Waterfront Resilience Story Maps
Port of San Francisco
Introduction
The Port of San Francisco manages 7.5 miles of Bay shoreline that is home to some of the region’s most popular open spaces and attractions, a national historic district, hundreds of small businesses, nearby housing, and maritime and industrial uses. The Port’s jurisdiction includes transportation networks like BART and Muni, critical utilities including drinking and wastewater, and key disaster response facilities.
The Port’s Waterfront Resilience Program efforts ensure the waterfront, and its important regional and citywide assets, are resilient in the face of hazards such as earthquakes and flooding.
The Port’s 7.5 mile bayside jurisdiction is incredibly complex, with a diverse array of shoreline structures and infrastructure, and neighborhoods with unique character, land use, and priorities. In an effort to support and maintain this diversity as the Waterfront Resilience Program addresses seismic and flood risk, the Program area was divided into 15 subareas, across three main geographies.
Transforming the Shoreline
Over 100 years ago, the Port of San Francisco transformed the city and the Bay shoreline with the construction of the Embarcadero Seawall, a rock and concrete wall stretching three miles, creating a new Bay shoreline and laying the foundation for the thriving waterfront we know today. Mission Creek and Islais Creek were also transformed, with both creeks placed underground in culverts, and areas that were once open water, wetlands, and mudflats were filled in and developed to support the rapidly growing city.
Swipe left and right on the map below to explore the 1850 historic shoreline on the left, compared with the today's shoreline and the flooding that could occur with a 100-year coastal flood combined with 66 inches of sea level rise. This scenario represents the City's Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Zone, a high-end scenario that could occur by the end of this century. For much of the city, the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Zone closely resembles the historic shoreline.
What are the Risks?
The Port, in collaboration with City partners and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is taking steps to better understand the different earthquake and flood risks along its 7.5-mile bayside jurisdiction. Recent efforts include:
- Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment
- Flood Resiliency Study (with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
- Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Consequences Assessment (City of San Francisco)
- Islais Creek Adaptation Strategy (with SF Planning, SFMTA, and SFPUC)
- Initial Southern Waterfront Seismic Study
- Southern Waterfront Seismic Vulnerability Assessment
What's at Stake?
Each of the three geographies and 15 subareas has a story map that explains the specific earthquake and flooding risks along the Bay shoreline. These story maps also help explain what's at stake given the potential impacts of these risks. Dynamic maps detail important disaster response resources, transportation services, maritime industries, public utilities, parks, historic and cultural resources, and critical facilities within each subarea.
Pan through the 15 subareas below and select one to explore.