One of D.C.'s most famous attractions, the cherry trees on the Tidal Basin, is threatened by the impacts of rising sea levels resulting from climate change.
This week, the National Park Service announced that it is partnering with a contractor from Maine to repair the seawall and help keep the cherry trees safe.
The National Park Service says it awarded a $112 million contract to rehabilitate 6,800 feet of the Tidal Basin seawall in an effort to address flooding and safety concerns, mentioning that the wall around the monument is old and sinking deeper into the ground and that the water is quickly rising as a result of climate change.
Mike Litterst of the National Park Service says the goal of the three-year project is to expand the seawall's life span by 100 years.
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"It's a safety concern for us and it is also damaging the iconic cherry trees around the Tidal Basin," Litterst said.
They plan to anchor the wall to the bedrock in the ground to make it more stable.
"The sooner we can get this done, the sooner we'll stop that damage," Litterst said.
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This situation is becoming increasingly frequent due to climate change. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that sea level is expected to rise by a feet in the next 30 years.
"We should expect not only the foot of sea level rise, but more flooding. What used to be minor nuisance flooding now is going to become about a foot deeper and happening at about the similar frequency," NOAA oceanographer William Sweet said.
The National Park Service says it hopes to start the wall construction by the middle of next year.
Stumps that used to be cherry trees around the Tidal Basin had to be cut down by the National Park Service due to flooding damage.
Nonetheless, the Park Service is hopes it can plant more cherry trees once the seawall is fixed in a few years.
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