SPECIAL Moving from Talk to Action NEWS MAGAZINE ADAPTATION VOL
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1 SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY Fight or Flight at the Coast? North Bay’s Highway to the Future Developers Hedge Around Higher Water Urban Farms Feed Change WATER ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE EQUITY JUNE 2020 SPECIAL Moving from talk to action NEWS MAGAZINE ADAPTATION VOL. 29, NO. 2 on resilience in 12 Bay and ONLINE FEATURES Delta counties. WWW.SFESTUARY.ORG/ ISSUE ESTUARY-NEWS 2 ESTUARY JUNE 2020 Projects !in this Issue 2 1 3 1. Lake Sonoma YOLO Warm Springs Dam, p.22 YOLO 2. Capay Valley, Full Belly Farm, p.33 CapayCaCapapay 3. River Gardens Farms, p.34 4. Yolo Land & Cattle, p.33 SONOMA 4 5. Corte Madera, p.20 NAPA SantSantta 6. San Rafael/Tiscornia Rosa Marsh Restoration, p.20 RoRosasa 7. Highway 37/Sonoma Creek, p.28 S o n 8. Napa, p.24 o m 8 a 9. Benicia, p.28 C r e 10. Suisun Marsh, p.28 e SOLANO k TToomalomamaleleses 11. Sherman Island, p.35 NapaNaNapapa 12. Twitchell Island, p.35 MarshallMMaarsrshah llll 13. Staten Island, p.35 FFaairfieldirirfiiele d 14. Richmond Shoreline, p.4 7 15. Planting Justice Nursery, p.31 10 SACRAMENTO 16. Alameda, p.30 MARIN San 17. Eden Landing, p.30 Pablo Bay RioRiR o VistaViVistst a 9 131 18. Alviso Shoreline, p.13 San Rafael 12 SaSan RaR fafaele BeniciaBeBenin cic a 19. Coyote and Penitencia Creeks 6 14 111 Confluence, p.12 5 North Richmond BolinasBolinas CorteCoCortrte NoNortth RiR chchmomonnd 20. Anderson Reservoir, p.11 MaderMaMadederara SAN JOAQUIN 21. Dumbarton Bridge Western Landing/ San Francisquito Creek, p.14 P a 23 C ONTRA 22. Colma Creek, p.15 OaklandOaOaklklana d C ONTRA DELTA c 23. San Francisco Seawall, p.7 i SanSan Francisanccisccoco 15 C OSTA f AlamedaAAllamamededa RoRoadsads i 16 c SanSan BrunoBrrunu o ART Bay Area Hotspots * Pacificacifica 22 South OpenOpen wawaterter at prespresentent San Francisco HaywarHaHaywward 17 Bay ALAMEDA 36" Sea Level Rise Flood Depth (ft) FrFremontememonont O 21 0-2 ito qu c s ci an 2-4 n Fr 18 Sa e 4-6 a AlAlvisovvisos 6-8 n SAN 19 SANTA 8-10 C o SanSaS n JoseJoJosese y MATEO o 10-12 MATEO t e CLARA C CLARA r 12+ e e k 01020mi ° 20 Map: Amber Manfree. *Source: Base map updated from BCDC ART Bay Area 2020 report including “hot spots” where vulnerabilities in transportation, priority development areas, and community risk from sea-level rise overlap. 3 Region oceans: Northern California has seen RBD left off, while new communica- an almost relentless chain of extreme tion forums such as BayCAN are Moves to weather events, including flood- fueling regional progress. Adapt ing from wetter-than-usual winter Two themes link stories from the CARIAD HAYES storms (even as total rainfall remains past and the present: first, the criti- THRONSON, well below normal), giant wildfires, cal, overarching need for enormous, GUEST EDITOR and blisteringly hot days. stable financial resources for adapta- In 2017, I wrote for this publica- With this special issue, we at tion—the Restoration Authority can’t tion about nascent efforts to address ESTUARY wanted to look at the pay for everything; and second, the sea-level rise in various communities steps communities in each county importance of looking at every invest- around the Bay. At the time, many around the Bay and Delta are taking ment and land use decision from all of the efforts were taking their cues to adapt to our new climate reality. angles. Projects that achieve multiple from the detailed inundation maps The projects explored in these pages benefits, prepare us for multiple haz- developed by BCDC’s Adapting to Ris- range from daunting infrastructure ards, and consider multiple jurisdic- ing Tides (ART) project. A year later, improvements to climate-friendly tions offer the best path to resilience. the Resilient by Design Bay Area farming practices; they are driven by Some of the most exciting projects Challenge (RBD) elicited innovative county and municipal governments, explored in this issue will potentially visions for building resilient com- state and local agencies, community build communities that are not only munities in vulnerable areas. Since organizations, and even private land- resilient in the face of climate change, then, it has become clearer than owners. Strong planning and power- but altogether healthier and more liv- ever that climate change is upon us ful science inform them, including able. We can get there, but it will take now, and that it means much more ART’s new region-wide analyses. courage, collaboration, and conviction than melting icebergs and swelling Some projects seek to pick up where on everyone’s part. PERSPECTIVE Bill 1 Advanced Adaptation Planning Program—but have been essential to For Resilience, Think Equity help build buy-in from local stakehold- ALLISON BROOKS, BAY AREA REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE ers, foster informed decision-making, and move creatively from planning to Never before ensure