Climate Resilience

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Zone map

As we consider the next generation of programs and projects that will build strong, adaptive, and sustainable communities in San Francisco, two strategic documents serve as guides: the Hazards and Climate Resilience Plan and the Climate Action Plan.

In June 2020, San Francisco adopted the Hazards and Climate Resilience Plan, which also serves as the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, making San Francisco eligible for federal funding opportunities. The plan assessed vulnerability to existing hazards, such as earthquakes, as well as hazards increasing due to climate change, such as flooding, drought, extreme heat, and poor air quality from wildfires. The plan includes resilience strategies to improve San Francisco’s buildings, infrastructure, and communities and drive future resilience investment in the City.

The updated Climate Action Plan will define a pathway to deliver net zero emissions by 2050 and articulate the wider social, racial, environmental, and economic benefits of climate action. Since the completion of the City’s 2013 Climate Action Strategy, there have been significant achievements, such as the launch of CleanPowerSF, the passing of the Better Roofs and All-Electric for New Buildings Ordinances, a transition to 100 percent renewable diesel in the City fleet, and advancements in building energy efficiency. San Francisco’s post-pandemic Climate Action Plan will also center around creating good jobs and economic recovery resistant to crisis-level shocks.

This section first discusses projects related to sea level rise and flooding and then extreme heat and poor air quality.

Sea Level Rise and Flooding

The 2016 Sea Level Rise Action Plan left no question that San Francisco’s lower-lying shoreline areas will be exposed to flood waters in the relatively near-term. The City then completed the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Consequences Assessment in 2019 to provide detailed information to decision-makers on the level of vulnerability of public assets to inform future adaptation strategies.

The City has already adopted technical guidance for incorporating sea level rise into capital planning. Approved by the Capital Planning Committee in 2014 and updated in 2020, this guidance establishes a consistent review, planning, and implementation process for projects in the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Zone. Departments are expected to identify and map project sites to check whether they fall within the Vulnerability Zone, fill out a checklist for all projects over $5 million funded within the next 10 years, and submit for review by the Chair of the Capital Planning Committee and the City Engineer.

In September 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) finalized San Francisco's revised  Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) that shows flood hazards associated with flooding from coastal tides and storm surge. The National Flood Insurance Program provides reasonably priced flood insurance to homes within the flood zone and helps communities manage floodplains. The City will amend its Floodplain Management Ordinance in 2021 so that the revised FIRM can go into effect.

Storm water also poses a threat, particularly during extreme precipitation events as runoff can result in flooding and sometimes property damage. As this type of flooding is not captured by our sea level rise maps or the FEMA floodplain maps, SFPUC has developed a 100-Year Storm Flood Risk Map that shows areas of San Francisco where significant flooding from storm runoff is highly likely to occur during a 100-year storm. The purpose of the map is to inform existing and future property owners about flood risk on their property and promote resilience. This effort will be closely aligned with the City’s Floodplain Management Ordinance.

Preliminary planning is already underway in areas known to be vulnerable to sea level rise. The Port has partnered with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for a Flood Resiliency Study, where the Port and USACE each committed $1.5 million to study flood risk along San Francisco’s 7.5 mile waterfront. This USACE appropriation represents the beginning of the General Investigation process that will culminate in a recommendation to Congress regarding additional federal funding to support the Seawall Program and other areas at risk of flooding along the Port’s jurisdiction. For more information, please see the Economic and Neighborhood Development Chapter.

Also along the bayside, the Planning Department and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) are collaborating to develop the Islais Creek Southeast Mobility Adaptation Strategy, funded by a Caltrans grant. This strategy will build adaptation scenarios to lay the groundwork for a resilient, safe, and reliable multimodal transportation system for projected population and job growth.

Also in the Southeast bayfront, the Recreation and Parks Department will remediate a brownfield site adjacent to India Basin Shoreline Park to create one grand waterfront park in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. This park will increase access to open space in an under-served area of the city and programming will have an emphasis on access, social equity, waterfront recreation, sea level rise resilience, and marsh and wetland habitat. For more information, please see the Recreation, Culture, and Education Chapter.

Adaptation to sea level rise is also underway on the west side of the city. The 2012 Ocean Beach Master Plan (OBMP), led by SPUR, involved federal, state, and local agencies in the development of a sustainable and resilient long-term vision for Ocean Beach. The 3.5-mile stretch of Ocean Beach is home to rugged coast, a national park, popular urban open space, and the site of some major infrastructure assets. The OBMP presents recommendations for the management and protection of Ocean Beach in the context of climate-induced sea level rise and severe erosion. It includes six Key Moves over a horizon of several decades. Current efforts include the removal of the Great Highway between Sloat and Skyline Boulevards and the introduction of a coastal protection, restoration, and access system.

Heat and Poor Air Quality

San Francisco faced a record 30 consecutive spare-the-air days due to wildfire smoke in summer 2020 and the City must continue to prepare for more poor air quality and heat waves due to climate change. We must also look out for the most vulnerable and make sure people know where they can go to access cleaner air and cooler facilities. The City has identified public facilities that are well suited to serve as cleaner air and/or cooling respite centers, and facilities that could serve as respite centers with investments in ventilation, air conditioning systems, and window upgrades. Going forward, the City Administrator’s Office will work with partner agencies to recommend an equitable level of service for cleaner air and cooling centers in San Francisco and strategic investments in public facilities. The City is also working to advance the capital-related strategies called for in the Hazards and Climate Resilience Plan, including expanding the Street Tree SF climate resilient tree planting initiative and developing multi-hazard resilience design guidelines.

Eliminating Greenhouse Gas Emissions

At the Global Climate Action Summit in 2018, Mayor London Breed committed San Francisco to new building decarbonization goals, which require all new buildings to be net zero emissions no later than 2030 and all existing buildings to be net zero emissions by 2050. A key first step in achieving this goal is the Municipal All Electric Ordinance passed in January 2020. The legislation requires that all new construction and renovations of municipal buildings to be all electric. Facilities funding through this Capital Plan will meet this new requirement.

The 2018 Global Climate Summit

In 2018, San Francisco hosted the world’s climate change leaders, problem-solvers, and advocates for the Global Climate Summit convened by Governor Jerry Brown. In tandem with that event, San Francisco made ambitious new climate commitments to:

• Reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.
• Reduce waste generation by 15% and landfill disposal by 50% by 2030.
• Build net-zero carbon buildings by 2050.
• Issue more green bonds to finance capital projects.
• Switch all electricity in to renewables by 2030.