Coalescing as a Region Around Sea Level Rise Response
Regional leaders approved a joint platform of nine actions and 21 tasks this June aimed at galvanizing the Bay Area into collaboration on sea level rise adaptation. Actions range from rooting planning in communities to raising more money for resilience and making the best local science and technical support accessible to all. The platform also “centers the most vulnerable” – 28,000 disadvantaged people in the future flood zone and wildlife in drowning wetlands. Leaders approving the platform commended the effort to address so many governance challenges and channel so many diverse opinions: “Corralling this to where it is today quite a feat,” said the Bay Area Council’s Adrian Covert; “This document gets the balance between local responsibility and the regional role of a catalyst and supporting force pretty darn right, ” added Marin County’s Jack Liebster; “What is a platform? It is something to stand on moving forward,” summed up Mark Lubell of UC Davis.
The platform walks “hand-in-hand” in terms of sea level rise adaptation with another major regional planning document responding to climate change, Plan Bay Area, according to BCDC’s Jessica Fain. While in the past, Plan Bay Area focused more on where to locate housing and transit hubs, the latest version from the region’s government planners (MTC-ABAG) raises some deeper questions about where we’re at: “Does the region strategically move from isolation and fear into a future that is more affordable, diverse, connected, healthy and vibrant for every Bay Area resident, or do we continue down a path of inequality?”
More
First published in RARA Review, July 2021.
Other Recent Posts
Rising Waters Bring New Toxics Threat to Hunters Point
S.F.’s Hunters Point is already toxic for residents and the Bay. Sea level and groundwater rise, along with bigger storms, threaten to make the problem worse.
Harmful Blooms Spur More Wastewater Upgrades
To reduce nitrogen loads, the Bay Area is facing an overhaul of wastewater plants to the tune of $16B. Sea level rise calls for other retrofits. The two could require the heftiest investment in clean water infrastructure in decades.
Cultivate Climate Champions with Nature-Based Education
Everyday Climate Champions Podcast
Growing Resilience with Seed Libraries
Sierra Garcia, San Francisco
Fifth Graders Model Climate Resilience
Laurel Dell Elementary, San Rafael
Resilience is like? Caption Contest
Cartoons can tell so many stories about being kneedeep in climate resilience work. What’s your idea for a cartoon?
Teaming Up to Tackle East Bay Wet Spots
Partners push for three projects and a big grant to protect a critical swath of the East Bay shoreline from sea-level and groundwater rise.
The Itchy Cost of Hotter Summers
Mosquito-borne disease is on the rise thanks to climate change. Will the Bay Area get new mosquito species? Climate change might push them to cooler climates.
