Proposition A: San Franciscans Want a New Seawall and Vote to Pay for It
Some coastal cities are awake and aware to the dangers posed by sea level rise, and they are moving to combat those dangers.
San Franciscans have dispelled any doubt that they’re willing to pay the price to armor their beloved waterfront against earthquakes and rising waters.
Voters approved by more than a 4 to 1 margin a $425 million general obligation bond aimed at strengthening the crumbling Embarcadero seawall, an essential but mostly-invisible retaining structure that holds the city along the waterfront together.
Port officials have argued that an earthquake could cause bay mud behind the wall to liquefy and the wall itself to pancake. Sea level rise also threatens more intense storms and rising tides, both of which batter the 3 ½ mile-long piece of infrastructure.
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