Checking the local levees

On Friday night we had quite a bit of rain, so on Saturday I went out to look at the levees. Our house is about one third of a mile from the San Francisco Bay and almost as close to the local creek emptying into the bay.

In some places, the creek was within 3 feet of the top of the levee. We managed to avoid all but the most minor local flooding in this part of the Bay region, but even a slightly-wetter storm 60 years from now would likely have a different outcome because of global warming and elevated sea level. Rain induced river flooding can top levees when the rivers near the ocean, and will do so if the oceans are higher because of global warming.

Whoever owns our house a generation or two in the future is going to have to be ready.

UPDATE: I had written "the same storm 60 years from now would likely have a different outcome", but that's a little stronger than justified from a projected 9-90cm sea level rise.