US$3m to protect Oakland from rising sea levels

The award from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will help fund the ‘Rising Seas and Oakland’s Infrastructure and Frontline Communities: Climate Adaptation Planning for Neighborhood-led Resiliency’ project. The port is also contributing US$1.5 million to the US$4.5 million project.

“Sea level rise and groundwater intrusion pose an existential threat to the port and city,” said director of Environmental Programs and Planning Colleen Liang.

“We are thankful to Caltrans for the award. We’ll use the funding to provide adaptation strategies for the Port, and the City of Oakland’s vulnerable communities.”

The nearly 20 miles of San Francisco Bay shoreline property that the Port of Oakland oversees is vulnerable to extreme weather events, with disadvantaged communities particularly under threat.

Affected services include critical transportation infrastructure, such as San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, the Oakland Seaport, and public transportation. It also includes critical roadway infrastructure which provides freight and passenger connectivity to vital state, regional, and local economies.

The project will model projected impacts of near and long-term (2030, 2050, 2100) sea level rise, groundwater intrusion, and liquefaction, as well as explore mitigations.