Ensuring governments and communities across the Bay Area are working together to adapt to rising sea levels.
Rising sea levels from climate change are already encroaching along our shorelines and will only accelerate in the coming decades. The impacts of sea level rise – and resources to plan and prepare for them – are unevenly distributed across the nine-county Bay Area. If everyone “goes it alone,” we risk maladaptation – catastrophic consequences such as unintentional flooding of our neighbors, leaving behind communities most at risk and with the least resources to adapt, the loss of our essential and invaluable coastal habitats, and missing out on opportunities to find shared solutions that benefit both local communities and the region as a whole.
In 2023, the California State Legislature passed SB 272 (Laird), Sea level rise: planning and adaptation. SB 272 addresses the need for coordinated standardized sea level rise adaptation by requiring local governments along the San Francisco Bay shoreline to develop Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans. Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans must meet guidelines established by BCDC, ensuring effective and collaborative regional responses. Projects and strategies contained within approved plans will be prioritized for State funding.
BCDC is in the process of creating the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), as required by SB 272. The RSAP will guide the creation of coordinated, locally-planned sea level rise adaptation actions that work together to meet regional goals.
For more information on the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan, see the most recent FAQ here.
The Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is being guided and developed by a broad range range of stakeholders. This includes:
The Regional Shoreline Plan Advisory Group includes key individuals that provide subject matter expertise across core topics of the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan. Members of the Advisory Group include:
^Individuals who signified they are not representing their agency/organization in an official capacity.
In 2021, BCDC adopted the Bay Adapt Joint Platform – endorsed by over 55 cities, counties, non-profits, and more – lays out the actions necessary to protect the region from rising sea levels. The Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is an implementing project of the Joint Platform and will serve as a model for the State of California for how numerous jurisdictions across a shared region can work together to achieve coordinated planning and implementation for resilience.
In Fall 2023, over 250 members of the public engaged in the development of the RSAP’s One Bay Vision through community pop-up events. Staff attended ten pop-up events around the region to solicit input. Staff brought informational materials about the RSAP and asked participants to engage in a dot voting exercise to articulate their priorities for the Bay Area now and in the future. The pop-ups included the following:
• Suisun City (Solano County) – Rush Ranch
• Menlo Park (San Mateo County) – Belle Haven Neighborhood Block Party
• American Canyon (Napa County) – Pumpkin Path
• San Rafael (Marin County) – Free Movies in the Park – Canal District and Peacock Gap
• San Francisco – Youth Climate Environmental Justice Summit
• Newark (Alameda County) – Newark Days Community Information Faire
• Richmond (Contra Costa County) – Thrive Thursdays
• Oakland (Alameda County) – Land is Liberation
• Mountain View (Santa Clara County) – 40th anniversary of Shoreline at Mountain View Regional Park
The current version of the One Bay Vision can be found in the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) Draft for Public Comment, which can be accessed above.
Over 130 members of the public joined the first Public Workshop for the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) Guidelines. This meeting included presentations and virtual breakout room to discuss draft visions for Bay Area sea level rise adaptation. Meeting materials are available here:
– Want to learn more about the RSAP?
– How are we building on existing Bay Area work?
– What is SB272, the Laird Bill, and how does it affect our work?
In Winter 2024, staff hosted four focus groups targeted towards specific audiences/topic areas to generate specific discussion around areas with outstanding questions to resolve. These focus groups included:
• Consultants: What is the appropriate role for consultants to play in Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans and what feedback can they provide on the Guidelines based on their subject matter expertise and experience working on many different types of plans?
• Special Districts: Special districts are not required to prepare Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans according to SB 272, but many have prepared their own plans and/or will need to engage with multiple jurisdictions as they prepare their own plans since special districts own, operate, and/or manage many parts of the shoreline and assets along the shoreline. How can special districts most effectively engage in this process?
• Planners: How will Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans fit into the daily planning that staff already do? What kind of plan would best balance the additional burden on staff with maximum effectiveness? What can we learn from planners who have already done adaptation plans in the region?
