California Coastal Commission

Knowledge, tools, and resources designed for addressing the various impacts of climate change are constantly evolving. User needs will vary with the objectives they are focused on. Organized by topic, the lists below reflect a sample of the many available tools and resources but are by no means exhaustive – these are offered as a starting point, with an emphasis on materials relevant to climate adaptation and resiliency building in California. Commission staff will continue to develop lists for additional topics and update existing lists periodically.

To view any of the following lists, click on a header to expand it. Each resource is provided with a brief description and clicking on the title will launch access.

Sea Level Rise

California Coastal Commission Resources
- Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance (2015)
  Interpretive guidelines for addressing sea level rise, with an emphasis on Local Coastal Programs and Coastal Development Permits. Includes guiding principles, background on policy and legislation, the best available science and consequences of sea level rise, mechanisms for addressing sea level rise, adaptation strategies, and legal context with respect to the Coastal Act as well as several appendices.
- Hearings and Presentations
  - Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategies
    July 2015 Commission hearing and discussion on Chapter 7 (Adaptation Strategies) of the revised Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance document. Commission staff presentation on Chapter 7 is also available for download.
  - Revised Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance
    June 2015 Commission hearing and discussion on the revised Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance document. Commission staff presentation on the Guidance, additionally used for several outreach webinars, is also available for download.
  - Draft Sea Level Policy Guidance
    Collection of hearings and public outreach presentations by Commission staff, related to the first draft of the Guidance document.
Other California State Agency Resources
- Office of the Governor
  - Executive Order B-30-15 (2015)
    Established an interim greenhouse gas reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, to expand upon the targets already included in AB32 and emphasized the need for adaptation in line with the actions identified in the Safeguarding California plan.
  - Executive Order S-13-08 (2008)
    Required the California Natural Resources Agency to develop a statewide climate adaptation strategy, and requested that the National Academy of Sciences convene an independent scientific panel to assess sea level rise in California.
- California Department of Transportation
  - Addressing Climate Change Adaptation in Regional Transportation Plans: A Guide for MPOs and RTPAs (2013)
    Provides a clear methodology for regional agencies to address climate change impacts through adaptation of transportation infrastructure.
  - Estimating Sea Level for Project Initiation Documents (2011)
    Provides guidance on converting tidal datums to project elevations and predicting future sea levels.
  - Guidance on Incorporating Sea Level Rise (2011)
    Provides guidance on how to incorporate sea level rise concerns into programming and design of Caltrans projects. Includes screening criteria for determining whether to include sea level rise and steps for evaluating degree of potential impacts, developing adaptation alternatives, and implementing the adaptation strategies.
- California Natural Resources Agency
  - Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk (2014)
    Update to the California Climate Adaptation Strategy (2009).
  - California Climate Adaptation Strategy (2009)
    Summarizes climate change impacts and recommends adaptation strategies across seven sectors: Public Health, Biodiversity and Habitat, Oceans and Coastal Resources, Water, Agriculture, Forestry, and Transportation and Energy.
- California Ocean Protection Council
  - Resolution on Implementation of the Safeguarding California Plan for Reducing Climate Risks (2014)
    Resolves that Ocean Protection Council staff and the State Coastal Leadership Group on Sea Level Rise will develop an action plan to implement the Safeguarding California plan.
  - Resolution on Sea-Level Rise (2011)
    Recognizes that state agencies should address sea level rise through various actions such as the consideration of sea level rise risks in decision-making, investment of public funds, stakeholder engagement, and state sea level rise guidance updates.
- California Office of Emergency Services
  - State Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan (2013)
    Provides an updated and comprehensive description of the state’s historical and current hazard analysis, mitigation strategies, goals and objectives. Includes discussion of climate change and adaptation strategies.
- San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
  - Climate Change Bay Plan Amendment (2011)
    Includes policies on climate change and sea level rise requiring a sea level rise risk assessment for shoreline planning and larger shoreline projects, and if risks exist, that the project must be designed to cope with flood levels by mid-century, and include a plan to address flood risks at end of century.
  - Living with a Rising Bay: Vulnerability and Adaptation in San Francisco Bay and on its Shoreline (2011)
    Identifies vulnerabilities in the Bay Area’s economic and environmental systems, as well as the potential impacts of climate change on public health and safety. Provides basis for all versions of the proposed findings and policies concerning climate change.
- State Coastal Conservancy
