BY PEPPER FISHER
Sequim – Homes built on the waterfront along Three Crabs Road in Sequim are in danger of being made unlivable because of rising sea levels and flooding due to increasingly frequent King tides.
County and state officials are grappling with the possibility that there might not be a long term solution to the problems there, and what they should do about it.
To protect their homes, many residents have built bulkheads, and many more have applied to Clallam County for permits to do so since a massive tidal surge flooded the area in December . On the face of it, that may sound like a simple solution, but Bruce Emery, Director of Community Development, says there are consequences to the ecosystem and to the properties next door when a property owner builds a bulkhead.
“When a person puts in a bulkhead, it causes two levels of harm. The first one is at the end of the bulkhead, either side of it, you’re actually accelerating erosion, because as wave action hits the bulkhead, that energy then is focused on that end portion. So, their neighbor’s property tends to get hit pretty hard. The other piece of it is, the Three Crabs area ebbs and flows in what they call drift cells. When you put a bulkhead in there, it disrupts that flow and harms the beach expansion. So, you’re increasing erosion, you’re decreasing the the area’s natural process for building itself back up.”
The worsening issues along Three Crabs Road and similar areas in western Washington have been studied for decades. According to 2018 sea level rise projections by the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group, the Three Crabs Road area will likely experience about one foot of sea level rise over the next 50 years. This means flood events like the December 2024 incident are likely to become more frequent and severe.
Most recently, Clallam County’s Marine Resources Committee (MRC) sent a letter to County Commissioners outlining their concerns about a number of issues, including a surge of permit applications from homeowners in that area to build bulkheads.
The group had recommendations for finding a balance between protecting property and the shoreline ecosystem, but, as Emery points out, making everybody happy is not a likely outcome
“There’s a couple of competing portions to the code right now that I think are very critical. On the one hand, if someone’s home is in direct risk or direct threat, we do have a requirement to grant them the ability to protect it. On the other hand, any decision that we make, we have to examine and determine that there’s no net loss of habitat value or function. And those two requirements, in some cases, become mutually exclusive. So what do we do? So these are concerns heavy on our mind, and they’re also heavy on the mind of the MRC, which is the reason they felt compelled to write this.”
Anne Soule is the Vice Chair of the MRC. She says the letter was written, in part, to urge commissioners to work with them to educate homeowners and taxpayers about the long-term benefits, and consequences, of decisions being made today about Three Crabs.
“So, you can’t just stop mother nature completely, right? So, having a strategy that’s developed with the community as a whole, I think that is our biggest wish. And, I know if I were living down there, it would be frightening. If I were noticing that my homeowner’s insurance was beginning to get extremely expensive, or maybe not even available, you know, those are the kinds of things that would make me motivated to work with the county on, you know, what in the world can we do here?”
One scenario suggested by the MRC was the possible buyout of some of the properties along Three Crabs. It’s not without precedent. In 2004, the county did a federally funded buyout of dozens of properties near the mouth of the Dungeness River for the purpose of floodplain restoration. Those River’s End property owners were willing sellers. The purchases were made through over $2 million in grants from various agencies.
Could that happen at Three Crabs? Emery told us there’s a lot that would need to happen before that was even possible. He said federal grant programs like that may present themselves in the future, but it will require a public process to get cooperation and buy-in from willing landowners, and would likely need to occur over an extended period of time.
MRC’s Chair, LaTrisha Suggs says, ultimately, the best practices going forward will be the result of county officials, homeowners and groups like MRC working together.
“You know, we’re not here to throw anybody under the bus. We’re here to find solutions for not just people, but also for the environment that we live in. One thing I’ve learned, living here almost all of my life, is that the citizens that live in Clallam County always tend to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. And that, again, is working to provide education and outreach and opportunities for landowners to learn more about healthy shorelines. And giving them those opportunities so that they can be more informed.”
Clallam County MRC has a list of upcoming educational events coming up, starting in May. Go to clallamcountymrc.org to learn more.
(Clallam Fire District 3 photo of December flooding at Three Crabs Road)