Marin City to receive up to $10M in federal flood aid

Marin City is among a dozen economically disadvantaged communities across the nation selected to receive up to $10 million in assistance from the federal government to complete small public works projects.

The 12 projects were selected from 192 proposals submitted to address a range of water resources issues such as aquatic ecosystem restoration, commercial navigation and flood risk management.

The $120 million in projects is being funded with money from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.

Marin City’s successful proposal was submitted by the Marin City Community Services District in collaboration with the nonprofit Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice.

“We need your support to address the persistent flooding and environmental health disparities that have plagued Marin City, California, for far too long,” Juanita Edwards, the district’s general manager, said in the application letter.

The 12 projects were selected by experts from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Matt Rabe, a spokesperson for the assistant secretary’s office, said the decision was also influenced by recommendations by members of Congress and other governmental representatives of communities applying for assistance. Rep. Jared Huffman, a San Rafael Democrat, and Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters both submitted letters of support for the district’s application.

In her letter, Moulton-Peters referenced the community’s establishment during World War II as shipyard workers moved to the area from other parts of the country. She noted that because of housing discrimination, 73% of the community’s residents were African American by 1950.

“The community qualifies for reparations,” Moulton-Peters wrote, “and should be given high priority due to the historic institutional racism the residents have suffered for many generations.”

Huffman said, “I personally engaged not only with the Army Corps locally, but all the way up the chain with the assistant secretary of public works. I think this is a potential breakthrough.”

In her letter, Edwards said that the district and Marin City Climate Resilience and Health Justice are seeking the assistance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “in conducting hydraulic and hydrologic modeling of the Marin City watershed.”

“The study is the essential first step towards planning a project that will reduce flood hazards, mitigate environmental health risks, and respond to climate change,” Edwards said.

The Marin County Public Works Department is already using millions of dollars in state money to address flooding in Marin City.

In 2022, Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Sonoma County whose district includes Marin, secured $10 million in state funds to address flooding in Marin City as part of an amendment to the state budget.

The Marin County Public Works Department plans to use $2.5 million of that funding to purchase two portable pumps and install 1,400 feet of pipes to transport rainwater more quickly to Marin City Pond, a 3-acre detention basin next to the Gateway Shopping Center.

The Marin City watershed is a relatively steep and bowl-shaped area encircled by a ridge. Water flows downhill through residential areas into a series of storm drains that feed into Marin City Pond.

Because Marin City is near Richardson Bay, the chance of flooding increases during high tides. When tides rise, it becomes more difficult to move water from Marin City Pond into the bay via a culvert that passes under Highway 101. A gate that connects the pond to the bay has to be lowered during high tides to prevent water from the bay from flowing into the pond.

The portable pumps are only an interim solution. The public works department has secured $884,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create plans for a permanent, more powerful pump station at the pond, a floodwall and storm drain upgrades.

The Transportation Authority of Marin, which was named as the agency to administer and distribute the state’s $10 million, has allocated $400,000 to the permanent pump station project, $750,000 for the construction of a permanent floodwall, and $3 million for the removal of sediment from the Marin City Pond.

Rosemarie Gaglione, the county’s public works director, has said she will apply for a $12 million grant from FEMA to cover the cost of building the permanent pump station. Gaglione said Marin City’s selection for federal assistance won’t deter the public works staff from moving forward.

“We will continue with our plans to apply for a FEMA grant for construction of the permanent pump station. We believe that this is a good project that will provide much needed relief,” Gaglione said in an email. “We have no way of knowing at this time whether the Army Corps will come up with a different solution or how long it might take to implement a new solution.”

Gaglione said her department will cooperate with and share any relevant materials and data with the Army Corps.

Tommy Williams, an engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District, said the process will begin with the Army Corps working with the Marin City district to clearly define the problem and formulate a list of possible solutions.

“After which the planners and the engineers roll up their sleeves and go to work on fleshing out the alternatives and coming to a tentatively selected plan,” Williams said. “That could span a year, a year and a half, or even up to three or four years.”

Marin County Flood Control District 3 is already creating a new stormwater plan for Marin City. The San Francisco engineering firm Schaaf & Wheeler is being paid $784,000 to develop the plan, with more than $312,000 earmarked for community outreach. It comes on the heels of $400,000 spent by the county on studies of the Marin City watershed in 2017.