Sea Level Rise

According to the latest projections, sea level in the Humboldt Bay area will rise 1 foot by 2030, 2 feet by 2050, and 3 feet by 2060. The primary impacts from sea level rise are increases in flooding and erosion. Sea level rise will expand the area vulnerable to flooding during major storms, as well as in the rare but catastrophic event of a major tsunami.

The term 100-year flood is used as a standard for planning, insurance, and environmental analysis. People, infrastructure, and property are already located in areas vulnerable to flooding from a 100-year event. Sea level rise will cause more frequent—and more damaging—floods to those already at risk and will increase the size of the coastal floodplain, placing new areas at risk to flooding.

Biggest tides of the year set to hit California

12/12/12

If you head down the beach this week, or wander along the edges of San Francisco Bay, you may just be witnessing California's future.

The ocean is getting closer.

East coast flooding: Wake up call for Humboldt County

11/28/12

This year America watched sea levels rise and the ocean flood cities across the east coast in late October. Humboldt County faces a similar threat.

Mid-November to early December is when flood risk is the highest. A storm during the high tides of that time can overtake the dikes around Humboldt Bay, flood the area and cost the county millions of dollars to recover.

Supervisors back study of rising sea; Bay infrastructure threatened

10/10/12

The county is looking at ways to protect coastal communities on Humboldt Bay threatened by rising sea levels and aging dikes. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to support a recent application for a $250,000 Coastal Conservancy grant that would allow nonprofit Coastal Ecosystems Institute of Northern California to adapt planning and technical studies associated with sea level rise in Humboldt Bay.

Aldaron Laird of Trinity Associates said at Tuesday’s meeting that the first phase of the project — the first comprehensive mapping of Humboldt Bay, funded by the Coastal Conservancy — was complete. Seventy-five percent of Humboldt Bay’s 102 mile shoreline is artificial, Laird said, meaning it needs maintenance.

Laird said Humboldt Bay has the highest rate of sea level rise on the West Coast and showed examples of crumbling dikes and shoreline areas that already flood yearly.

Harbor district Director of Conservation Division Dan Berman said it was an important issue for the district, adding that even if sea level rise goes more slowly than expected, it’s already a problem on the bay.

Rising Seas Pose Risks Around Humboldt Bay

Thousands of acres of former tidal wetlands currently at or below sea level around Humboldt Bay—including most of Manila, Samoa, Fairhaven, some residential and commercial areas of Eureka and Arcata, and many agricultural lands near the bay—are at risk of increased flooding in the coming years. 

California faces more serious risk of sea level rise than other areas

6/22/12

As the world continues to warm from climate change, most of California -- including San Francisco Bay -- will see a greater rise in sea level than other parts of the planet, according to a prominent national study released Friday.

The report, from the National Academy of Sciences, found that the impacts of melting ice and warming, expanding oceans will hit California harder because most of the state's coastline is slowly sinking due to geological forces.

Ocean levels south of Humboldt County will rise up to 1 foot in the next 20 years, 2 feet by 2050, and up to 5 feet by 2100, the study showed.