The San Francisco Bay Area, defined by the Bay and Delta ecosystem and the communities that live around it, forms the largest estuary on the West Coast. It contains 90 percent of California’s coastal wetlands and receives over 40 percent of California’s freshwater flows. Balancing the Bay’s fragile ecosystem in the face of rising sea levels, within a region that has one of the largest regional economies in the nation, poses a unique challenge. Today, planners and designers are continually pushing the envelope to create resilient infrastructure and adaptive strategies to meet these challenges.
Over the last four decades, Moffatt & Nichol has been at the forefront of sea level rise (SLR)-focused planning, engineering, and design efforts in the Bay Area, with several signature projects implemented. These projects have included resilient waterfront parks and recreational facilities that provide public access to the Bay, transportation infrastructure along the Bay margins, redevelopment of waterfront communities, and restoration of high value habitats using material dredged from the region’s navigation channels.
“We are actively engaged on several exciting SLR adaptation projects, many still in their early stages, which strive to achieve a balance between a diverse array of community goals and economic sustainability of our beloved region,” said Dilip Trivedi, a Moffatt & Nichol vice president and coastal engineer who has worked on coastal and water resource projects throughout the Bay area for more than 30 years.
Treasure Island
The SLR risk assessment and adaptation strategy pioneered for the Treasure Island redevelopment project became a model for the Bay Area, receiving national attention when it received the Governor’s Award for Environmental and Economic Leadership in Sustainable Communities. The SLR strategy has been widely acclaimed in the region as one that combines best-available science, forward thinking and practical engineering, and project-funded adaptations.
“We’ve been involved with shore protection and SLR strategies for Treasure Island since 2006. Given its central location in the Bay and typical low-lying terrain, it is a perfect case study for SLR planning. What became clear in the initial planning phases was that the science of climate change and SLR is evolving, implying that it is prudent to develop community designs that can accommodate various levels of SLR over the planning horizon rather than design to a single report or estimate,” said Dilip.
Construction of SLR-related perimeter improvements is well underway, and a new ferry terminal that alleviates traffic congestion between the island and San Francisco is operational.
Oakland and Alameda
Moffatt & Nichol is providing coastal engineering and climate change planning services to the cities of Alameda and Oakland for one of the largest regional adaptation projects in the Bay Area. The project will make Jack London Square in Oakland, Marina Village in Alameda, residential communities on Bay Farm Island, and transportation infrastructure serving these communities more resilient to future sea level rise.
“We are working alongside a talented team of other consultants and the local community to develop near-term and long-term concepts that address flooding of shoreline communities, while also enhancing transportation and recreation corridors along the Bay,” said Dilip. The first phase of the project is funded by several state and federal grants, which are expected to grow as the designs are developed.
China Basin Park
Moffatt & Nichol provided shoreline engineering and SLR planning services to the San Francisco Giants for a premier 5-acre waterfront community park that opened in April 2024. Just across from Oracle Park and McCovey Cove, it serves as a focal point for the Mission Rock redevelopment project, which is transforming former port parking lots into a modern, resilient mixed-use project.
“China Basin Park offers unique amenities to the community, including a sandy beach, bike and pedestrian trails adjacent to the Bay edge, a raingarden, spectacular views of the City shoreline and the Ballpark, and the opportunity to host public and private events,” said Dilip.
San Rafael
Across the Bay, Moffatt & Nichol and Waggonner & Ball, a Moffatt & Nichol Studio, are supporting the City of San Rafael as it moves forward with sea level rise adaptation planning within an area identified as one of the region’s most vulnerable. Applying a collaborative, transformative approach to urban resilience called Living with Water® that was pioneered by Waggonner & Ball in New Orleans, the study team will identify and evaluate adaptation options that can increase community resilience to multiple flood risks, from relative sea level rise to groundwater management to shoreline liquefaction, with a focus on community priorities, ecological considerations, and technical feasibility.
“Northern California, while unique in many ways, shares some of the same flood vulnerabilities as the Mississippi River delta: land subsidence, groundwater rise, marsh erosion and migration, and sea level rise,” said Andy Sternad, a Waggonner & Ball principal. “Our team is using the Living With Water® approach to establish adaptation pathways and incremental steps that increase safety and build value over time.”
For questions or additional information related to resiliency planning and design, please contact us at publicrelations@moffattnichol.com.
