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San Mateo County Climate Resilience

by | Aug 11, 2025

This county has two coasts, ocean and bay, doubling the flooding challenges ahead from sea level rise. The bayshore also hosts a number of critical regional assets, like the SFO Airport, several important flood control channels and creeks, and a handful of underserved communities in the risk zone. The county moved quickly and early to address vulnerabilities, including creation of a model multi-jurisdictional flood district unique to the Bay Area.

“Aligning protection for multiple jurisdictions is really important and really hard to do, especially when there’s a creek that divides the two cities. We need, as a region, to figure out the best ways to address that reality.”

Len Materman
One Shoreline

Len Materman
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Aerial photo ofSan Mateo County.

Aerial photo ofSan Mateo County.

Initiatives

  • Sustainable San Mateo County – This initiative’s mission is to drive action on economic, environmental, and social equity issues leading to sustainable practices and improving the county’s long-term health. Core programs include: an awards program celebrating local sustainability champions; a sustainability dashboard tracking sustainability progress in the County’s 20 cities using sustainability indicators; an annual Indicators Report examining one crucial sustainability issue; and a sustainability ideas bank.
  • Climate Ready SMC – Led by the County’s Office of Sustainability to help communities address climate impacts now and in the future this initiative uses a variety of strategies to understand and plan for climate risks including fostering collaboration through webinars and convening modeling climate impacts; providing technical assistance, partnership, and funding for resiliency projects; and investing in culturally competent community engagement.

 Resources

Government

For disaster preparedness and alerts go to our Disaster Prep hub listing. 

    Key Contacts

    Read KneeDeep Stories About San Mateo County