Editorial: Marin officials need to take tidal flood damage seriously
It is going to take awhile for Marin to dry out from the latest round of king tides.
The tides reached historic highs, causing destructive flooding and closing roads, including Highway 101.
King tides are a regular occurrence. Often, they cause minor flooding – even on sunny days – of lower-lying areas close to marshland and sloughs.
The flooding we endured last week hit in the midst of a series of storms and at tidal intensities that came as a surprise to many.
If the storms had brought even more rain, it could have been worse.
In their wake, property owners are cleaning up and sorting out the damage.
It is also time for local governments to take stock of the damage. With the promise of global warming generating higher tides, last week’s flooding offers a sobering warning.
The flooding should provide a template of troublespots and a foundation for preventive measures. A full street-by-street countywide assessment of the flooding and damage would be a good start. Then it’s going to take strong leadership to turn that data into action.
Marin has a history of prolonged, unsettled debates over local flood control measures.
Then again, the need for action and improvements is clear.
The local troublespots for tidal flooding are well-known.
How many times does Highway 101 have to be closed at the Lucky Drive exit for the state to take action to solve the problem?
There was flooding in the Manzanita area in Mill Valley and in Marin City … again.
Both have been longtime ample targets for needing flood-control measures.
The Manzanita park-and-ride lot frequently floods and there’s been no effective solution.
In Marin City, residents’ complaints that the flooding traps and strands their neighborhood, has led to a boosting of flood pumps and more local and state action has been promised.
The tidal flooding once again put a focus on the fragility of the earthen levees that protect homes in Santa Venetia.
Reaching a strong consensus has been fleeting in coming up with preventive measures and who is going to pay for them.
It sounds as if Supervisor Mary Sackett is ready to push for long-term solutions – a goal that has eluded at least four of her predecessors, even after incidents of widespread flooding and millions of dollars lost in damage and lawsuits.
Local officials cannot standby and observe that they have never seen such bad tidal flooding of local neighborhoods.
Local leaders need to take stock and take action.
They need to take a hard look at the storm pump systems they have fueled and ready. Likely, many were overwhelmed by the strength of the king tides.
Would more pumps have helped?
As with any emergency, it is always helpful to assess the local response.
Did the county Office of Emergency Services and Marin municipalities do enough to warn local residents about possible widespread flooding? Were alerts issued regarding flooded areas and streets early enough to reach as many people as possible? How can we ensure flood damage doesn’t knock out 911 emergency service, as it did last Sunday night?
Fighting surging king tides is no easy task. Last week’s flooding is an example. Storm pumps helped, but in many cases they were no match when it came to preventing flooding.
Predictions that tides are going to gradually get higher should be taken seriously.
Longtime residents can recall the even greater flooding and damage caused when prolonged heavy rain coincided with higher tides.
Cleaning up in the wake of last week’s flooding is going to take time.
But it is also a moment to take stock of where flooding took place, if preventative improvements were effective and what needs to be and what can be done to bolster protection.
Will the flooding require new flood-control strategies?
At this point, that post-mortem shouldn’t require exhaustive and expensive engineering studies. But rather, a good start would be a first-look evaluation of what occurred, what worked, what didn’t and what – if anything – could have been done to provide greater protection.