  - Guidance for Addressing Climate Change in Conservancy Projects (2011)
    Includes the following steps: 1) conduct initial vulnerability assessment, 2) conduct more comprehensive vulnerability assessment, 3) reduce risks and increase adaptive capacity, and 4) identify adaptation options.
  - Climate Change Policy and Project Selection Criteria (2011)
    Includes policies on: 1) consideration of climate change in project evaluation, 2) consideration of sea level rise impacts in vulnerability assessments, 3) collaboration to support adaptation strategies, and 4) encouragement of adaptation strategies in project applications mitigation and adaptation.
- State Lands Commission
  - Application for Lease of State Lands (2015)
    If a project involves development in an area subject to tidal action, requests a risk analysis, implications of failure, and adaptation strategies for addressing projected sea level rise using the best available science, relative to the projected life expectancy of the project.
- Groups of State Agencies
  - California State Sea-Level Rise Guidance Document (2013)
    From the Coastal and Ocean Resources Working Group for the Climate Action Team (led by California Ocean Protection Council). Provides updated guidance for incorporating sea level rise projections into planning and decision making for projects in California.
  - California's Third Climate Change Assessment (2012)
    From the California Climate Change Center. Explores local and statewide vulnerabilities to climate change, highlighting opportunities for taking concrete actions to reduce climate-change impacts.
  - California Climate Adaptation Planning Guide (2012)
    From the California Emergency Management Agency and California Natural Resources Agency. Provides a decision-making framework intended for use by local and regional stakeholders to aid in the interpretation of climate science and to develop a systematic rationale for reducing risks caused, or exacerbated, by climate change.
Data and Resource Clearinghouses
- California Landscape Conservation Cooperative Climate Commons
  Offers a point of access to climate change data and related resources, information about the science that produced it, and the opportunity to communicate with others about applying climate change science to conservation in California.
- Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE)
  Provides an online library of climate adaptation case studies and resources, plus ways to connect with an online climate adaptation community.
- Climate at Data.gov
  Data portal that includes a number of data sets on climate change, including sea level rise impacts, and the US Climate Resilience Toolkit.
- Ecosystem-Based Management Tools Network
  Provides a searchable database of tools available for climate adaptation, conservation planning, and sea level rise impact assessment.
- NOAA Digital Coast
  Provides coastal data, tools, training, and information for helping communities address coastal issues.
Mapping Tools
- Cal-Adapt – Sea Level Rise: Threatened Areas Map
  Shows coastal areas that may be threatened by flooding from a 4.6-ft (1.4-m) rise in sea level and a 100-year flood event. Maps were developed using the Pacific Institute Sea Level Rise Maps (below) and do not now include any influence of beach or dune erosion or existing protective structures.
- Climate Central Surging Seas
  Overlays sea level rise data with socio-economic information and ability to analyze property values, population, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and income or areas at risk. Can compare exposure across the whole state or selected counties.
- Coastal Resilience California
  Partnership led by The Nature Conservancy. Provides science and decision-support tools to aid conservation and planning projects and policymaking to address conditions brought about by climate change. Currently developed for the Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Monterey regions.
- USGS Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS)
  A numerical modeling system to predict coastal flooding due to both sea level rise and storms driven by climate change. Used in the Our Coast Our Future project along the Central Coast and expected for the entire Southern California Bight in late 2015. Version 3.0 will take into account shoreline change and fluvial inputs; additionally, even more robust modeling of coastal erosion and shoreline change will be provided for the Los Angeles region.
- NOAA Digital Coast Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer
  Displays potential future sea levels with a slider bar. Communicates spatial uncertainty of mapped sea level rise, overlays social and economic data onto sea level rise maps, and models potential marsh migration due to sea level rise. Maps do not include any influence of beach or dune erosion.
- Our Coast Our Future
  Provides online maps and tools to help understand, visualize, and anticipate vulnerabilities to sea level rise and storms, including seamless Digital Elevation Model (DEM) at 6.6-ft (2-m) horizontal resolution; 9.8-in (25-cm) increment sea level rise projections between 0-6.6 ft (0-2 m) with a 16.4-ft (5-m) extreme; storm scenarios using the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS); and interactive maps overlaying infrastructure and ecosystem vulnerabilities. Map available for Bodega Head to Half Moon Bay.
- Pacific Institute Sea Level Rise Maps
  Downloadable PDF maps showing the coastal flood and erosion hazard zones from the 2009 report, The Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on the California Coast. Data are overlaid on aerial photographs and show major roads. Also available are maps showing sea level rise and population and property at-risk, miles of vulnerable roads and railroads, vulnerable power plants and wastewater treatment plants, and wetland migration potential.
- Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM)
  Simulates the dominant processes involved in wetland conversions and shoreline modifications during long-term sea level rise. Map distributions of wetlands are predicted under conditions of accelerated sea level rise, and results are summarized in tabular and graphical form.
- Sea the Future
  Sea the Future was created to help Californians understand the sea level rise and flood visualization web tools that are available for their needs. Tools in Sea the Future include those that primarily map sea level rise and flood inundation layers as well those that provide inundation layers in relation to built and natural resources.
Resources for Adaptation
- General
  - Application of Land Use Practices and Tools to Prepare for and Adapt to Climate Change
    Center for Ocean Solutions (2011). Provides case studies of various adaptation strategies including overlay zones, non-conformities, setbacks, buffers, development conditions, shoreline protection devices, managed retreat, capital improvement programs, acquisition programs, conservation easements, rolling easements, tax incentives, transfer development rights, and real estate disclosures.
  - Combatting Sea-Level Rise in Southern California: How Local Governments Can Seize Adaptation Opportunities While Minimizing Legal Risk
    MM Herzog & SB Hecht (2013). Identifies how local governments can harness legal doctrines to support aggressive, innovative strategies to achieve successful sea level rise adaptation outcomes for Southern California while minimizing legal risk. Broadly outlines likely sea level rise impacts in Southern California, and evaluates the risks and opportunities of potential protection, accommodation, and retreat adaptation strategies that local governments could deploy.
  - Adaptation Tool Kit: Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Land Use
    J Grannis (2011). Explores 18 different land-use tools that can be used to preemptively respond to the threats posed by sea level rise to both public and private coastal development and infrastructure, and strives to assist governments in determining which tools can be used to meet their unique socio-economic and political contexts.
  - What Will Adaptation Cost? An Economic Framework for Coastal Community Infrastructure
    Eastern Research Group, Inc. (2013). Provides a four-step framework that community leaders and planners can use to make more economically-informed decisions about adapting to sea level rise and storm flooding and discusses the expertise needed at each step in the process.
- Strategies for Erosion-Related Impacts
  - Evaluation of Erosion Mitigation Alternatives for Southern Monterey Bay
    ESA PWA (2012). Provides a technical evaluation of various erosion mitigation measures, conducts a cost benefit analysis of some of the more promising measures, and includes recommendations for addressing coastal erosion in Southern Monterey Bay. Intended to be relevant for other areas of California as well.
- Rolling Easements & TDRs
  - Rolling Easements — A Primer
    JG Titus (2011). Examines more than a dozen different legal approaches to rolling easements and differentiates opportunities for legislatures, regulators, land trusts, developers, and individual landowners. Considers different shoreline environments (e.g., wetlands, barrier islands) and different objectives (e.g., public access, wetland migration).
  - No Day at the Beach: Sea Level Rise, Ecosystem Loss, and Public Access Along the California Coast
    M Caldwell & CH Segall (2007). Provides a description of sea level rise impacts to ecosystems and public access, strategies to address these impacts, and case study examples of rolling easement strategies for the California coast.
- Natural Resources
  - Climate-Smart Conservation
    From Point Blue Conservation Science. Lists science-based, climate-smart conservation planning and management tools and methods, including restoration projects designed for climate change and extremes.
  - System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) Climate Change Tool
    From US Forest Service. Quantifies the relative impact of expected climate change effects for terrestrial vertebrate species.
  - Reducing Climate Risks with Natural Infrastructure
    From The Nature Conservancy. Presents a series of nine case studies in which natural, “green” infrastructure was successfully used to mitigate climate impacts. The economic costs and benefits of the green infrastructure are compared with traditional “gray” approaches.
  - Essential Habitat Connectivity Project
    From the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Statewide assessment of essential habitat connectivity, using the best available science, data sets, spatial analyses, and modeling techniques, intended to identify large remaining blocks of intact habitat or natural landscape, and model, linkages between them for management as wildlife corridors.
  - Areas of Conservation Emphasis (ACE-II)
    From the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Provides a mapping tool and reports on the best available statewide, spatial information on California's biological richness, including species diversity, rarity, and sensitive habitats, as well as recreational needs and opportunities throughout the state, including fishing, hunting and wildlife-viewing.
- Adaptation Planning Guidebooks
  - Adapting to Climate Change: a Planning Guide for State Coastal Managers
    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2010). Offers a framework for state coastal managers to follow as they develop and implement climate change adaptation plans in their own states.
