In January of 2014, the City of San Rafael released a white paper on sea level rise to address the needs of their Climate Change Action Plan, which was adopted in 2009. Anais Hall, who currently works for Climate Protection Campaign as a Project Coordinator for the Carma Carpooling program, helped with this report as a consultant for the City of San Rafael.
The white paper shares background information from the federal, state, and local government in acknowledging what has been completed to date. It then reviews completed assessments and strategies while identifying possible funding resources. Lastly, the paper focuses on Marin County to showcase what is currently being done and what areas need to be address.
In Sonoma County, sea level rise is also an issue that needs our attention. The figure below is a snap shot of threatened areas in Sonoma County.
Figure 1 Sea Level Rise: Threatened Areas Map, Cal-Adopt.com
In addition to coastal areas and transit concerns along the 101 corridor and Highway 37, Sonoma County will need to consider sea level rise vulnerabilities from the San Francisco bay. Sea Level Rise assessments in Petaluma and other areas in Sonoma County will be necessary to create smart transportation and land use policies and resilient communities.