Tiburon approves contract for sea level rise adaption plan

As all-too-familiar floodwaters receded after the storm on Wednesday, the Tiburon Town Council took a significant step in creating a sea level rise vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan.

“It’s absolutely essential that we create a good plan on how to prevent flooding and other things with sea level rise,” Mayor Holli Thier said.

The town will move forward with a $593,877 contract with the engineering advisory firm Moffat and Nichols to complete the sea level rise plan. The project is entirely funded by the California Ocean Protection Council, which awarded Tiburon a grant in June to create the plan.

The plan is projected to focus on four areas: the entrance to downtown Tiburon, downtown itself, Blackie’s Pasture and the Greenwood Cove area. Each of these areas experience consistent flooding or are at high risk for sea level rise.

“These are areas we really want to focus on in this planning process and think about how we can support not only just prevention of flooding and protection of our assets, but also community members,” said Grace Ledwith, the town’s climate official.

In 2023, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 272, which requires municipalities in a coastal zone to create sea level rise plans by 2034. Local governments can apply to the SB 1 Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan Grant Program to seek funding for their plans.

Greg Chanis, the town manager, said it is in a unique position to start this process because so much prior sea level rise assessment work had already been conducted in Marin.

“The majority of the data is already there,” he said.

Moffat and Nichols will look into studies and condense the information for the plan. While much of the data are present, Ledwith said this will be the first time an assessment like this will focus on the specific needs and concerns of Tiburon.

Once the initial data review is complete, project managers will develop the vulnerability assessment, create the adaptation plan and select adaptation strategies. The plan is estimated to be ready for full review by 2027.

“Because of Tiburon’s unique location and geography, understanding the vulnerability presented by sea level rise are critical,” Chanis said. “Understanding the vulnerabilities presented by sea level rise but also the potential actions the town could take are equally important.”