When I first got to San Diego in 1992, the Barefoot Bar was a pretty popular place. It had an indoor sand-covered dance floor and a bar outside by Mission Bay. It also had a little lagoon; they would pump water in from the bay to make a waterfall, then the water would flow into a lagoon stocked with interesting fish, then the water would go out an outlet, down the beach and back into the bay. Apparently night herons really liked this lagoon, and we'd always see a few of those very exotic looking birds there looking for food. We've gone there on and off throughout the years.
We went this week with a few other families. While we were waiting for a table I looked at the lagoon outlet and thought "you know, someone could come here some time after dark and just pile sand on that outlet, and it would cause the lagoon to flood." But I figured they had a way to prevent that by turning off the waterfall or something.
So we sat down and ordered. And I noticed that the water was starting to rise in the lagoon and spill over into the restaurant area. Then the waterfall stopped. "No way!" I thought. "Did someone actually do that?"
So I got up and looked and the outlet was still open - but water was now flowing into the lagoon from the bay.
We talked to the waiter about that. "Oh yeah that happens sometimes" she said. "It hasn't gotten into the kitchen yet but sometimes the entire patio is underwater."
Like many places threatened by sea level rise, the pattern was the same. First they'd only flood during storm surges, once a decade or so. Then only during king tides, perhaps three or four times a year. Then only during spring tides twice a month. Then before long there are no days where there's not at least the threat of the place being underwater, and it has to shut down. (Or rebuild, but raising a bar/restaurant on the coast by 2 feet is no easy feat.)
It's easy to forget about sea level rise when 1) it's so slow and 2) we live on a 400 foot hill. It never affects us. But it's definitely affecting other people here.
Anyway as the water rose we moved tables, then we had to move tables again. We were getting pretty close to the end of the patio by the time the water stopped rising, and our 12 year old then moved some barstools around so we could leave without walking through 2 inches of water.
At least Barefoot had a good run.
We went this week with a few other families. While we were waiting for a table I looked at the lagoon outlet and thought "you know, someone could come here some time after dark and just pile sand on that outlet, and it would cause the lagoon to flood." But I figured they had a way to prevent that by turning off the waterfall or something.
So we sat down and ordered. And I noticed that the water was starting to rise in the lagoon and spill over into the restaurant area. Then the waterfall stopped. "No way!" I thought. "Did someone actually do that?"
So I got up and looked and the outlet was still open - but water was now flowing into the lagoon from the bay.
We talked to the waiter about that. "Oh yeah that happens sometimes" she said. "It hasn't gotten into the kitchen yet but sometimes the entire patio is underwater."
Like many places threatened by sea level rise, the pattern was the same. First they'd only flood during storm surges, once a decade or so. Then only during king tides, perhaps three or four times a year. Then only during spring tides twice a month. Then before long there are no days where there's not at least the threat of the place being underwater, and it has to shut down. (Or rebuild, but raising a bar/restaurant on the coast by 2 feet is no easy feat.)
It's easy to forget about sea level rise when 1) it's so slow and 2) we live on a 400 foot hill. It never affects us. But it's definitely affecting other people here.
Anyway as the water rose we moved tables, then we had to move tables again. We were getting pretty close to the end of the patio by the time the water stopped rising, and our 12 year old then moved some barstools around so we could leave without walking through 2 inches of water.
At least Barefoot had a good run.
There was this deep ethos about leaving no scraps of food. (The bird's as well, I'm sure)
