In Ventura County, plans call for elevating homes along the coast where rising sea levels could inundate the shoreline.
Local officials described sea level rise as a slow-moving threat, but one that could cause costly damage — costs that could increase with a wait-and-see strategy.
Sea level rise is expected to accelerate in the coming decades and could reach over 6 feet by 2130. Far less, however, could threaten miles of local roads and leave hundreds of homes and acres of farmland vulnerable to flooding, according to a county report. Over the past several years, agencies worked on a plan, drafting amendments to the county’s coastal land use policies for unincorporated areas.
One way to adapt will be to elevate homes, according to the plan recently OK’d by the Board of Supervisors. The proposal will next be considered by the California Coastal Commission.
If certified, property owners may not have to make changes right away. Among the rules, the requirements generally could apply when an existing building or home is rebuilt by 50% or more. Those changes could happen over years and different owners, officials said.
Beachfront homes in the Oxnard Shores area as seen from a helicopter on Dec. 28, 2022.
“This plan really does a good job of both protecting the coast and also protecting local property owners and entities who have local assets on our coast,” Supervisor Matt LaVere said, when the supervisors OK’d the plans in May.
He asked about any plan for updates or flexibility in the future.
“So much of what we’re doing is based on modeling,” LaVere said. “We’re planning for 100 years out. No ordinance is meant to last 100 years.”
Will Ventura County’s strategy for adjusting to rising sea levels change over time?
LaVere called modeling — as good as it can be — an imperfect science. In two decades, things could have changed and new supervisors will be sitting on the dais, he said.
“The guidance says we should be up by so many feet in 20 years, and we could be significantly below. We could be significantly higher,” LaVere said. “We’ll have to be nimble and flexible.”
Plans call for regular check-ins with the board, including to report back on emerging science and the most recent rate of sea level rise. Studies also would be updated and neighborhood plans may be developed, officials said.
Adopting policies to address sea level rise is required by state law, including legislation that required the Coastal Commission to provide direction on how to create those plans. The agency did so in late 2024.
“A lot of local governments were already working to update their local coastal programs to better address sea level rise,” said Kelsey Ducklow, the commission’s statewide coastal resilience coordinator.
A helicopter view of an oil facility, La Conchita, Mussel Shoals and Rincon Island along Highway 101 in Ventura County on Dec. 28, 2022.
For some, the current updates may be the first phase of including the hazard in planning, efforts Ducklow described as key “to address the impacts that we know are coming and, in some places, that we already see.”
“We have got to do what we can starting now and understand that’s going to have to shift over time,” she said.
Locally, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ventura officials said plans for the coastal cities are being developed. Some may head to councils and the commission over the next year.
Will Ventura County sea walls disappear?
Under the county plan, a home on small ocean front lots could be elevated on piles or stilts as they are rebuilt over time. That work would start a transition away from sea walls.
County officials say the goal over the long term is to rely less on sea walls and similar protections — temporary fixes that some experts say exacerbate issues and cause more erosion. But plans call for leaving them up for now.
When a home goes up on stilts, the changes also wouldn’t require a sea wall to come down. That is, at least not right away.
Doing so could create problems for nearby properties, officials said. But once an entire line of homes is on stilts, then there could be a discussion about what to do with the walls, they said.
“We wanted to ensure that we would allow for this incremental approach to let the homes elevate over time,” said Dave Ward, the county’s planning director.
County officials plan to submit the local plan to the Coastal Commission within the next week or so. Commission staff then would evaluate the application and, once it is deemed complete, make recommendations to commissioners.
The commission may include conditions or request changes. If that happens, the county’s Board of Supervisors would be asked to consider those adjustments.
More information about the county’s coastal adaption project is available at rma.venturacounty.gov/divisions/planning under community planning.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County plans for sea level rise to head to Coastal Commission