Forward thinking, sea level rise containment

CBS/KCBS channel 5, San Francisco Bay Area, 6/27/14.  "San Mateo County planners grapple with expected 3-foot sea level rise."

At least our county is thinking about sea level rise now

"FOSTER CITY (CBS SF) — The threat of rising seas in San Mateo County was the focus of a planning conference in Foster City Friday morning hosted by federal, state and county government leaders.  “Sea level rise is one of the most critical issues we face in San Mateo County, and there are no more crisis-oriented issues than this one,” said Congresswoman Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco/San Mateo/Redwood City, one of the conference hosts.

....  David Pine noted that of the 20 cities in San Mateo County, 19 were in attendance. In addition to city staff and elected officials, officials from special districts and regulatory agencies were in attendance. ....“The first concept is to introduce the reality of a 3-foot sea level rise, and the significant effect it will have on San Mateo County’s people and property. The second concept is to design an organizational structure on how to prepare for this, and the third is to create a task force to make recommendations and explore options for funding,” Pine said."  Read article.

Related -  KQED, blog 6/13/14.  "Rising seas will likely lead to unprecedented flooding along parts of California’s coast within 20-60 years, according to new research by Climate Central. Driven by climate change, global sea levels have already risen several inches over the past century." 

Inside Bay reference - State of CA/BCDC, San Francisco bay areas. "..  Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to produce a series of sea level rise maps showing areas vulnerable to 16 inches of sea level rise at mid-century and 55 inches at the end of the century."  Coastal reference - Cal-adapt, "Sea level rise" "Global models indicate that California may see up to a 55 inch (140 cm) rise in sea level within this century given expected rise in temperatures around the world.  The following map tool displays areas that may be in threat of inundation during an extreme flood event (100 year flood).  These data were developed by scientists from the USGS (Bay Area) and Pacific Institute (Coast)." 

Note:  graphic from  Resilient by design.

Posted by Kathy Meeh