SF and major coastal cities 'sinking' amid rising sea levels, report says

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Rising sea levels could affect part of the West Coast including the Bay Area.

That could mean serious flooding in the next few decades.

A new report out Wednesday in the journal "Nature" says climate change is to blame.

San Francisco is one of several local cities sinking into the ground, according to new research.

And that, mixed with rising sea levels, could make flooding even worse in the coming decades.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a draft plan for a proposed $13 billion project that would elevate the Embarcadero.

The new information comes from a paper that studied subsidence - or sinking - in 32 coastal cities including San Francisco, South San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Foster City and Santa Cruz.

"Subsidence is part of the problem. But what's unique to us is a triple whammy of sea level rise, rising ground water, and low land flooding from more extreme storms," said Warner Chabot is with the San Francisco Estuary Institute. It's an environmental science research institute focused on the Bay and the Delta.

"The Bay Area is ground zero for climate change and sea level rise. We are literally 8 million people living in a bathtub," said Chabot.

The report says it's too late for mitigation efforts so we need to adapt.

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Efforts are already underway to control flooding in the future.

Foster City is improving its levees.

And in San Francisco, there's a plan to elevate the Ferry Building and most of the Embarcadero seven feet into the air. But that plan, introduced back in January, would need approval from Congress.

"Our future depends on taking action now. This is why the draft plan is so critical to protecting the city's sea wall from earthquake and flooding risks," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita (D) San Francisco back in January.

"It's going to be a very big price tag," said Chabot.

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Many coastal homes in Northern California are being threatened by erosion, which experts say has been accelerated by 2023's winter storms.

It's going to cost a lot to make all the suggested improvements across the Bay Area.

"The cost over the next 25 years to prevent lowland flooding by 2050 is $110 billion dollars of infrastructure improvements that we are going to have to make," said Chabot.

But not doing anything could be even more costly in the long run.

The estimated price tag?

About $230 billion dollars in estimated damages and repairs that would have to be done.

"There's a tremendous amount of planning being done at the city, county, regional level right now. And, there will be an intensive amount of repairs over the next couple of years," said Chabot.

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