Every year, Imperial Beach residents board up their windows and shovel ocean sand off streets left underwater during high tide.

Researchers have been testing technology that warns the city in time to prepare for the arrival of powerful waves and, most recently, digging groundwater wells to track flooding.

The community can also play a significant role in reducing Imperial Beach’s flooding problems, researchers at San Diego State University said last week. How residents can get involved is what the researchers are hoping to find out.