The information on this page is designed for municipal officials and staff people who want to learn more about planning for, funding, and implementing green infrastructure and sustainable stormwater solutions for communities around the San Francisco Estuary.
The resources presented here complement the information provided in our Green Streets brochure (right). This information is designed for municipal officials and staff people who want to learn more about planning for, funding, and implementing green infrastructure and sustainable stormwater solutions for communities around the San Francisco Estuary.
Click to read the brochure and then explore the tabs below for more resources and exemplary case studies.
This project advances the following Estuary Blueprint goals and actions
Goals Champion the Estuary
Actions Action 24
Resources
Planning and Policy
Funding
Design Guidance and Implementation
Case Studies
NEW! Click here to download the Roadmap of Funding Solutions for Sustainable Streets, developed through a roundtable process by the Urban Greening Bay Area project team.
Developing a successful green streets plan or program requires policy guidance, tools and analytics, and coordination between multiple departments and stakeholders. Here are a few tools and examples to get you started.
Model Ordinance Are you interested in building more sustainability into your road network? You may wish to begin by revising your municipal code, which will make it easier to integrate green infrastructure into existing public improvement programs. Learn more.
GreenPlan-IT Do you need to build a case for sustainable stormwater solutions? GreenPlan-IT is a GIS-based green infrastructure planning tool can help city staff identify the most cost-effective suite of projects and prepare realistic budget estimates to share with decision-makers.Learn more.
Green Infrastructure Funding Mechanisms This document explores strategies for developing alternative compliance and in-lieu fee programs to capture and target GI funding opportunities created by public and private projects unable to incorporate required GI into on-site on-site improvements. Learn more.
San Mateo Sustainable Streets Plan This is an example of a city masterplan to improve traffic and pedestrian safety, while increasing urban greening and climate change resiliency. Learn more.
SF PUC Urban Watershed Planning Learn more about SFPUC’s program to engage local stakeholders in identifying multi-benefit solutions as it integrates green and grey infrastructure to achieve runoff reductions as part of its 20-year, Sewer System Improvement Plan (SSIP). Learn more.
SF Better Streets Plan This city website compiles the actual Better Streets Plan, as well as the General Plan amendments, local ordinances, and City Controller program analyses that undergird the plan. Learn more.
Many green infrastructure projects in the Bay Area have successfully leveraged federal, state, and regional funds.
Proposition 1 – Water Bond Grants California Proposition 1 (Water Quantity, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014) authorized $7.55 billion in general obligation bonds for water projects throughout the state including surface and groundwater storage, ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration, and drinking water protection. These funds are typically awarded through a variety of State agency grant programs, such as:
State Coastal Conservancy: $100.5M in grant funds for multi-benefit ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration projects, including water sustainability improvements and urban greening projects. Over the next several years, the SCC will offer up to four grant rounds per year. Some solicitations will be open to all eligible projects, others will target specific Prop 1 priorities identified in the SCC’s Strategic Plan. One funding round is expected in 2019. Learn More.
Storm Water Grant Program: $200M in grant funds for multi-benefit storm water management projects, which may include, but not be limited to: green infrastructure, rainwater and storm water capture projects and storm water treatment facilities. Storm Water Resource Plans, or functionally equivalent plan(s), are required to obtain grant funds for storm water and dry weather capture projects. The next round of funding will be targeted for implementation projects. Learn more.
Urban Rivers Grant Program: $20M in grant funds to the California Natural Resources Agency for green infrastructure that conserves water, buffers, climate change impacts, improves water quality, water supply, public health, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and energy demand, restores and protects rivers, creeks and streams (including acquisition). Learn more.
Sustainable Growth Council’s Urban Greening Program This program created provides grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to fund green infrastructure projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout California. The goal is for these greening projects to incrementally create more viable and sustainable communities throughout the state. The California Natural Resources Agency, Bonds and Grants Office currently expects no further funding rounds for Prop 1. View latest spreadsheet of funding opportunities from NRA’s various programs. Learn more.
SF Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (EPA) The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manages this competitive grant program aimed at restoring wetlands and watersheds and reducing polluted runoff. These funds support technically sound projects that achieve significant environmental results such as polluted runoff reduction, impaired waters restoration, and aquatic habitat enhancement. The focus is to select ready to implement projects; however, planning and assessment projects are also considered. Awards typically range from $800K to $2M, and applicants must provide a minimum 50% non-federal match. This annual program is now accepting proposals until December 5, 2018. Learn more.
Clean Water, Pollution Prevention, and Habitat Restoration Program Measure AA, passed by the voters in 2016, is expected to generate approximately $25 million per year over 20 years toward the San Francisco Bay Clean Water, Pollution Prevention, and Habitat Restoration Program to fund shoreline projects that would protect and restore San Francisco Bay. This program is administered by the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority. Eligible projects should accomplish one or more of the following goals: (1) Reduce trash, pollutants, and harmful toxins; (2) Improve water quality; (3) Restore habitat for wildlife, (4) Protect communities from floods; and (5) Increase shoreline access for public enjoyment. The second round of Requests for Proposals is open with applications due November 26, 2018.Learn more.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund The fund helps communities prevent pollution of precious water resources by providing below-market-rate financing for the implementation of storm drainage pollution control solutions, among other eligible projects. Applications are accepted at any time. Learn more.
