On the Waterfront by June A. Osterberg

OFFICIAL BCNA NEWS

Another article about CLIMATE CHANGE and SEA LEVEL RISE? An emphatic Yes. World-shaking matters deserve local spotlights and attention.

Attention is being paid locally by a State agency, the SF Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and their being on the job, planning and developing programs and information essential to residents of Bay shores and their descendants.

BCDC is perhaps best known as a regulatory agency, but it and its staff have embraced the role of informing the citizenry about what is happening on the great Bay, what to expect and what does or will require reaction and action in the future.

Created in 1965 by the McAteer-Petris Act, the BCDC likes the word “resilience” — as in a collective bouncing back after an earthquake or flood, i.e., planning “how the region can react to become resilient to rising sea level.”

Legislation to promote the ideas and activity to promote this was introduced with BCDC’s encouragement by the East Bay’s Senator Loni Hancock early this year.

The BCDC staff report of April 18 stated that if adopted, SB 1184 would provide a planning process to prepare a regional strategy to adapt to rising sea level — “in collaboration with local partners and existing regional and community efforts.

The bible of the 27-member BCDC is its San Francisco Bay Plan adopted in 1968 and amended. Its regulatory authority consists of issuing or denying permit applications — for placing fill and extracting materials, or changing the use of any land, water, or structure within its jurisdiction.

Its Bay Plan and maps guide the protection and development of the Bay and its tributary waterways, marshes, managed wetlands, salt ponds and — especially important to members and friends of BCNA — the shoreline.

On the Waterfront ends its account with this short history contributed by Joe LaClair, BCDC’s chief planner:

“When the McAteer-Petris Act and the SF Bay Plan were written, BCDC was unaware of the dynamic forces driving changes to San Francisco Bay.

“In the 1960s and 1970s, the Bay was perceived as being static with levels that moved within predictable, stable tidal changes.

“In 1989 the Commission first recognized the potential effects of climate change and rising sea levels on San Francisco Bay and amended its Bay Plan to incorporate changes to its safety of fills policies to ensure rising sea level was integrated into the Bay fill project designs.

“However, a lack of scientific consensus and public acknowledgment of the problem made implementation of these policies difficult.

“By the mid-2000s, a scientific consensus had emerged that global climate was changing due to anthropogenic forces, and that these changes would lead to, among other things, significant sea level rise over time.

“In 2006, BCDC published maps showing the low lying areas around the Bay shoreline that may be vulnerable to a meter of sea level rise.”

In years that followed, LaClair said, BCDC undertook studies of the potential effects of sea level rise on the Bay, which led to BCDC’s climate change program.

This has expanded considerably over the past eight years, “including sponsoring scientific inquiry, educating local governments, amending the Bay Plan, conducting collaborative planning with local governments, and working with state, federal and regional partners to explore regional solutions.”

Magic word — “solutions.” Let’s hear it for the forward-looking, hard-working BCDC and its remarkable staff.