This weekend, the California coast will see high tides about a foot-and-a-half above normal. These King Tides occur when the gravitational force of the moon and the sun are at their greatest, pulling our oceans to extreme levels.
In San Diego, high tides will rise higher than usual, and low tides will be even lower.
The impact on the Mission Bay environment, especially at high tide, will get the attention of a group of people coming out Saturday morning to observe the King Tides. The group will meet where Rose Creek flows into the north end of Mission Bay.
Karin Zirk, executive director of the Friends of Rose Creek, said King Tides give us our best look at the reality of rising sea levels.
“What the California Coastal Commission is telling us is that the King Tide is approximately what an average high tide will be by 2050,” Zirk said.
So what does that mean?
“Places like Mission Bay High (School), which is right over here,” Zirk said, pointing across the creek, “are going to be at high-flood risk. Especially if the high tide coincides with a lot of rain, they’re going to be underwater.”
Friends of Rose Creek will host a gathering of volunteers on Saturday morning and take pictures of the King Tide levels.
The event is also sponsored by the San Diego Bird Alliance. Their conservation advocate, Savannah Stallings, will be keeping an eye on the local bird population.
“We have some nice birds around here,” Stallings said. “We have some Coots with little white beaks and black heads. We have some Wigeons that sound like a dog’s squeaky toy when they are chattering.”
Along with the birds, Stallings sees a wildlife habitat created by coastal salt marshes. Rising sea levels in the future will cause salt marshes to migrate inland.
But not if the "built environment" stands in the way.
“The marshes can migrate over time as sea levels rise. Then there will be marsh remaining as the water levels rise. But if you have lower marsh, mid marsh, then a parking lot, there’s nowhere for the marsh to go and so it will disappear,” Stallings said.
Coastal cities are exploring ways to move man-made infrastructure back from the shoreline as sea levels rise. Stallings said we have to ask the same questions about the future of the natural environment.
“As this area is redeveloped, as the De Anza Natural plan moves forward, the city really does need to think seriously about where the marsh will migrate over time so that it’s not a bad thing, and the habitat does not completely disappear because otherwise it will,” she said.
The public is invited to join the volunteers who will photograph tide levels along Rose Creek. The information they gather will be shared with the California King Tides Project.
