The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved $3.021 million for winter storm and flood preparedness Tuesday, Sept. 29. The funding will expand flood barriers, shore up vulnerable coastline and boost emergency alerts ahead of a winter when El Niño conditions, heavy rain and king tides could compound flooding.

The money breaks into three buckets: $2.27 million for flood protection and infrastructure, $390,000 for Marin County Parks and $361,000 for community and emergency preparedness, according to a county news release.

The flood protection share will expand the county's inventory of temporary flood barriers, sandbags and equipment, improve drainage systems and provide resources to install protective measures where needed. The parks allocation targets vulnerable shoreline areas including McInnis Marsh and McNears Beach. The preparedness funding will support a countywide communications campaign, community meetings, emergency alert outreach and public health readiness.

County officials said the investment is meant to accelerate preparations for the 2026–27 winter, when El Niño conditions, heavy rainfall and king tides could combine to worsen flooding. The next major king tides are expected to crest on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and in January, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Dr. Sophia Merrifield of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warned at a town hall hosted by state Sen. Mike McGuire that the overlap of El Niño and king tides could produce "likely the highest sea levels ever recorded on the California coast associated with this event," according to an August county news release.

The threat is acute in southern Marin.

Tom Welch, interim chief of the Southern Marin Fire Protection District, told the Mill Valley City Council at a Sept. 22 briefing that the area's biggest concern is overlapping tidal flooding and hillside runoff.

"Those canyons bring the floodwaters down during the wintertime and they carry the fire up during the summertime," Welch said at the briefing, as reported by the Marin Independent Journal.

Steven Torrence, director of the county Office of Emergency Management, acknowledged at the same briefing that during the January king tides that closed Highway 101, no alerts went out on the first day because of coordination problems between the county and the state. Torrence said coordination with the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans has since improved.

Roughly 46,000 Marin County households, fewer than half, have at least one person registered for AlertMarin, the county's emergency notification system. The system has added new optional notification groups for coastal flooding, king tides, riverine flooding, traffic disruptions and severe weather. Messages are now available in English or Spanish.

County Executive Derek Johnson said in the Sept. 24 news release that the investment would provide lasting benefits beyond this winter. He also stressed that "public investments are only as effective as people taking personal responsibility for their own property and their own readiness."

County officials cautioned that temporary measures can reduce flood risk but cannot eliminate it. Landslides and other storm emergencies remain possible.

Residents can sign up for AlertMarin at marin.sircom.org/subscribe. The county has launched a dedicated El Niño preparedness page at readymarin.marincounty.gov and is planning countywide town halls and multilingual outreach.