A few months ago, while we were in the midst of demanding fair treatment of a landward alternative for PUC's pump station upgrade, a new Ca state sea level rise guidance document was released. Written for state and local planning agencies, the new guidance document contains a major revision of sea level rise projections for the entire state.
The new numbers are shocking.
Sea level rise planning for our project at Sloat has been using a worst case scenario of five and one half feet of sea level rise by the year 2100. This was the worst case scenario projection which was endorsed by the Ca Coastal Commission.
Now, the state has revised the worst case sea level rise projection for 2100. The upper end projection is now 10 feet!
Needless to say, this has major implications for our campaign work at both Sloat and Pacifica.
The state is asking all public agencies, at a minimum, to develop contingency plans for the new worst case scenario of 10' of sea level rise by 2100. This includes projects (such as ours) that are in already in planning. According to the Ca Ocean Protection Council, "adaptation pathways" or contingency plans for ten feet of sea level rise should be included in all projects that could be affected by the rising ocean. These new projections mean serious changes may need to be made both to the new Westside Pump station project and the long-term managed retreat and infrastructure protection plan for Sloat. Without a doubt, we will continue to track this issue.
