Resiliency in the City of San Diego is about managing risks to protect our quality of life and ensure we remain a thriving, vibrant city.

Southern California is already beginning to see the impacts of a changing climate. These include extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, rising sea levels and changes in rainfall amounts and frequency.

The City of San Diego has started to address these hazards through a variety of programs: 

• Managing storm water runoff to help prevent flooding
• Increasing the urban forest with more street trees and new parks
• Preparing for drought conditions with Water Conservation, Pure Water, and other programs
• Addressing rising sea levels through analyses, planning, and policy development

Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Plan

The City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the City. The CAP however also recognizes that adaptation is a core component of its overall response to climate change and that development of an adaptation and resiliency plan is needed to reduce vulnerability to projected climate changes and increase the local capacity to adapt. The CAP provides includes a climate resiliency goal to increase the Citywide urban tree canopy cover, and also provides a guide to adaptation strategy development Together, the CAP and the Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Plan identify strategies to  reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to  prepare the City for a changing climate.   

The City is currently in the process of developing the Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Plan, and will be working collaboratively with stakeholders and community members to prepare the City and help it thrive. The City has been awarded over $500,000 in grant funding from Caltrans, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the California Coastal Commission to support this effort.

For more information on climate resiliency in the San Diego area, take a look at:

• Sea level rise adaptation strategy for San Diego Bay (2012)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Adaptation Project – Connecting the Dots and Building Coastal Resilience in the San Diego Region
• San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography – A valuable local resource and international leader in climate research
• City launches project to plant 500 street trees in underserved communities (December 2016)

For more information on climate change and resiliency in California, check out:

• Safeguarding California, the state’s climate change adaptation strategy
• State of California Sea-Level Rise Guidance
• California Adaptation Planning Guide and other resources for regional and local adaptation efforts
• California’s main resource for climate change research, Cal-Adapt
• California Adaptation Forum
• Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA)

Below: Members of Urban Corps plant trees at Balboa Park

King Tides:

King Tides, or perigean spring tides, are the higher than normal high tides. They are natural and predictable, occurring 3-4 times a year. King Tides are the result of the alignment of the sun and the moon during a new or full moon, increasing the gravitational pull on the tides. These tides can cause coastal flooding and useful to demonstrate how sea level rise might affect the coastline in the future.

In December 2018 and January 2019, San Diego experienced a King Tide. Check out the California King Tides to see photos of the tides along our coastline. To learn more and for information on how to get involved as a citizen scientist, check out the California King Tides Project.