King Tide
Special Feature

New BARC Report Calls for Regional Action on Climate Change and Other Threats Summary

Public Invited to Comment by January 15, 2018

The Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC) has released a new report entitled Raising the Bar on Regional Resilience, which details the Bay Area’s vulnerabilities to sea level rise and other effects of climate change, flooding, earthquakes, and other hazards. The report also provides an action plan for developing a regional response to these threats. Developed by BARC and key partners including the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), the report calls for the establishment of a comprehensive, integrated Regional Resilience Plan that will help the Bay Area adapt, recover and push forward in the face of both immediate and long-term challenges.

Through case studies of Bay Area communities including San Rafael, East Palo Alto, Oakland and Hayward, Raising the Bar identifies vulnerabilities — such as transportation infrastructure, fragile housing, disadvantaged communities and close-to-shore natural areas — that cannot be addressed solely at a local scale, and provides a variety of strategies for planning, adaptation and response.

“This past year has brought an unprecedented number of catastrophic climate events upon many vulnerable people and places in the United States and around the world,” said BARC Executive Director Allison Brooks. “Over the last several years, the Bay Area has seen its own extreme climate events moving from drought to flooding to wildfires. Taken together, these events bring a sense of urgency to making our communities, infrastructure and environment more resilient.”

Raising the Bar offers six steps to regional resilience that include developing a regional governance strategy for climate adaptation, strengthening policy leadership on the topic, providing technical assistance, enhancing built and natural infrastructure, and creating new funding for adaptation projects. BARC is accepting public comments on the draft report until January 15, 2018. Comments may be sent to: barcadmin@bayareametro.gov

BARC was created through state legislation to foster the coordination of the Bay Area’s regional agencies on issues of regional significance. The Collaborative includes representatives from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. BARC’s website can be reached at: http://bayarearegionalcollaborative.org/index.html.