Board of Supervisors moves forward with environmental review for Carmel Lagoon Project
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to approve the environmental review for the Carmel Lagoon Project, that’s designed to help prevent flooding in the area.
During the meeting Tuesday, the county staff went over the changes made to the environmental review, a document they’ve been drafting since 2016. The county worked with contractors, a technical advising committee and stakeholders to make changes and updates.
The goal of the Carmel Lagoon Project is to reduce the necessity for mechanical breaching of the sandbar, maintain the current level of flood protection for public facilities and private structures north of the lagoon, protect the scenic route and to minimize infrastructure that could affect the natural wildlife and habitats in the area.
Currently, the county breaches the beach each year before the rainy season. The process involves draining water out of the lagoon and has been mostly successful in addition to garnering support from homeowners. However, public works and officials with the Monterey Resource Management Agency say it’s not a long-term solution.
Breaching the beach also affects the steelhead population and violates the California Coastal Act. The county currently breaches the beach using an emergency permit.
Originally, the board was looking to create a flood wall, or an Ecosystem Protective Barrier that would stretch from Mission Ranch, around the lagoon and to the parking lot at Carmel River State Beach. However that proposal received a lot of push back from homeowners and didn’t garner support from the Coastal Commission or State Parks Department.
Instead, the county proposed that a scenic route protective structure be built at mid-slope to help with the issue of blocking views, continue sandbar management or and look towards a home elevation program to ensure houses aren’t within flood range.
Annually, sandbar management costs public works about $160,000 a year from the general fund, though county staff say in the last couple of years that number has exceeded $200,000 and does not include staff’s time.
Creating a scenic route protective structure is expected to cost about $7.2 million, which is included in the Capital Improvement Program, but is currently unfunded.
County staff said the cost of home elevation program is unknown, but during the last estimate provided in 2015 the cost was about $213,000 per home, with the county looking at about 25 houses that need the elevation. Private homeowners will fund 25% of the project, and federal grant funds will make up the remaining 75%.
