How we got here: 2018–2026
Every entry below is drawn from a public document — county press releases, board letters, budget documents, and published news coverage. See Key Facts & Documents for the sources.
- 2018 — Original plan: a $5 million timber wall upgrade.
- March 2021 — Special tax measure to fund the timber wall fails by three votes: 66.29% approval, with 67% required.
- August 2021 — County announces a buildable $6 million project, with construction planned for November 2021.
- Early 2022 — Construction does not start. $2 million of a $3.2 million FEMA grant is lost — the easements were not in hand.
- March–July 2022 — Cost estimate jumps to $12 million, then $14 million.
- July 2022 — CSW Stuber-Stroeh Engineering hired on a single-source contract ($617,549) — no competitive bidding.
- November 2022 — 100% Construction Documents completed (dated 11/02/2022) for a vinyl/composite sheet pile wall. Cost estimate climbs toward $25 million.
- March 2023 — Basis of Design issued. It contains no analysis justifying the permanent easements that have stalled the project — the word "easement" does not appear.
- February 2024 — CSW contract extended a second time, through February 2026. Amendment amounts not disclosed.
- May 2024 — KneeDeep Times: "100+ Easements for One Flood Wall?" documents the easement problem publicly.
- October 2025 — Cost now $25 million. Construction "planned for 2028, if funding is secured." A promised finance plan, due by end of 2025, is never produced.
- January 3, 2026 — The levee breaches during a king tide. Streets flood; water enters backyards. The 100% construction documents predate this breach by more than three years.
- January 2026 — Supervisor Sackett, in an op-ed: "The project is designed but we don't have money for easements and construction." To the Marin IJ: "It's a terrible chicken-and-egg problem."
- June 8, 2026 — Budget hearing: program presented at $25–30 million; Supervisor Sackett moves a $5 million County loan to begin easement work; constructability workshops announced. Still no schedule and no cost buildup for the easement program.
- June 2026 — Estimate now $25–30 million. After five years: 16 of 111 easements secured, no schedule, no secured construction funding, $0 programmed in the County's five-year capital plan — and a Prop 218 assessment heading toward residents.
- July 2026 — An independent Alternate Basis of Design — steel sheet pile, 6-foot easement, $12–15 million target — is completed in draft and enters professional review by heavy-civil contractors and independent engineers. Publication here follows review.
The pattern: the cost has gone from $6 million to $25–30 million — a four- to five-fold increase — with zero construction to show for it. The constant through every delay is the easement problem: the design requires a permanent 18-foot easement on 111 private parcels, and five years of effort has produced 16 signatures.