Sea Level Rise - San Francisco Public Press

Sea Level Rise

In summer 2015, the Public Press first reported on how rising seas could inundate coastal land in the Bay Area. Since then, we have discovered that state regulation of waterfront development has loosened, while local governments have been slow to respond.

The landmark California Environmental Quality Act, which cities have used compel adaptation to climate change, has been weakened by legal challenges from the powerful building industry. In San Francisco, as elsewhere, officials continue to promote large developments on the bay despite scientists’ increasingly dire scenarios as greenhouse-gas emissions melt the world’s glaciers and spawn powerful storms.

To gauge how interpretation of state law is changing, we searched public databases of construction projects, reviewed dozens of lawsuits and court cases, and analyzed thousands of pages of environmental records filed with planning agencies. A public records request also revealed efforts by developers and builders to lobby Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration to dissuade cities from invoking the state’s environmental law to address climate change. We also used public records requests to determine why a major city-commissioned report on flood risk in Mission Bay was not published before officials and voters signed off on the San Francisco Giants’ Mission Rock development and the Golden State Warriors new arena.

The spring 2017 print issue of the Public Press is now available at select locations.

ABOUT THIS REPORTING PROJECT

REPORTING: Kevin Stark, Mary Catherine O’Connor, Ellyn Beale, Noah Arroyo and Lulu Orozco | EDITING: Michael Winter and Michael Stoll | PRINT DESIGN: HyunJu Chappell/Magna Citizen Studio | CARTOGRAPHY: Marcea Ennamorato | DATA EDITING: Subramaniam Vincent | COPY EDITING: Michele Anderson, Zachary Benjamin, Richard Knee and Dean Takehara | PHOTOGRAPHY: Anna Vignet | ONLINE: John Angelico | AUDIO EXTRAS: Audrey Dilling

Arts & Culture

By Weakening Law, Developers Shift Sea Rise Burden to Cities

04.19.2017

By Kevin Stark, Reporter

Two years ago, the California Supreme Court overturned decades of land-use law by upholding lower court rulings that cities could no longer require developers to take into account the effects of climate change on their projects. That decision has unsettled public officials and planners, and critics say it will allow real estate interests to saddle taxpayers with a gigantic bill to defend against rising seas.

Climate Change

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Mapping the Shoreline Building Boom as Seas Rise

04.22.2017

By Kevin Stark, Reporter and Mary Catherine O'Connor, Contributor

The Bay Area’s current boom times represent a good news/bad news story. From Dogpatch to San Mateo to Alameda, bayside property is especially desirable — but increasingly complicated.

Climate Change

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Local Planners Brace for Faster Antarctic Ice Melt

04.20.2017

By Kevin Stark, Reporter and Ellyn Beale

Across California, policymakers and urban planners at every level of government are struggling with how to respond to new computer models that show massive ice sheets in Antarctica on the brink of collapse.

Bay Area

Visionary Solutions to Bayfront Inundation

04.20.2017

By Mary Catherine O'Connor, Contributor

Responding to sea level rise requires actions that fall into three categories: fortify infrastructure, accommodate higher water and retreat from the shoreline. Given the economic and cultural ties Bay Area residents have to the water — retreat is a hard sell.

Climate Change

Timeline: Lawyers for Developers Share Tactics to Blunt CEQA

04.19.2017

By Kevin Stark, Reporter

Invoking recent court decisions, developers are pushing back on the ability of Bay Area cities to use the California Environmental Quality Act to regulate waterfront development and protect residents from rising sea levels

Climate Change

Projects Sailed Through Despite Dire Flood Study

04.19.2017

By Kevin Stark, Reporter

A city-commissioned environmental study that detailed how the Mission Bay neighborhood would be inundated by rising seas in coming decades went unpublished for more than a year while two showcase waterfront developments won key approvals from city officials and voters, a Public Press review of records shows.

Economy & Business

Emails Show How Flood Study Finally Became Public

04.19.2017

By Kevin Stark, Reporter

Officials offer explanations for 18-month delay in releasing city-funded study that foresees serious climate-related flooding in Mission Bay in the decades ahead. The release followed a public-records request by the Public Press.