Coastal Resilience Master Plan

Climate change increasingly puts the City of San Diego and its critical built and natural resources at risk of coastal flooding and erosion due to sea-level rise. The Coastal Resilience Master Plan (CRMP) Phase 1 will identify specific resilience and conservation needs along the coastline and develop a portfolio of nature-based solutions to promote resilience, protect critical coastal habitats, support coastal access, and protect the City against the risk of climate change, in line with the Climate Resilient SD Plan (Policy TNE-3). Nature-based solutions evaluated by CRMP Phase 1 include both green and natural infrastructure. Green infrastructure encompasses a wide range of built or engineered solutions modeled after nature, while natural solutions often refer to restoration activities. Both green infrastructure and natural infrastructure support purposes such as stormwater management, flood mitigation, urban heat island reduction, and climate adaptation. While the focus of the CRMP Phase 1 is on feasibility of nature-based solutions to adapt to the effects of climate change on the City’s coastline, in some situations, nature-based solutions are most successful in providing risk mitigation when designed with a hybrid approach, including some more typical engineered gray infrastructure components such as underground storage tanks or seawalls. The CRMP Phase 1 presents a combination of solutions that may offer greater shoreline protection while maintaining focus on nature-based solutions. Nature-based solutions that achieve multiple benefits, such as habitat and wildlife protection, water quality improvements, flood storage, resilience from potential upstream impacts, recreational opportunities, and increased coastal access for Communities of Concern, would be prioritized.