climate adaptation; flooding; nature based solutions

BARC, along with partner agencies and organizations, has worked to get federal support in a regionwide study of sea level rise San Franciso Bay. We are pleased to announce that by working through our Congressional delegation, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA), signed by President Biden, authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a comprehensive study of adaptive measures that consider the needs of economically disadvantaged communities, vulnerable infrastructure, and use of nature-based strategies.

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) recently received two grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund program totaling $10.6M. With matching funds from non-federal partners, SFEP has raised about $20M for projects that protect and restore watersheds in Hayward, Richmond, San Pablo, and North Richmond.

With sea level rising at a rate of 10 millimeters per year due to climate change, coastal wetland ecosystems in the United States are in jeopardy. As the rate of sea level rise increases, many coastal wetland complexes cannot migrate inland because they are bound on that side by the human-built environment. There are strategies that land managers can explore to make room for the valuable ecosystem services wetlands provide, such as wildlife habitat and flood protection from storm surges.

Since 2013, China has embarked on a national policy to turn its growing metropolises into sponge cities, which capture stormwater instead of disposing of it all. As engineered designs slow the flow of that water and allow it to soak into the Earth instead of running away—using rain gardens, spreading grounds, permeable pavers, and urban wetlands—they simultaneously reduce flooding and refill underlying aquifers.