The water rises
Heavy surf began throwing waves over the sandbar late last night and by four in the morning a new “emergency” had been declared and the County Dozers were back in action trying to breach the bar and keep the water out of the lagoon-bottom homes.
Bulldozers in the mist
There was no need to worry about draining the lagoon this time. The surf was replacing sand just about as fast as the two dozers could move it. At best, the operation may have slowed the lagoon’s rate of rise. As of this afternoon’s high tide, the water was still about a foot below the floor level of the lowest homes.
A truckload of sandbags stands ready for action
Why do we put the word “emergency” in quotation marks?
See our previous post on this topic, explaining how steelhead (a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act) are being killed and environmental review evaded through the pretense that each filling of the Carmel River Lagoon by wave and/or stream, regardless of how frequently these events occur, is an unforeseen emergency that it would not have been possible to have prepared for in advance.
Click here to view a video of the heavy surf of January 5, 2008 overtopping the sandbar and flooding lagoon-bottom homes.
Xasáuan Today 
An “emergency” that the home owners should get the idea of raising the houses a couple of feet. The water has always been there first.
Makes my blood boil.
Perhaps the lagoon bottom dwellers should act like citizens of Venice — live in a second story and abandon the ground level to the tides.