The integration of green infrastructure elements into planned capital improvement projects for local streets and sidewalks is an exceptional opportunity to address multiple issues, both above and below the surface.
County Clean Water Program C3 Handbooks provide guidance on green infrastructure projects, including site selection, sizing, suitable plants, and operations and maintenance:
Green Infrastructure Tracking System (coming soon!)
San Pablo Avenue Rain Gardens This successful project retrofitted the conventional public right-of-way (street edge and sidewalk area) with a series of stormwater treatment cells (aka rain gardens) at two sites along San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. Learn more.
Newcomb Avenue Low Impact Development Community members and city staff implemented the design for a green streetscape by planting trees and other drought-tolerant plants, installing specially designed stormwater-filtering planters to infiltrate stormwater runoff, installing traffic calming chicanes, and creating community gathering places. Learn more.
San Pablo Avenue Avenue Green Stormwater Spine The San Pablo Avenue Green Stormwater Spine is a pilot project and model for Bay Area municipalities implementing green infrastructure projects as part of their stormwater management efforts. The project will design, build, and monitor an array of low impact development (LID) projects distributed along 12.5 miles of San Pablo Avenue, a major thoroughfare passing through a number of East Bay cities. Learn more.
Hacienda Avenue Green Street Improvement Project As part of a comprehensive street improvement project (including 62 street trees, a road diet, street regrading, bike lanes, and streetlight upgrades), this three-quarter-mile road reconstruction project in Campbell added sidewalks and curb extensions with bioretention to decrease stormwater runoff rates and improve water quality. The City, opportunistically, coordinated upgrades of underground utilities while the street was reconstructed.
Serramonte Main Branch Library Stormwater Treatment Gardens This project in Daly City created extended rain gardens, or bioretention cells, around the public library, collecting and treating nearly 4 acres of runoff from the parking lot and surrounding areas. Learn more.
GreenPlan Bay Area Funded by the State Water Resources Control Board, GreenPlan Bay Area is a collaborative effort between the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, and Bay Area municipalities to develop spatial tools which will be used to develop plans that identify the optimal combination of green infrastructure LID features for achieving desirable outcomes at the watershed scale. Learn more.
Fremont Tree Well Filters In 2012, the City of Fremont installed two tree well filters on Osgood Road to improve city aesthetics and treat urban runoff. Two distinct filter configurations were designed and built side by side so that they could be tested against one another for efficacy of pollutant removal and maintenance costs. Learn more.
Regional Trash Reduction Project Trash is both a water quality problem and a visual nuisance in the Bay Area. Trash is carried by the region’s municipal storm drain systems to local creeks, the Bay, and on to the Pacific Ocean. SFEP is actively involved in reducing trash in our waters. Learn more.
Taking Action for Clean Water – PCBs in Caulk Project SFEP’s PCBs in Caulk Project was created to address potential impacts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in caulks and sealants released into stormwater runoff during demolition or remodeling projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. The project assisted the implementation of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for PCBs in San Francisco Bay. The project is no longer active, but archive information is available. Learn more.
Nothing could be stranger than sitting in the dark with thousands of suits and heels, watching a parade of promises to decarbonize from companies and countries large and small, reeling from the beauties of big screen rainforests and indigenous necklaces, and getting all choked up.
It was day two of the September 2018 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco when I felt it.
At first I wondered if I was simply starstruck. Most of us labor away trying to fix one small corner of the planet or another without seeing the likes of Harrison Ford, Al Gore, Michael Bloomberg, Van Jones, Jerry Brown – or the ministers or mayors of dozens of cities and countries – in person, on stage and at times angry enough to spit. And between these luminaries a steady stream of CEOs, corporate sustainability officers, and pension fund managers promising percentages of renewables and profits in their portfolios dedicated to the climate cause by 2020-2050.
I tried to give every speaker my full attention: the young man of Vuntut Gwichin heritage from the edge of the Yukon’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge who pleaded with us not to enter his sacred lands with our drills and dependencies; all the women – swathed in bright patterns and head-scarfs – who kept punching their hearts. “My uncle in Uganda would take 129 years to emit the same amount of carbon as an American would in one year,” said Oxfam’s Winnie Byanyima.
“Our janitors are shutting off the lights you leave on,” said Aida Cardenas, speaking about the frontline workers she trains, mostly immigrants, who are excited to be part of climate change solutions in their new country.
The men on the stage, strutting about in feathers and pinstripes, spoke of hopes and dreams, money and power. “The notion that you can either do good or do well is a myth we have to collectively bust,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy whose state is investing heavily in offshore wind farms.
“Climate change isn’t just about risks, it’s about opportunities,” said Blackrock sustainable investment manager Brian Deese.