  - Adapting to Sea Level Rise: A Guide for California’s Coastal Communities
    N Russell & G Griggs (2012). Intended to assist California’s coastal managers and community planners in developing adaptation plans for sea level rise that are suited to their local conditions and communities.
  - California Adaptation Planning Guide
    California Emergency Management Agency and California Natural Resources Agency (2012). Provides guidance to support regional and local communities in proactively addressing the unavoidable consequences of climate change. Includes a step-by-step process for local and regional climate vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy development.
  - Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional, and State Governments
    AK Snover et al. (2007). Assists decision makers in a local, regional, or state government in planning for climate change by recommending a detailed, easy-to-understand process for climate change preparedness based on familiar resources and tools.
  - Using Scenarios to Explore Climate Change: A Handbook for Practitioners
    National Park Service (2013). Describes the five-step process for developing multivariate climate change scenarios taught by the Global Business Network and includes detailed instructions for accomplishing each step; appendices include a hypothetical scenario exercise that demonstrates how to implement the process.
  - Scanning the Conservation Horizon: A Guide to Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment
    P Glick et al. (2011). Designed to assist conservation and resource professionals to better plan, execute, and interpret climate change vulnerability assessments.
  - Scenario Planning for Climate Change Adaptation: A Guidance for Resource Managers
    SS Moore et al. (2013). Step-by-step guide to using scenarios to plan for climate change adaptation for natural resource managers, planners, scientists, and other stakeholders working at a local or regional scale to develop resource management approaches that take future climate change impacts and other important uncertainties into account.
Example Adaptation Plans and Vulnerability Assessments
- California Climate Adaptation Plans that Address Sea Level Rise
  - Adapting to Rising Tides (ART) Project
    A collaborative planning effort led by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to help SF Bay Area communities adapt to rising sea levels, which began with a vulnerability assessment for a portion of the Alameda County shoreline.
  - San Diego Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy (2012)
    Provides measures to evaluate and manage risks from sea level rise and other climate change impacts, includes a vulnerability assessment of community assets at risk, and broad recommendations to increase resilience of these assets.
  - City of Santa Cruz Climate Adaptation Plan (2012-2017)
    An update to the 2007 Hazard Mitigation Plan, the adaptation plan includes strategies and best available science for integrating climate change impacts into City of Santa Cruz operations.
- Example Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessments in California
  - City of Santa Barbara Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability Study
    G Griggs & N Russell (2012). Assesses the vulnerability of the City of Santa Barbara to future sea level rise and related coastal hazards (by Years 2050 and 2100) based upon past events, shoreline topography, and exposure to sea level rise and wave attack. Also evaluates the likely impacts of coastal hazards to specific areas of the City, analyzes their risks and the City’s ability to respond, and recommends potential adaptation responses.
  - City of Santa Cruz Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment
    G Griggs & B Haddad (2011). Delineates and evaluates the likely impacts of future climate change on the City of Santa Cruz, analyzes the risks that these hazards pose for the city, and recommends potential adaptation responses to reduce the risk and exposure from these hazards in the future.
  - Developing Adaptation Strategies for San Luis Obispo County: Preliminary Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Social Systems
    S Moser & J Ekstrom (2012). Describes the likely impacts of climate change on the resources and social systems of San Luis Obispo County, and assesses key areas of vulnerability (fishing, coastal tourism, coastal development, and infrastructure).
  - Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Project
    A multi-phased, regional collaboration that has produced the Humboldt Bay Shoreline Inventory, Mapping, and Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment, which describes current shoreline conditions and vulnerabilities under the current tidal regime, and the Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Modeling Inundation Mapping Report and the Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Conceptual Groundwater Model, which identify vulnerabilities to future sea levels, as well as a report on the ability of agricultural lands and uses on the Humboldt Bay to adapt to sea level rise.
  - Monterey Bay Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment (Project Scope & Grant Details)
    Will assess potential future impacts from sea level rise for the Monterey Bay region, including an estimation of extent of future coastal erosion in Monterey Bay due to accelerated sea level rise and an evaluation of areas subjected to coastal flooding by inundation from wave action and/or storm surges.
  - Regional AdaptLA: Coastal Impacts Planning in the Los Angeles Region
    Provides a summary of the project in-progress, which will focus on sea level rise and shoreline change modeling, as well as links to various outreach products for the 11 participating jurisdictions.

