A project to get lower-income Marin communities better prepared for sea level rise received a $30,000 grant for it efforts.
Shore Up Marin, a coalition formed in 2013, will get the cash from The San Francisco Foundation to help develop emergency preparedness councils in Marin City and the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael.
Marin City experiences chronic flooding, especially near the entry into the city. The Canal has been mostly dry since a major 1982 flood, but projections show the area is expected to experience extensive inundation with sea level rise. Both communities have only one way in and out, which could block emergency vehicles.
“Floods cut off Marin City and Southbound 101, which backed up traffic beyond the San Anselmo exit,” noted Shore Up Marin co-director Terrie Green of the flooding last December. “The physical barrier … put residents and commuters at risk.”
Last year Shore Up Marin trained 19 community members to identify areas of risk by using sea level rise mapping tools and walking tours that brought together planning, public works, watershed experts, and long-time community members to identify current and future flood-prone areas.
With new grant dollars community members will work with county and city staff and emergency preparedness organizations to make sure preparation and response plans are widely known in the community. An effort will be made for Spanish and Vietnamese language and other translations of emergency materials.
Sometime over the next century, huge shoreline swaths of Marin, including Hamilton Field, Highway 37, Highway 1 in West Marin and the Tamalpais Valley could be under water if global warming causes the bay and ocean to rise by a meter — more than 3 feet, according to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which monitors shoreline development.
That rise, along with sporadic storm surges, will likely send water inland and inundate coastal homes, schools and utilities,
“Low-lying neighborhoods like Marin City and the Canal district in San Rafael are particularly vulnerable to climate change,” said Francesca Vietor, program director for The San Francisco Foundation, which has now given a total of $90,000 to the Marin program. “The research shows that sea level rise, drought, and storm-related hazards will disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color.”