Newport Beach feels ‘ready and good’ with preparations ahead of upcoming king tides

City officials in Newport Beach say they feel comfortable with the protections that will be in place ahead of anticipated king tides expected to hit the Orange County coastline during the Thanksgiving week and again around Christmas.

During a City Council study session Tuesday night, Nov. 10, city staffers updated the council and residents on what crews have been doing to shore up vulnerable areas along the Balboa Peninsula, some of the smaller islands and the harbor.

King tides are tied to gravitational pull and are predictable, occurring around this time each year, but compounding the typically higher-than-usual tides are ocean conditions that have generally raised base water levels by not just inches but feet.

King tide forecasts predict that on Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving and expected highest tide day, the 8:32 a.m. high tide could be 7 feet, but the extenuating conditions could add another 22 inches, and on Thanksgiving, tide levels could exceed 8.7 feet, factoring in the additional water, Mark Vukojevic, the city’s utilities director, said. And those additional inches, he said, don’t account for the potential for the tides to coincide with a storm event.

The bottom line, he said, is that the community and the city need to prepare for the possibility of extreme tides over several days in the next few months.

City officials evaluated 70 seawalls following the flooding that occurred last month when tides came in higher than expected and have been raising their height by a foot or two to ensure they can block surging tides. The city decided 40 need extra concrete or masonry blocks, and the other 30 will be fortified with extra sandbags, Vukojevic said.

“We’re halfway through, and we’ll be done by next Friday, which is ahead of the next tide series,” he said, calling the three-week effort a huge undertaking. “Twenty are done, and then several more are in construction, and we’re starting more next week. We’re on a good pace, and we’ll be done with everything on the public side by next Friday.”

City officials relied on help from emergency contractors, who are now working with city crews and also drawing on residents’ know-how about areas with a history of flooding. The city’s Community Development department negotiated with the California Coastal Commission for a blanket permit process to expedite approval for raising the seawalls.

“The Coastal Commission has wisely said this is an important need, not a coastal access issue, It’s important for the community; let them protect themselves and let’s get out of the way,” Vukojevic said.

In addition to the city’s work, Vukojevic said residents in the affected areas are responding. At least a dozen private wall permits have been issued, with more in the works. In addition, sandbags are extremely helpful in buffering areas that need a little less shoring up or have seawalls that need a little more help.

In the last several weeks, the city has handed out 100,000 filled sandbags. It also has unfilled bags available for pickup at the lifeguard headquarters and through the fire department.

While flooding and high tides are not new to Newport Beach and its lower-lying areas, the recent string of high tides revealed new vulnerabilities. Over the summer and fall, the region has been buffeted by hurricane-driven swells, a slow-moving Kelvin wave that comes up from the equator area and raises water levels for sustained periods and warm water conditions brought on by an El Niño.

The city maintains a system of 90 tide valves between the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island to limit harbor backflow into the streets during typical high tides. They open and close daily depending on tide height, and pumps help manage the water they collect. Still, at times, flooding has happened.

One vulnerability newly discovered during the recent events, Vukojevic said, was an area on the peninsula near Lafayette Avenue and Lido Park Drive where wooden walkways provide a lovely coastal ambiance, but sit in a very low-lying area, and water came up through the wooden planks. Private seawalls have been and are being raised at several properties on Lafayette Avenue, and the city has installed a bigger pump and wrapped sandbags in plastic to make them more effective.

Other tools being deployed, Vukojevic said, include securing and placing more pumps, berm monitoring and maintenance and proactive harbor management. The city has also activated its emergency operations center, partnered with Community Emergency Response Team volunteers, provided community messaging and used the city’s code enforcement to help with preparations and response.