Newport Beach's $70M Island Mansions Are Losing to the Tide - And Owners Can't Stop It
Doctor William Explains
4,345 views
On a clear winter night at the top of a king tide, the harbor water on one side of the Balboa Island seawall is higher than the street on the other side. Nothing is wrong. This is simply what the tide does now, and the city of Newport Beach closes the storm drain floodgates and stages pumps before it arrives.
Balboa Island, Lido Isle, and Linda Isle were all made by dredges, from mudflats once called Snipe Island, Electric Island, and Shark Island. The wall around Balboa Island was finished in 1938. Replacing it is now estimated at 136.6 million dollars, roughly double the estimate from 2017, and when the city offered a cheap stopgap cap of eighteen inches or nine, residents chose nine to keep the view.
This is a look at one of the most expensive stretches of waterfront on the West Coast, islands built to the tide of a century ago, and why no amount of money on them can buy the one thing they are missing: height.
Sources and further reading:
Scientific American, March 29, 2018 - This Entire Island May Have to Be Raised Up to Counter Rising Sea
LAist / KPCC, 2017 - Newport's Balboa Island plans to raise seawalls to fend off rising tides
Newport Beach Independent - Balboa Island Seawall Cap Approved
Stu News Newport, February 16, 2024 - council planning session, Balboa Island seawall replacement estimate
California Coastal Commission staff reports - Newport Harbor bulkhead elevation standards, 10.9 and 14.4 feet NAVD88
Sea Level Rise Impact Assessment and Mitigation Alternatives Development for Balboa Islands, City of Newport Beach
City of Newport Beach and local reporting - king tide flood protection on Balboa Island and the Peninsula
Balboa Island, Lido Isle, and Linda Isle - local history and Wikipedia
Visit Newport Beach - History of Balboa Island
What Now Orange County, July 10, 2026 - Linda Isle estate listed for nearly 70 million dollars
FEMA and the Congressional Research Service - National Flood Insurance Program coverage limits
CBS Los Angeles - Newport Beach prepares for high surf and coastal flooding ahead of Tropical Storm Marie
FOX 11 Los Angeles - Hurricane Marie swell causes dramatic beach erosion in Newport Beach
Patch Newport Beach and NBC Los Angeles - Hurricane Polo swell forecasts
ABC7 - Long Beach declares local emergency ahead of El Nino
NOAA - sea level trends for the Southern California coast
No property owner is named in this video, and no claim is made about the value of any individual address beyond published figures and listings. Figures are drawn from the public records and reporting listed above. Where a number is contested or approximate, it is described that way in the narration.
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Newport Beach's $70M Island Mansions Are Losing to the Tide - And Owners Can't Stop It
Doctor William Explains
4,345 views
On a clear winter night at the top of a king tide, the harbor water on one side of the Balboa Island seawall is higher than the street on the other side. Nothing is wrong. This is simply what the tide does now, and the city of Newport Beach closes the storm drain floodgates and stages pumps before it arrives.
Balboa Island, Lido Isle, and Linda Isle were all made by dredges, from mudflats once called Snipe Island, Electric Island, and Shark Island. The wall around Balboa Island was finished in 1938. Replacing it is now estimated at 136.6 million dollars, roughly double the estimate from 2017, and when the city offered a cheap stopgap cap of eighteen inches or nine, residents chose nine to keep the view.
This is a look at one of the most expensive stretches of waterfront on the West Coast, islands built to the tide of a century ago, and why no amount of money on them can buy the one thing they are missing: height.
Sources and further reading:
Scientific American, March 29, 2018 - This Entire Island May Have to Be Raised Up to Counter Rising Sea
LAist / KPCC, 2017 - Newport's Balboa Island plans to raise seawalls to fend off rising tides
Newport Beach Independent - Balboa Island Seawall Cap Approved
Stu News Newport, February 16, 2024 - council planning session, Balboa Island seawall replacement estimate
California Coastal Commission staff reports - Newport Harbor bulkhead elevation standards, 10.9 and 14.4 feet NAVD88
Sea Level Rise Impact Assessment and Mitigation Alternatives Development for Balboa Islands, City of Newport Beach
City of Newport Beach and local reporting - king tide flood protection on Balboa Island and the Peninsula
Balboa Island, Lido Isle, and Linda Isle - local history and Wikipedia
Visit Newport Beach - History of Balboa Island
What Now Orange County, July 10, 2026 - Linda Isle estate listed for nearly 70 million dollars
FEMA and the Congressional Research Service - National Flood Insurance Program coverage limits
CBS Los Angeles - Newport Beach prepares for high surf and coastal flooding ahead of Tropical Storm Marie
FOX 11 Los Angeles - Hurricane Marie swell causes dramatic beach erosion in Newport Beach
Patch Newport Beach and NBC Los Angeles - Hurricane Polo swell forecasts
ABC7 - Long Beach declares local emergency ahead of El Nino
NOAA - sea level trends for the Southern California coast
No property owner is named in this video, and no claim is made about the value of any individual address beyond published figures and listings. Figures are drawn from the public records and reporting listed above. Where a number is contested or approximate, it is described that way in the narration.