• Vulnerability Assessments: What works and doesn’t work about the way cities do vulnerability assessments and how can the VA requirements maximize responsive adaptation strategies while minimizing excessive analysis?
Over 110 local planners and practitioners joined a workshop to learn about and discuss content within an early draft of the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). This meeting included presentations and virtual breakout room to discuss key themes and content on the draft Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plan Guidelines. Meeting materials are available here:
Discussions on the RSAP draft content:
– A. Local Planning: Multi-Jurisdictional Planning and Plan Integration
– B. Meaningful Engagement: Equity Assessment and Outreach in Planning
– C. Vulnerability Assessment: Flood Hazards and Minimum Standards
– D. Adaptation Strategies: Land Use and Adaptation Strategy Standards
Discussions on future resources to support RSAP implementation:
– E. Mapping Needs: Developing an Online Mapping Platform
– F. Technical and Policy Assistance: Shaping BCDC’s Future Program
– G. Funding Plans and Projects: Learn about State Funding Available
In May-June 2024, staff also partnered with 5 community-based organizations around the region to develop place-based workshops to identify how the draft Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) Guidelines would help different locations with differing conditions, levels of capacity, and progress on adaptation planning advance adaptation planning. These workshops took place in the following communities with the following partners:
• Suisun City – Sustainable Solano
• North Richmond – The Watershed Project
• San Rafael – Canal Alliance
• East Oakland – Hood Planning
• East Palo Alto – Climate Resilient Communities
Over 210 members of the public joined a webinar to learn about the draft Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). This meeting included presentations on the context of the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan an orientation to the draft content, and reminders on how to provide public comment during the public comment period through October 18, 2024. Meeting materials are available here:
Funding is available for local governments to support the creation of Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans. Visit the Ocean Protection Council’s SB 1 Grant program to learn more: SB 1 Funding – California Ocean Protection Council
Technical Assistance is available support local, regional, and tribal governments in preparing and submitting competitive applications to the SB 1 Grant Program. The TA Program aims to service and support successful funding proposals for eligible applicants, specifically:
– Environmental Justice Communities
– Federally Recognized Tribes or Tribal Partners
– Small and Rural Communities
– Communities with other locally-specific barriers to sea level rise (SLR) adaptation planning.
January 2023
February - June 2023
July - October 2023
November 2023 -
February 2024
March - August 2024
September - October
2024
November - December
2024
February 2025
Contact Jaclyn Perrin-Martinez (Senior Climate Adaptation Planner, Project Manager of the RSAP)
Check out the newest video on the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan “Rising Sea Level and the Bay Area: Our Region’s Shared Challenge and Opportunity here.
We are excited to share the Working Version of the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP)’s One Bay Vision! Developed through input from communities across the Bay, members of our expert Advisory Group, and research to build upon existing regional visions, the One Bay Vision lays the foundation for what a more resilient future can look like.
Read the Working Draft One Bay Vision to learn more about what communities we visited and to read the Vision statements! This vision will guide the RSAP project in the development of guidelines for local subregional plans.
The San Francisco Shoreline Leadership Academy is a 15-week training program for high school juniors and seniors sponsored by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the Port of San Francisco.
BCDC partnered with five Community-Based Organizations to co-host workshops in Bay Area shoreline communities most vulnerable to sea level rise.
BCDC’s Bay Adapt awards honors exemplary climate change leaders who are making significant progress in addressing the critical challenges posed by rising sea levels.
As sea level rise becomes a more urgent concern around the Bay Area, community organizations are rising to the challenge…
In the Bay Area, social equity and sea level rise are inextricably tied. Marginalized communities such as San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood, East Palo Alto, and the flatlands of Oakland sit right on the Bay’s shoreline.
The Bay Area is a beautiful, diverse place. The region’s communities have many different priorities, including building affordable housing, cleaning up shoreline contamination, restoring tidal wetlands, and more.
