Fastest Sea Level Rise on west coast happening on Samoa Peninsula!

Students from Humboldt States Environmental Science Department did a presentation on Sea Level rise at the Samoa Peninsula Fire Hall on Saturday December 9th in Fairhaven. They used best available science to come to their conclusions. Between Global warming and the affects of our local subduction-zone issues, the Samoa Peninsula water table is rising 4.73 milliliters a year or for you old timers like me, .186 inches a year. That is the fastest sea level rise rate on the entire west coast! This will cause havoc to ground water tables and lead to septic tank failures that are imminent in Fairhaven and will cause pollution to our bay.

Currently there are 181 parcels in the town of Fairhaven and 63 homes. There are 180 residents living at about 10 ft above sea level. The Wiyot tribe used to occupy this area until the property was bought by George Fay in 1875. The unincorporated town was formerly named Rolph after California Governor James Rolph.  The town had more than 500 timber industry jobs in its past doing plywood and pulp production. There are currently about 100 jobs providing newsprint, soil and other niche businesses.

A newly formed Community Service District for the Peninsula will provide water services, delivery of power, Sewage service and a Parks and Recreation department. Currently the Samoa Peninsula Fire District is looking for financing a creation of a emergency tsunami evacuation Berm in Fairhaven for the safety of the residents and the current workers.

Solutions to issues to shoreline loss could be soil replenishment through dredge spoils if the correct sand grain size matches up with the current habitat. This would have to be a long term goal as permitting and actual dredging seems onerous all around the bay. Other thoughts are retreating and letting nature take the lead. Nourish replenishment included with new sand to form a living shoreline was brought up, as well as wooden fences designs to capture sand during wind storm events. HSU is also hoping to do more studies for solutions in the future.

Hope you found this information useful.