The Advisory Board of Marin County’s Zone 3 Flood Control District, meeting after the king tide flooding early in January, advised flood control staff to go back to the drawing board for the District’s project to pump flood water from Marin City into the Bay and to study ways to move the pumped water away from Gate 6 ½ Dock and Gate 6 ½ Road.
Residents of Gate 6/12 Dock have urged the Zone 3 Flood Control District at recent quarterly public meetings to move the outlet away from the pier because increasing drainage flows would negatively affect the bay bottom below their homes.
Flood Control Zone 3, a division of the County Department of Public Works, draws on real estate taxes paid by homes and businesses in the district. Zone 3 includes Mill Valley, Tam Junction, Tam Valley and Marin City but not any of the floating home marinas or County roads north of the Sausalito city boundary which runs through Waldo Point Harbor. Flood control projects in Zone 3 are backed by County funds drawn from real estate taxes paid by residents and businesses in the District. However, Gate 6 Road and the parking lots at Kappas and Yellow Ferry Marinas that flood to a damaging depth during every king tide are not in the Zone 3 Flood Control District.
On January 13, floating home owners from Kappas Marina asked the District’s Advisory Board to bring the shoreline north of Sausalito into the flood control district and to study means to warn residents when king tides are forecast. Speakers described the damage caused by the tidal floods of January 2-4, emphasizing that the County’s Gate 6 Road carries electricity, water, sewage, gas and other utilities to over 100 floating homes. They added that all the affected floating homes and the houseboat marinas provide a substantial real estate income to Marin County.
Save the Date: Feb. 7
In related news, the County is planning an information/listening meeting at the Bay Model Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. This will be a chance for residents of Sausalito and the unincorporated floating homes to meet with Jason Weber, the fire chief in charge of county fire departments and the Office of Emergency Management. He was recently given the additional task of coordinating County plans to adapt to sea level rise, while Marin looks for a permanent coordinator.