In our most recent article we focused on the hidden threats from sea level rise. Now, we’re going to focus on how we need to adapt to and prepare for sea level rise.
While there are no true solutions, there are ways for us to adapt in preparation for and with sea level rise in order to minimize the risks and impacts to the Bay itself and our communities, especially our most vulnerable communities. The two types of adaptations that the Bay Alive Campaign supports and recommends are natural and nature-based solutions.
However, what does this mean? What are natural and nature-based solutions? Natural and nature-based solutions (NNBS) utilize nature itself to protect against shoreline erosion, buffer against storm surge, and absorb unwanted inundation. NNBS provide flood resilience for our communities while also creating conditions for our natural ecosystems to adapt and survive. In the long run they can be cheaper than man-made structures such as sea walls, because they can naturally adapt to changing conditions, and they often offer more benefits to communities.
Fortunately, thanks to strong advocacy by experts, community members, and environmental organizations, these adaptations are recommended in the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s (BCDC) Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), which are the guidelines for local shoreline jurisdictions to follow when creating their sea level rise plans.
An important requirement of the RSAP is that all communities in the Bay Area must coordinate with their neighboring communities, in their efforts to deal with sea level rise. The rising waters pay no attention to borders and boundaries. A key strategy in developing adaptations is to work together so that one community’s solution doesn’t become another community’s problem.
Help Nature Help Us
It’s imperative to protect and enhance the Bay’s habitats because these living sanctuaries serve as natural infrastructure in our defense against sea level rise and climate change. We need to protect the habitats we have, restore those we can, allow them to grow and in some cases, to migrate to higher land. These habitats include tidal marshes, mudflats, beaches, eelgrass beds, and oyster beds. Not only are they natural infrastructure in our defense against sea level rise, they also keep the Bay alive and healthy.
Tidal marshes provide critical habitat for both flora and fauna, act as carbon sinks, and offer flood protection by acting as a natural sponge. The marshes are a critical part of the process of naturally cleaning our air and water. Mudflats and beaches serve as feeding grounds for migratory birds and support diverse invertebrate communities. Underwater habitats like eelgrass beds are vital for fish and invertebrates; they provide shelter for fish, stabilize sediments, and contribute to nutrient cycling. Oyster beds enhance the resilience and ecological balance of Bay ecosystems by filtering water, promoting biodiversity, and acting as natural breakwaters.
We can help these habitats to help the Bay and us, by following the San Francisco Bay Habitat Joint Venture’s Bay-wide goals to achieve 125,000 acres of tidal marsh, restore and enhance 16,500 acres of transition zone, and protect 14,000 acres of adjacent uplands for marsh migration. These are big numbers because the Bay shoreline is a large footprint. We should identify and protect the areas with high opportunity for NNBS and develop innovative and effective strategies (policy and funding) to achieve region-wide cooperation that maximizes regional ecological and ecoservice benefits. Ultimately, we must prioritize NNBS measures wherever feasible.
Level the Playing Field
Sea level rise will not impact every shoreline community equally. Socially and economically vulnerable neighborhoods, often burdened by contaminated sites, aging infrastructure, and limited resources, face disproportionate harm as waters rise. Barriers to civic participation, like lack of translation or childcare, and meetings held during working hours, limit their ability to influence decisions about their future. Meanwhile, pressure to over-develop shoreline lands for revenue can force the loss of natural assets that provide crucial climate change protection and public health benefits.
A key challenge is to ensure that city officials making these decisions about shoreline development understand the long term costs that can accrue should development be allowed. That education process is critical to develop the understanding and partnerships between organizations and communities resulting in the protection and best use of the natural shoreline.
Equity requires regional support to clean toxic sites, invest in resilient infrastructure, and ensure inclusive engagement so that community voices and lived experience guide solutions. By advancing NNBS and ensuring one jurisdiction’s choices don’t worsen risks for others, we can level the playing field and secure a healthier, safer shoreline for everyone.
Create Adaptive Pathways of Resilience
Sea level rise isn’t a one-time event; it will continue and is accelerating. That means there’s no single “solution.” Our response must evolve through time.
An effective, phased approach begins with nature. Living shorelines, like horizontal levees that support wetland migration, provide flexible flood protection by leveraging the natural resilience of our Baylands habitats. However, these strategies only remain flexible if we also preserve land behind them so that defenses can be extended or elevated later, rather than blocked by new development.
Nature-based solutions that combine natural and engineered elements protect communities while safeguarding the ecosystems that protect us in return. Additionally, they buy time, by delaying the need for costly engineered barriers and enabling gradual, well-planned, managed retreat where needed. Once we jump to hardened structures like seawalls, the living shoreline and its critical benefits can be lost permanently.
By planning for adaptive pathways (a phased approach that enables transitions from one methodology to another through time), we can keep communities safe today while preserving options for tomorrow. The path forward is clear: natural solutions first, nature-based next, hardened sea walls only as a last resort.
Join the Bay Alive Campaign as we work to ensure that local sea level rise plans always help nature help us, provide equity, and include adaptive pathways of resilience for the future.