Teenager supports flood plan for Santa Venetia

I’m a senior at Terra Linda High School. My parents raised my siblings and I in Santa Venetia.

During high tides while growing up, my friends and I could overlook the water from Margarita Island Bridge. We were unaware that, for decades, tide water flooded our neighborhood many times until a levee was built in 1983. Now, the aging levee is deteriorating, our homes are sinking and climate change escalates sea-level rise.

The Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District proposed a levee reconstruction project so we can have a stronger, taller levee. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s $3 million grant and $2 million from the county and flood board cover most of the $6 million project. What’s left is a $1 million neighborhood contribution.

I wasn’t around to see the floods, but looking at photographs and speaking to neighbors who experienced them compelled me to support this project. If a high school student is invested in working to pass Measure A, maybe adults can see the urgency of this project from another vantage point — from young people like me. My thought is that we weren’t sufficiently prepared to handle the pandemic or the California wildfires. But let’s plan on dealing with the possibility of a flood.

Sadly, some older people do not understand the urgency of our situation. They don’t want this measure to pass. I know COVID-19 has taken a toll, to where even a small tax may seem like a daunting request. This is the first (maybe the only) time that FEMA and the county will pay a majority of the costs for Santa Venetia flood protection. If we refuse to help ourselves, what makes you think the government would want to help us with flooding projects in the future?