Recent raging winter storms have caved in streets, wrecked piers, collapsed homes and apartment buildings, and submerged property up and down California’s coastline.

Now, as sea levels continue to rise from climate change, scientists are working on a real-world experiment that could help reduce the impacts.

At a 247-acre property near the Santa Cruz-Monterey county line, crews are planning to protect against flooding — not by trying to hold back the ocean by building bigger sea walls — but by converting flood-prone farmland into tidal wetlands. During big storms and high tides, this allows ocean waters to move inland in an orderly way instead of threatening homes and other property.

In other words, working with nature, as opposed to trying to battle the ocean’s relentless forward march.

“It’s a demonstration,” said Sarah Newkirk, executive director of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, which is overseeing the project. “What we are doing here is applicable to other places in California, the Gulf of Mexico, and other parts of the country.”

On Wednesday, Newkirk’s non-profit environmental group closed a $13.4 million deal to buy the property, known as Beach Ranch. The bucolic farmland sits at the mouth of the Pajaro River near the crashing waves of Monterey Bay, and has flooded multiple of times over the past few generations, most recently this January, and during the previous winter.

A sprawling expanse the size of 187 football fields and covered with neat rows of lettuce, beets, broccoli and other produce, the landscape had been owned for generations by local farming families, including some with connections to major operations, such as Ocean Mist Farms, a Castroville company that is the largest artichoke grower in North America.

The land trust received funding from two state agencies, the California Coastal Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board. It also raised money from Driscoll’s, a major Watsonville strawberry grower. Last month, the project received a $6 million grant from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The plan is to convert 65 flood-prone acres and the lowest quality farmland to tidal marshland similar to what existed a century or more ago, while leaving farming on the rest. Scientists from the land trust, the Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies plan to move back existing inadequate dirt levees, build tidal gates, or use other methods.

By creating wetlands, the project aims to create a buffer where flood waters can move in and settle, losing their energy, protecting other nearby farmland and property like Pajaro Dunes, a collection of adjacent oceanfront homes and condominiums.

It also will create a new estuary for birds, fish and other wildlife to help make up for oceanfront wetlands that are expected to be submerged in the coming decades.

“When it rains it gets pretty soggy out here,” Newkirk said during a recent visit. “We are trying to buy and protect habitat where it is going to be. Like Wayne Gretzky said: ‘skate to where the puck is going to be.’”

The threat of sea level rise is growing.

The 10 hottest years on Earth since modern records began in 1850 all have occurred since 2014, according to NOAA and NASA. The warming climate has caused ocean levels to rise as glaciers and polar ice sheets melt and warming seawater expands. San Francisco Bay and the ocean along California’s coast have risen 8 inches since the mid-1800s.

Recent studies by the U.S. Geological Survey and other scientific organizations estimate that the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast will rise another 1 to 2 feet by 2050 and 4 feet or more by 2100, depending on the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere in the coming years.

“This is the biggest dilemma human civilization has had to face,” said Gary Griggs, a distinguished professor of Earth Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, in an interview earlier this year. “Many of the biggest cities in the world are at sea level. Our options are very few. We have to face it. There is absolutely nothing we can do over the long term to hold back the Pacific Ocean.”

Between $8 billion to $10 billion of existing coastal property in California is likely to be underwater by 2050, with an additional $6 billion to $10 billion at risk during high tides, according to a report in 2020 from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.

In some cases, homes and other oceanfront buildings can be raised. Natural solutions, like offshore reefs, or jetties that stop sand from drifting down the coast, or sand replenishment, can help save beaches, but the sand often washes away in big storms. That leaves sea walls. But those are controversial, because they can cause public beaches to erode. The other option is “managed retreat,” the idea of letting the ocean move inland.

That is very controversial, however, when it involves property with existing homes and businesses, but less so for undeveloped land, like farmland that’s common along the coast, including along San Francisco Bay’s delta.

“This project is very forward thinking,” said Jess Brown, executive director of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau. “There’s a cost of farming in areas that are getting flooded. If they can alleviate that, it’s a better solution.”

The land trust will continue to rent the rest of the property to tenant farmers. But there are challenges. Coastal California farmland is expensive. And politics and land use rules vary around the country.

“There are lessons to be learned in this example,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University. “Can it be scaled? In many ways this is where the rubber meets the road in terms of responding and adapting to climate change.”

CNN
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Cold case investigators have arrested a 55-year-old woman in North Carolina in connection with the death of a newborn girl found in a California dumpster 37 years ago, according to the Riverside Police Department.

Through DNA testing, detectives identified the baby’s mother as Melissa Jean Allen Avila, police said in a Thursday news release.

It is unclear whether Avila, who police accuse of murder, has obtained an attorney. CNN has made efforts to reach Avila.

Avila made an initial appearance in court Wednesday and was released on her own recognizance through an agreement between the prosecution and the defense, according to City News Service. She was previously being held on a bond of $1.1 million, police said.

CNN has left a message with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office requesting information about the case.

The newborn had been found deceased in a dumpster in Riverside on October 13, 1987, by a man rummaging for recyclables, police said in the release.

Homicide investigators were unable to identify a suspect and the case went unsolved for nearly 40 years. In 2020, the department’s new homicide cold case unit reopened the case.

Police said they worked with Othram, a DNA testing company, with funding from Season of Justice, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance for investigative agencies and families to help solve cold cases with “advanced DNA analysis solutions and forensic genealogy.”

In November 2021, Othram was able to get DNA from evidence in the case and build a profile for the baby, according to its website. The police agency’s forensics genetic genealogy team then developed new leads that led to potential relatives.

“Othram assisted with investigators’ reference testing efforts using (a method of testing that) allows investigators to infer kinship in closely and distantly related individuals,” the company said.