Global Warming

General Information
- EPA Climate Change
  Provides a variety of resources for the many aspects of climate change, including basic science and impacts as well as access to reports, tools, and current headlines.
- National Climate Assessment
  Provides a complete report on the science and impacts of climate change for the United States as well as summaries for specific regions and key highlights.
- Public Policy Institute of California
  Provides an extensive library of publications on climate change and energy in California, including survey data, blog entries, and events.
- Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk (2014)
  California’s definitive policy guidance for the State, including recommended strategies to address nine key sectors: Agriculture, Biodiversity & Habitat, Emergency Management, Energy, Forestry, Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems and Resources, Public Health, Transportation, and Water.
For Local Governments
- California Air Resources Board (CARB) – Local Government Actions for Climate Change
  Gateway to greenhouse gas emissions reduction resources for local governments. Provides a Local Government Toolkit and tools including access to a forthcoming funding wizard
- CEQA Guidelines Amendments and Climate Change
  Discusses amendments to CEQA Guidelines following SB 97 (2007) to address greenhouse gas emissions and provides links to various resources supporting CEQA practitioners.
- ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
  International network for communities committed to building a sustainable future. Includes resources and tools for low-carbon adaptation, promoting resource-efficiency, and building resiliency in local communities among other aspects.
- Institute for Local Government
  Provides resources and examples to help California’s communities integrate climate considerations to planning activities via greenhouse gas inventories, climate action plans, and adaptation implementation.
- Policy Guide on Planning and Climate Change
  From the American Planning Association (2011). Provides overview of climate change science and guidance for policy in multiple sectors including transportation, energy, land use, and public health.
- US EPA Climate Change in the Pacific Southwest: Local Governments
  Provides tools, resources, and programs on smart growth, renewable energy, green building, and fuel efficiency among other topics, specifically to support local governments in implementing action plans to reduce carbon emissions.
Calculators
- Cool California: Carbon Footprint Calculator
  Provdes a tool to quickly estimate a carbon footprint using user's geographic information. Can be used for households and documentation provides details on calculation that can be used by small and medium-sized buisnesses as well.
- US Environmental Protection Agency: Carbon Footprint Calculator
  Offers varying levels of household carbon footprint elements based on user input data. A spreadsheet, including the formulas used in calculation, is also available for download.
- Home Energy Saver: Energy Calculator
  Allows consumers to enter information about their home energy use and based on their zip code, conduct a DIY energy audit. Provides recommendations for energy savings.

Climate Change Tools & Resources

Sea Level Rise

California Coastal Commission Resources

Hearings and Presentations

Other California State Agency Resources

Office of the Governor

California Department of Transportation

California Natural Resources Agency

California Ocean Protection Council

California Office of Emergency Services

San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission

State Coastal Conservancy

State Lands Commission

Groups of State Agencies

Data and Resource Clearinghouses

Mapping Tools

Resources for Adaptation

General

Strategies for Erosion-Related Impacts

Rolling Easements & TDRs

Natural Resources

Adaptation Planning Guidebooks

Example Adaptation Plans and Vulnerability Assessments

California Climate Adaptation Plans that Address Sea Level Rise

Example Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessments in California

Global Warming

General Information

For Local Governments

Calculators

Climate Change
Tools & Resources