The Port of Oakland, alongside the City of Oakland, has landed a $3 million boost from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to confront the pressing ordeal of sea level rise (SLR) and groundwater intrusion (GWI), developments threatening to flood both portside assets and neighboring communities. This Sustainable Transportation Planning – Climate Adaptation Planning grant aims to craft crucial strategies against the kind of watery siege climate change brings to Oakland's doorstep.
Director of Environmental Programs and Planning, Colleen Liang, acknowledged the severe risk posed by these natural forces, emphasizing the need for immediate action. "Sea level rise and groundwater intrusion pose an existential threat to the Port and City," Liang elaborated, as per a statement from the Port of Oakland, further expressing gratitude toward Caltrans for the funding, which will be pivotal in developing the "Rising Seas and Oakland’s Infrastructure and Frontline Communities: Climate Adaptation Planning for Neighborhood-led Resiliency Project."
The project, which arcs over nearly 20 miles of shoreline that the Port oversees, includes conducting an asset inventory and vulnerability assessment tailored for the Oakland Seaport, the Oakland International Airport, and the essential public transportation services that connect to state, regional, and exceedingly vital local economies, acknowledging as well the disadvantaged communities whose fates hang on these adaptation strategies. The Port is pitching in with an additional $1.5 million to bring the project's total resources to $4.5 million.