Avila was taken into custody in Shelby, North Carolina, which is about 45 miles west of Charlotte.

Avila was 19 at the time of the baby’s death. There was no evidence the baby’s father had any link to the case, police said.

“Thanks to the persistent efforts of our investigators and partners, this victim now has an identity, bringing resolution to the case,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said. “We will remain dedicated to seeking justice for homicide victims and ensuring their families find closure.”

Avila’s next hearing is scheduled for September 9, according to jail records.

In a boisterous homecoming after becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris returned to California on Sunday and reveled in being surrounded by supporters she has known for decades, while also warning of a bleak future for the nation if Democrats do not win in November.

“It’s good to be home,” Harris told about 700 people who roared and leaped to their feet as she walked on stage in a hotel ballroom in San Francisco. “This is a room full of dear, dear friends and longstanding supporters — folks I have known for my entire career. … We’ve been through a lot together. I want to thank everyone in here for your love and longstanding support and friendship and for your dedication to this country.”

The mood at the fundraiser was warm and optimistic — one woman in the front row waved a sign that said “Make America Joyful Again.” But Harris turned serious when she argued that fundamental rights such as healthcare, same-sex marriage and abortion are at stake in the race against former President Trump.

Read more: Amid the gloom, doom and anger, can joy win voters over?

“We know what we need to do — we need to knock on doors, we need to register folks to vote, we need to get people to the polls. And every day matters,” she said. “That’s why we’re going to win, but let’s not take anything for granted.”

The event, which drew House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Rep. Barbara Lee, San Francisco Giants Chief Executive Larry Baer and a slew of other elected officials and donors, raised more than $12 million in the city that laid the foundation for Harris’ political career. Tickets cost between $3,300 and $500,000.

Harris worked as a prosecutor and a City Hall attorney in San Francisco before being elected district attorney in 2002, which served as a springboard to her later roles as state attorney general and then U.S. senator.

“This is a good day when we welcome Kamala Harris back home to California,” said Pelosi, who introduced the vice president. “She makes us all so proud, she brings us so much joy, she gives us so much hope.”

The event had the feel of a family reunion. Harris’ niece’s young children posed for pictures in front of a large Harris/Walz campaign sign on the stage. She called out several attendees from the stage, showering the most attention on Newsom. She reminisced about the day in 2004 when they took their oath of office in San Francisco, she as district attorney and he as mayor, and also their work marrying gay couples that year.

“I have known Gavin as a friend and colleague for so, so many years,” she said. “I want to thank you in front of all of our friends who are here for being an extraordinary leader of California and the nation.”

The event capped a whirlwind three weeks in the presidential campaign, with President Biden announcing he would not seek reelection, Democrats quickly coalescing around the vice president as their nominee and Harris selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

Read more: Harris thrives as she drops Biden’s campaign themes

In Biden’s first interview since he announced he would not seek another term, he said his decision was driven by the importance of beating Trump, the concerns among some members of the House and the Senate that he could harm their chances and that his candidacy could “be a real distraction.”

“The critical issue for me still, it’s not a joke, maintaining this democracy,” he said on an interview that aired on CBS on Sunday. While “it’s a great honor being president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do what I — the most important thing you can do — and that is, we must — we must — we must defeat Trump.”

Harris and Walz spent last week barnstorming battleground states — events that have drawn large crowds.

“Folks are coming to these events and they’re bringing with them so much joy. People are singing and they’re dancing in the aisles long before we get there,” Harris said. “They’re showing up not only because we must beat Donald Trump, they’re showing up because they believe in our country and our freedom.”

On Saturday, the Democrats collected the endorsement of the powerful Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas, and Harris announced she supported not taxing tips — an immensely popular proposal among service industry workers and one Trump backed in June.

“Copy Cat Kamala directly plagiarized President Trump’s No Tax on Tips policy proposal to let hard-working service workers keep more of their own hard-earned money,” the Republican’s campaign said in a statement.

Sunday’s fundraiser also took place four years from the day Biden selected her to be his running mate, months after Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign sputtered out.

“It’s been the best decision I’ve made,” Biden wrote in a fundraising appeal. “Kamala’s sharp. She’s tough. She’s going to make one hell of a president.”

California Republicans chose the location of Sunday’s fundraiser to cast doubt on Democratic leadership and point out dysfunction in San Francisco.

“For anyone unsure of what a Harris presidency would look like, take some time to tour her hometown where crime is running rampant, homelessness is visible on seemingly every street corner, and storefronts and office spaces sit empty as businesses close and people move away with no plans to return,” said state GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson in a statement.

Read more: Willie Brown wasn’t on that frightening helicopter ride with Trump. Here’s who was

Given California’s deep blue tilt, it will not be contested in November. But it is home to so many wealthy donors that it provides the most campaign cash to candidates on both sides of the aisle. The GOP’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, recently headlined two fundraisers in the state. On Tuesday, Walz is expected to attend a fundraiser in Newport Beach, the same day Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff raises money at an event in Los Angeles.

Attendee Susie Tompkins Buell, the co-founder of Esprit and The North Face who has known Harris since the 1990s, said she could not recall the last time she had seen this much energy among Democrats, which she attributed to Harris’ candidacy as well as the “danger to our country from within” posed by the prospect of Trump winning another term.

“Kamala’s youth and positive energy is like a fresh gust of a cool breeze on a sweltering, humid day. So refreshing and hopeful,” said Tompkins Buell, whose husband served as Harris’ finance chair during her district attorney and attorney general campaigns.

“She has been an important part of our community for years,” added. “I am so impressed by her consistency. She is very confident in who she is and her style has always been the same, just improved. It’s all impressive.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.