Point Arena Sea Level Rise Study Shows Increased Flooding

Louis White

In May, we provided an overview of Local Coastal Plans and the over 3 million in Coastal Commission grants awarded to Point Arena, Fort Bragg and Mendocino County to study the impacts of Sea Level Rise in the coastal zone. Point Arena received their grant funding of 100,000 dollars in August of 2022 to study Arena Cove. Last week at a Grass Roots Institute meeting, Louis White, an engineer hired by the city presented the findings of their vulnerability assessment.

White explained the goals of the draft study detailed sea level rise expectations from Ocean Pacific Council and State of California and showed where flooding and other damage is expected to occur.

Mendocino County received over 2 million in grants in April of 2023. They are still in the planning process but have issued requests for proposals for visual and archeological impacts, Highway 1 traffic impacts and groundwater impacts. The deadline for the proposals is late October.

The City of Fort Bragg which received $900,000 in grants released a communication engagement plan with the Noyo Harbor District which can be accessed at www.NoyoOceanCollective.org.

The entire presentation is available on the Grass Roots Institute's website. The Institute is also seeking volunteers to adopt a portion of the coast to monitor and document changes. For more information contact Peter McNamee through their website.