Our region has worked for decades to bring San Francisco Bay back to life, restoring thousands of acres of wetlands, cleaning our waters, and bringing back wildlife populations — however this remarkable progress faces an existential threat from sea level rise, one of the greatest challenges our region will face in the coming decades as we grapple with the escalating climate crisis.
With a record $75 billion state budget surplus, California’s elected officials have a critical opportunity to support the preparation for sea level rise, and invest in the protection, restoration, and resilience of the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. Take action now to urge Governor Newsom and Legislative leaders to prioritize funding for coastal protection, climate adaptation, and protecting San Francisco Bay as part of the state’s climate resilience package currently being negotiated.
If we don’t take urgent action, sea level rise threatens to inundate our shorelines, flooding tens of thousands of acres of wetlands, along with more than 80,000 homes, forcing the relocation of over 100,000 jobs, and inundating roads and transit routes throughout the region. We could begin seeing these impacts within the coming decade. The CA Legislative Analyst office has urged state leaders to take action immediately, saying “the state and its coastal communities cannot afford to defer all preparation efforts.”
As the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast, containing 77% of California’s remaining coastal wetlands, over 1,000 species of animals, 130 species of fish, millions of annual migratory waterbirds, over a dozen endangered species, and more than 7.5 million Californians, the protection, restoration, and resilience of San Francisco Bay isn’t just important to California, but to the entire western hemisphere. Funding critical coastal programs now will also help the state reach its 30 by 30 land and water conservation goals.
Take action now to urge CA state leaders to prioritize funding the protection, restoration, and resilience of the San Francisco Bay ecosystem as it considers how to spend the massive state surplus.
Photo by Save the Bay