But it wasn’t all these fine speeches that started the butterflies. Halfway through the second day of testimonials, it was a slight white-haired woman wrapped in an azure pashmina that pricked my tears. One minute she was on the silver screen with Alec Baldwin and the next she taking a seat on stage. She talked about trees. How trees can solve 30% of our carbon reduction problem. How we have to stop whacking them back in the Amazon and start planting them everywhere else. I couldn’t help thinking of Dr. Suess and his truffala trees. Jane Goodall, over 80, is as fierce as my Lorax. Or my daughter’s Avatar.
Analyzing my take home feeling from the event I realized it wasn’t the usual fear – killer storms, tidal waves, no food for my kids to eat on a half-baked planet – nor a newfound sense of hope – I’ve always thought nature will get along just fine without us. What I felt was relief. People were actually doing something. Doing a lot. And there was so much more we could do.
As we all pumped fists in the dark, as the presentations went on and on and on because so many people and businesses and countries wanted to STEP UP, I realized how swayed I had let myself be by the doomsday news mill.
“We must be like the river, “ said a boy from Bangladesh named Risalat Khan, who had noticed our Sierra watersheds from the plane. “We must cut through the mountain of obstacles. Let’s be the river!”
Or as Harrison Ford less poetically put it: “Let’s turn off our phones and roll up our sleeves and kick this monster’s ass.”
4th California Climate Change Assessment Blues
by Isaac Pearlman
Since California’s last state-led climate change assessment in 2012, the Golden State has experienced a litany of natural disasters. This includes four years of severe drought from 2012 to 2016, an almost non-existent Sierra Nevada snowpack in 2014-2015 costing $2.1 billion in economic losses, widespread Bay Area flooding from winter 2017 storms, and extremely large and damaging wildfires culminating with this year’s Mendocino Complex fire achieving the dubious distinction of the largest in state history. California’s most recent climate assessment, released August 27th, predicts that for the state and the Bay Area, we can expect even more in the future.
The California state government first began assessing climate impacts formally in 2006, due to an executive order by Governor Schwarzenegger. California’s latest iteration and its fourth overall, includes a dizzying array of 44 technical reports; three topical studies on climate justice, tribal and indigenous communities, and the coast and ocean; as well as nine region-specific analyses.
The results are alarming for our state’s future: an estimated four to five feet of sea level rise and loss of one to two-thirds of Southern California beaches by 2100, a 50 percent increase in wildfires over 25,000 acres, stronger and longer heat waves, and infrastructure like airports, wastewater treatment plants, rail and roadways increasingly likely to suffer flooding.
For the first time, California’s latest assessment dives into climate consequences on a regional level. Academics representing nine California regions spearheaded research and summarized the best available science on the variable heat, rain, flooding and extreme event consequences for their areas. For example, the highest local rate of sea level rise in the state is at the rapidly subsiding Humboldt Bay. In San Diego county, the most biodiverse in all of California, preserving its many fragile and endangered species is an urgent priority. Francesca Hopkins from UC Riverside found that the highest rate of childhood asthma in the state isn’t an urban smog-filled city but in the Imperial Valley, where toxic dust from Salton Sea disaster chokes communities – and will only become worse as higher temperatures and less water due to climate change dry and brittle the area.
According to the Bay Area Regional Report, since 1950 the Bay Area has already increased in temperature by 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit and local sea level is eight inches higher than it was one hundred years ago. Future climate will render the Bay Area less suitable for our evergreen redwood and fir forests, and more favorable for tolerant chaparral shrub land. The region’s seven million people and $750 billion economy (almost one-third of California’s total) is predicted to be increasingly beset by more “boom and bust” irregular wet and very dry years, punctuated by increasingly intense and damaging storms.
Unsurprisingly, according to the report the Bay Area’s intensifying housing and equity problems have a multiplier affect with climate change. As Bay Area housing spreads further north, south, and inland the result is higher transportation and energy needs for those with the fewest resources available to afford them; and acute disparity in climate vulnerability across Bay Area communities and populations.
“All Californians will likely endure more illness and be at greater risk of early death because of climate change,” bluntly states the statewide summary brochure for California’s climate assessment. “[However] vulnerable populations that already experience the greatest adverse health impacts will be disproportionately affected.”
“We’re much better at being reactive to a disaster than planning ahead,” said UC Berkeley professor and contributing author David Ackerly at a California Adaptation Forum panel in Sacramento on August 27th. “And it is vulnerable communities that suffer from those disasters. How much human suffering has to happen before it triggers the next round of activity?”
The assessment’s data is publicly available online at “Cal-adapt,” where Californians can explore projected impacts for their neighborhoods, towns, and regions.
The results are alarming for our state’s future: an estimated four to five feet of sea level rise and loss of one to two-thirds of Southern California beaches by 2100, a 50 percent increase in wildfires over 25,000 acres, stronger and longer heat waves, and infrastructure like airports, wastewater treatment plants, rail and roadways increasingly likely to suffer flooding.