Port of San Francisco Waterfront Resilience Program

The Port of San Francisco’s waterfront stretches 7.5 miles and is home to some of our city’s most beloved landmarks, public attractions, and open spaces. The waterfront is also integral to our city’s economic activity, transportation networks like BART and Muni, critical drinking water and wastewater utilities, and disaster response facilities. What happens along the San Francisco Waterfront will impact San Franciscans in every corner of the city.

We are experiencing the impacts of global climate change around the world and here in the Bay Area. These risks will increase in the future due to rising tides and extreme storm events. Any effort aimed at long-term sea level rise resilience will also need to strengthen the waterfront against the urgent earthquake risk we face today.

Seven Draft Waterfront Adaptation Strategies have been developed to address this unique combination of risks. Adaptation Strategies are different ways for the City to create a resilient, sustainable, and equitable waterfront for the next 100 years.

To prepare for future flood risk, it is also necessary to look at how the land has developed overtime. The San Francisco Bay coastline has changed dramatically over the years. Some changes are due to the natural changes from the ebb and flow of tides; other changes are human-made. Understanding these changes helps us plan for risks we face today.

To defend San Francisco from current and future flood risk, there is a need to adapt by raising the shoreline to address up to 7 feet of sea level rise expected by 2100. There are many ways we can do this, but whatever we do will need to not only defend against rising tides, but manage water inland as well.

The Draft Waterfront Adaptation Strategies address these interrelated risks in different ways. We must make decisions about which way is best for the City and our community priorities. 

Any solution endorsed by the City of San Francisco will address all three risks: seismic risks, coastal flooding and inland flooding.​

The Waterfront Resilience Program (WRP) was created to take actions to reduce seismic and climate change risks that support ​a safe, equitable, sustainable, and vibrant waterfront.​

Adaptation Strategies are different ways for the City to create a resilient, sustainable, and equitable waterfront for the next 100 years. They are a combination of construction projects and policy changes that will guide decisions about: 

• Where, when, and how high to build flood defenses 
• How and when to adapt key buildings and infrastructure to ensure continued operations of City services
• How to incorporate nature-based and ecological features, and
• Recommendations for policy changes that will best defend public and private lands, preserve and grow housing and jobs, and create recreational opportunities, waterfront access, and improved Bay habitat.

Through the development of Draft Waterfront Adaptation Strategies, the Port led an interagency process that reached alignment across multiple city departments around strategies that will increase San Francisco’s resilience to coastal flooding, stormwater flooding, rising groundwater, future sea level rise, and earthquakes while bringing other public benefits such as job creation, new open space, and Bay habitat.

To achieve its important resilience goals, the Port has partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on the San Francisco Waterfront Coastal Flood Study (Flood Study), which will study the costs and benefits of building flood defense infrastructure along the San Francisco shoreline from Heron’s Head to Fisherman’s Wharf. Federal funding for flood risk mitigation is administered through USACE, making them an important partner for local and regional resilience planning. 

There is not one way to adapt that will meet the needs of San Francisco along the entire waterfront. The different risks, topography, and historic development of the waterfront means that we will need to use a combination of approaches.

The development of the Draft Waterfront Adaptation Strategies is a reflection of five-plus years of citywide community engagement that has connected with tens of thousands of San Franciscans on what a resilient, sustainable, equitable waterfront means to them.

We've heard you tell us that in addition to prioritizing safety we need to:

The scale of change necessary to adapt provides a once in a generation opportunity to not only defend our waterfront from flood and earthquake risks, but also to rejuvenate the waterfront, improve the City’s connection to the Bay, and bring benefits such as more open space, waterfront access, enhanced mobility, increased safety, healthier natural systems, jobs, and a more vibrant waterfront.

In partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Port and the City have developed seven Draft Waterfront Adaptation Strategies (Alternatives). The seven Draft Strategies use different approaches to reduce flood risk and increase flood resilience, while managing the complex combination of coastal, stormwater, and rising groundwater hazards. While each strategy is different, all strategies aim to:   

• Reduce the risks from sea level rise and coastal flooding
• Improve life safety outcomes and the City’s disaster response capabilities   
• Bring other public benefits 
• Consider storm surge and wave action associated with extreme storms 

The Draft Strategies use sea level rise projections through the end of the century, which are based on global climate modeling. ​

We don’t know exactly what will happen in 2040 and 2090 - a lot depends on the Earth’s response to a warming climate and our global ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ​

Most global climate models are closely aligned until mid-century; by the end of the century (2090), sea level rise projections are less certain, creating a range of future sea level rise projections to consider. 

The seven Draft Waterfront Adaptation Strategies address 1.5, 3.5, and 7 feet of sea level rise, which represents the low end to the high end of what could occur by the end of this century.

As part of the process to access federal funding, we are required to consider a range of scenarios.

What if we did not adapt to defend against the risks we face?

What if we adapted by floodproofing and moving ​buildings and assets, without coastal flood structures?​

We will now walk you through the remaining five strategies and how they will be applied to the three different geographies along the Port’s waterfront.

We will ask for your input at the end of each geography.

These next five Draft Strategies are organized around two time horizons: 2040 and 2090​.

In the 2040 time frame, many of the actions are similar ​but they result in very different outcomes by 2090.

Islais Creek has unique characteristics that determine how we can adapt there. 

• In Port jurisdiction mainly low-density industrial and Port working lands
• Low-lying land subject to coastal and upland flooding ​
• Equity and environmental justice concerns include job loss, toxics, gentrification, open space access​
• Large spaces present opportunities for restoring natural watershed and wetlands

What if we address flooding at a lower rate of sea level rise?

What if we address flooding​ at a higher rate of ​sea level rise as recommended by local and State guidance?

Mission Creek / Mission Bay has unique characteristics that determine how we can adapt there.

• New, high density residential, businesses, medical district
• Low-lying development subject to coastal and upland flooding
• Challenging to adapt because of limited undeveloped space
• Seperated sewer system from the rest of the City

What if we address flooding at a lower rate of sea level rise?

What if we address flooding​ at a higher rate of sea level rise as recommended by local and State guidance?

The Embarcadero has unique characteristics that detemine how we can adapt here.

• Very high-density area of jobs and housing + registered historic district
• Limited space for adaptation
• Critical transportation corridor
• Flood/earthquake risk to maritime and crucial disaster response functions

What if we address flooding at a lower rate of sea level rise?

What if we address flooding​ at a higher rate of sea level rise as recommended by local and State guidance?

The Port gathered feedback on these Draft Strategies through early 2023. This feedback informed the identification of the Draft Plan (Tentatively Selected Plan) presented in the  Draft Integrated Feasibility Report / Environmental Impact Statement  (Draft Report) released in January 2024. The public comment period on the Draft Report closed on March 29, 2024. Public comments received on the Draft Report will be used to inform the Recommended Plan and the Final Report.

The Final Report will be presented to the U.S. Congress for potential federal funding of up to 65% of the project cost.