Watch the Sea Level Rise Presentations to County Council

San Juan County is proactively working on climate adaptation methods to protect the health and safety of county residents, the environment, and infrastructure.

October 10, 2023: Part of the County's research on the impacts of sea level rise was presented to Council on October 10. Watch the recording beginning at time stamp 3:30:17: County Council Regular Session Meeting • San Juan County, WA - Agendas & Minutes • CivicClerk.

September 17, 2024: Staff from the Department of Environmental Stewardship presented findings from a Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, a framework for approaching sea level-related projects, and a StoryMap to help educate the community on sea level rise in the islands during the September 17 Council meeting. Watch the presentation (starting at time stamp 1:15:33): County Council Regular Session Meeting • San Juan County, WA - Agendas & Minutes • CivicClerk.

The Sea-level Rise Risk & Vulnerability Assessment for San Juan County includes county-wide sea-level rise maps. This report identifies coastal areas of the County that may be most vulnerable to climate change driven sea-level rise impacts, such as flooding and erosion. The analysis relies on wave and water level modeling and an erosion analysis for a range of sea-level rise projections in order to develop hazard zones that show the potential future extent of flooding and erosion in San Juan County. These hazard zones can be viewed in the report, as can the detailed methods used to select the sea-level rise scenarios and events and conduct the modeling.