Keeping the Ocean at Bay - Protecting the New Treasure Island from Sea Level Rise

How can the Bay Area fend off rising sea levels along its long shoreline in years to come? This critical question was part of the redevelopment plan for Treasure Island from the very start. The solutions developed by the planning team have been singled out by BCDC as a model for bay-front flood protection. Learn about the development team’s long and exacting process aimed at keeping future Treasure Island residents above water.

First came an extensive review of climate change literature published by local, regional, state and federal agencies, the international community and academia. Detailed coastal flooding studies were conducted to determine extreme likelihoods for water levels, considering possible tides, surges, waves, and tsunamis, as well as estimates for sea level rise. Various alternatives were developed for coastal improvements to deal with these conditions, and then discussed with stakeholders.

Based on the analysis and understanding of acceptable levels of risks, a sea level rise strategy was developed for Treasure Island to deal with the near-term, mid-term, and long term. The project received local as well as regional approvals, and the refashioning of the Treasure Island Shoreline is now in progress.

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Speaker: Dilip Trivedi, Dr.Eng., P.E., has been practicing Coastal Engineering for about 28 years. He is on the Board of Directors of the Bay Planning Coalition, chairs the Sustainable Waterfronts Committee, and is a key participant on the Resiliency Committee for the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Land Use Plan Update. He is an early design innovator in addressing sea level rise and is leading the sea level rise and public use planning for most of the large urban waterfront redevelopment projects in the San Francisco Bay region. Dilip holds degrees from Texas A&M and Bangalore University. He is Vice President of the firm of Moffatt & Nichol.