to spend an estimated $17 billion on a defense plan for rising sea-levels, county officials reported this week. It’s the second-highest cost among Bay Area counties, behind Alameda. The need for the plan is a result of Senate Bill 272, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July, requiring all coastal counties to develop a plan to prepare for sea-level rise by Jan. 1, 2034.
Sea levels in the San Francisco Bay Area have risen by 8 inches since local tide records began being tracked in the mid-1850s, according to the Palo Alto Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment. In total, it will cost Bay Area counties $110 billion to protect themselves from the effects of about 4.9 feet of sea level rise through 2050, according to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). Alameda County’s estimated $22 billion plan is the highest of the nine Bay Area counties.
Marin County is susceptible to direct tidal, creek and storm flooding because of the low-lying shorelines in the area, with 70 miles of coast and 40 miles of bay shoreline. The BCDC forecasts about $5.5 billion in government revenue will be available to cover the costs, still only a portion of the money needed to go forward with such a project.
In July, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission along with the Association of Bay Area Governments and BCDC, published a sea level rise adaptation funding and investment framework report that implied filling the funding gap will require a mix of funding types and amounts. “There is no single ‘magic bullet’ that can fill a $105 billion gap. Parcel taxes and [sales] taxes may be feasible options at the regional or county level,” concluded the report.
Projects that would likely be part of a plan for Marin to prepare for sea-level rise include elevating Highway 37 to prevent routine flooding—estimated to cost $1.6 billion—and a project to restore Bel Marin Keys wetlands, projected at $115 million. Next steps for Marin County are meeting with consultants for county recommendations and submitting the request for proposals later in the fall.
