Sea Level Rise Funding and Investment Strategy

A living dashboard that empowers the San Francisco Bay region to connect and explore adaptation projects and funding opportunities.

Adaptation Needs

$96 billion
Estimated cost of sea level rise adaptation through 2050 (in year of expenditure dollars)

Cost of Inaction

$230+ billion
Estimated value of a subset of assets at risk through 2050 (in 2022 dollars)

About This Project

The Bay Area faces a $96 billion cost to adapt to sea level rise and flooding by 2050. Only $6.5 billion in funding is anticipated. The Investment Strategy will help coordinate funding for sea level rise adaptation projects. A key goal is to ensure funding reaches areas with the most need. 

BCDC is building a tool that empowers the region to:


  • sort and filter a database of adaptation projects
  • view project information for easy download and external sharing
  • align projects based on regional priorities and funding source criteria
  • draw connections between adaptation projects and existing funding opportunities
  • generate summary products to support reports, plans, and advocacy
  • Users of this tool may include project sponsors, funders, agencies, and advocacy groups. 


The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) leads this effort. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)/Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) provides support. A Steering Committee with key stakeholders guides development of the tool. BCDC and MTC/ABAG launched the project in summer 2025. Look out for the first version of the tool in 2026!

Audiences & Uses

Funders

Immediate Uses for the Tool

  • Draw connections between funding and projects
  • Identify gaps between funding opportunities and projects
  • Generate summary products to support reports, plans, and advocacy
 

Future Uses for the Tool

  • Identify projects in BCDC approved shoreline adaptation plans
  • Align funding with regional adaptation needs
  • Access an online database of projects
 

Project Leads

 

Immediate Uses for the Tool

  • Identify eligible funding sources for projects
  • Identify priority stretches of the shoreline for project development
  • Generate summary products to support reports, plans, and advocacy
 

Future Uses for the Tool

  • Keep track of funding progress and trends over time
  • Access an online database of projects

Agencies & Advocacy Groups

Immediate Uses for the Tool

  • Sort projects by attributes to estimate regional funding needs
  • Estimate the gap between available funding and adaptation costs
  • Generate summary products to support reports, plans, and advocacy
 

Future Uses for the Tool

  • Keep track of funding progress and trends over time
  • Access adaptation project data to advocate for new funding sources
 

Key Resources

Bay Adapt Joint Platform

 

The Bay Adapt Joint Platform is a consensus-based strategy consisting of 9 actions and 21 tasks that will protect people and the natural and built environment from rising sea levels. Rather than specifying individual projects, the Bay Adapt Joint Platform lays out regional strategies that focus on overcoming barriers and identifying factors for successful adaptation outcomes we want throughout the region.

Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP)

 

The RSAP is a region-wide plan for the Bay shoreline that includes Guidelines and Standards for local governments to use as they develop Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans. The purpose of the RSAP is to achieve the following objectives: establish a regional vision for successful sea level rise adaptation, align local and regional priorities, reduce flood risk through improved multi-jurisdictional coordination, standardize and simplify adaptation methods and data, and drive regionally coordinated project implementation.

Sea Level Rise Adaptation Funding and Investment Framework

 

This 2023 study, co-led by Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)-Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and BCDC, was the first regional agency study to quantify the region’s sea level rise adaptation needs. The study provided a foundation for future funding initiatives, like future Plan Bay Area cycles and the Investment Strategy. The Framework:

  • Identified a $110 billion need for sea level rise adaptation projects;
  • Forecasted only $5 billion in anticipated funding through 2050; and
  • Provided a roadmap for securing additional resources and aligning regional investments.

Plan Bay Area 2050+ & the Resilience Project List

 

Plan Bay Area is a long-range regional plan jointly developed and adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Strategy EN1, Adapt to Sea Level Rise, in Plan Bay Area 2050+ identifies the need for projects that support adaptation for shoreline communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems affected by sea level rise. Plan Bay Area 2050+ refined the work from the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Funding & Investment Framework by: 

 

  • Conducting outreach and updating the Framework estimation to identify a $96 billion need for sea level rise adaptation projects; and 
  • Developing a Resilience Project List [Project List] [Mapping Viewer], which bins sea level rise investment based on inundation timing and project readiness. 
 
For more information about how the Resilience Project List was developed, see the Sea Level Rise Resilience Project List Briefer.

Shoreline Adaptation Project Map (SAPMap), hosted on EcoAtlas

 

The SAPMap is a subset of projects that have been mapped in EcoAtlas Project Tracker that have a nexus with sea level rise adaptation. The SAPMap database spatially tracks adaptation projects, communicates regional progress on shoreline resilience goals, and supports a living network of community-based partners poised to lead adaptation planning, construction, and monitoring. This work has been fundamental to the development of the Framework and the Resilience Project List. BCDC and MTC-ABAG will also apply the SAPMap dataset to the Investment Strategy and facilitate annual updates to support its ongoing maintenanc

Timeline

  • Funding and Investment Framework

    2023

  • Bay Plan Amendment

    2024

  • Investment Strategy Launched

    2025

  • Steering Committee Formed

    2025

  • First Investment Strategy Tool Released

    2026

  • Tool Supported and Improved

    Ongoing

Questions or Comments?

Contact Cory Copeland (Adapting to Rising Tides Data and Science Manager)

Read more on the Blog!
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