that every precious dime spent implementation. Local leaders urgent- has it been more is responsive to the current crisis and ly need these resources to prepare for important to imagine and invest in a serves as an investment in a more what’s ahead. future that is decidedly different than resilient and equitable future for all. As the world we are facing today. The this special issue of ESTUARY illumi- Early in the epidemic, the coordina- COVID-19 pandemic and the protests nates, the San Francisco Bay Area has tion demonstrated by Bay Area county sparked by police brutality have laid a diverse range of projects underway health departments was effective in out in stark terms the underlying sys- that—if fully funded rather than requir- saving lives. Soon individual health temic inequalities and racism in our ing years of slogging to piece together departments began tracking local data society that make poor, elderly, black, resources—could greatly accelerate on a more granular level to identify and brown people socioeconomically efforts to adapt. These projects include hot spots and stablize conditions. This vulnerable and expose them to trauma improvements to vulnerable infra- led to the current situation, where and risk. structure as well as community-based health departments tailor their policy responses to local circumstances, These vulnerabilities will only be strategies to manage local threats to health and safety. while at the same time embracing exacerbated by climate change, un- common policies like requiring masks less we work together now to achieve While stimulus packages often put and social distancing. multiple objectives: address inequality the focus on “shovel-ready” projects, and systemic racism; create equity in it’s useful to recognize that the best Climate change will demand simi- terms of health and access to oppor- way to build a fair, just, and resilient lar responses, including regional-scale tunity for low-income communities economy is to support projects that coordination, analysis, and resource of color; and invest in strategies to can achieve multiple objectives, ensur- generation to support local ingenuity. reduce the impacts of extreme storms, ing that future generations benefit Through this unprecedented experi- flooding, sea-level rise, wildfires, and from these one-time investments. This ence, individuals, communities, and lo- other hazards. COVID-19 also makes could mean embracing complicated cal leaders have all felt both hopeless an indisputable case for a decidedly projects that require multiple phases and hopeful. As we prepare for bigger unsexy focus on preparedness—mak- of engineering and environmental changes ahead, remembering both ing investments today to prepare our analysis, and that ensure local priori- our shared vulnerabilities and those of communities for an uncertain tomor- ties and needs are met through inclu- our most at-risk communities will be row. sive community engagement. key to building lasting resilience. As Congress and California’s state Some projects highlighted in this Allison Brooks is Executive Director of Bay government consider stimulus pack- issue have been funded in part by Area Regional Collaborative. ages intended to help our economy valuable grant programs that no recover, we have a responsibility to longer exist—such as Caltrans’ Senate 4 ESTUARY JUNE 2020 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY Greener, Fatter Levees Boon to Richmond Resilience? DANIEL MCGLYNN, REPORTER ecologically important plant and ani- cities within the county, along with In early May, despite the now mal species. Existing wetlands in the the county itself (large swaths, like normal issues of groups gathering for vicinity are among the best examples North Richmond, are unincorporated video calls and virtual PowerPoints, of intact marsh environments left in and under county control) are plan- the San Francisco Bay Restoration the Bay Area. ning projects to prepare for future Authority voted unanimously to fund As the name implies, the North weather volatility. the early stages of a massive new Richmond Living Levee won’t just So far the adaptation efforts in infrastructure project along the North be a static flood control barrier. the county have been decentralized. Richmond shoreline with a grant The plans call for using the levee to There is no clear-cut guidance or of $644,709. The shoreline is now address local community demand overarching governance structure one step closer to becoming home for more access to the shoreline, as with the teeth or budget to hasten to a horizontal, or living, levee that most recently outlined in both the the pace of resiliency projects. The provides both flood protection and 2018 Resilient by Design challenge county does have a five-year-old cli- habitat. The proposed project, in the and the earlier North Richmond mate action plan focused on increas- planning stages since 2017, will be Shoreline Vision plan. Key among the ing the use of renewable energy.