Updating California’s Sea Level Rise Guidance

Developing the State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance

Now available: State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance: 2024 Science and Policy Update

Beginning in August 2022, Ocean Science Trust convened an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional Task Force of scientific experts, policymakers, and boundary spanners to update California’s sea level rise guidance based on recent scientific advancements. Scientific experts on the Task Force synthesized the best available and most recent advancements in sea level rise science to update California’s current statewide sea level rise projections and flooding projections. Based on those updated projections, the California Ocean Protection Council developed policy and planning recommendations for how to prepare for sea level rise in the Golden State. The State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance: 2024 Science and Policy Update was unanimously adopted by the state at the Ocean Protection Council meeting in June 2024.

Public engagement

The draft State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance: 2024 Science and Policy Update underwent a 45-day public comment period from January to March, 2024.

The Ocean Protection Council and Ocean Science Trust held a public webinar on Monday, February 5, 2024 featuring experts from the sea level rise Task Force to provide an overview of the draft guidance and answer questions from the public. The recording is available here.

Additionally, four virtual regional workshops were held between February 13 and 16. These workshops provided a public opportunity for participants to discuss regional applications of the Guidance.

In 2017, OST convened an OPC Science Advisory Team Working Group to update California’s sea level rise projections, which were presented in the Rising Seas in California report. The technical findings from the 2017 report were used by OPC as a basis to develop the 2018 Update of the State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance (2018 policy document), which provided policy direction for state resource agencies to plan for future sea level rise. In the 2018 policy document, OPC committed to updating this guidance every 5 years to keep pace with advancements in sea level rise science.

Susheel Adusumilli, University of California, San Diego
Patrick Barnard, United States Geological Survey
Daniel Cayan, University of California, San Diego
Laura Engeman, California Sea Grant & University of California, San Diego
Gary Griggs, University of California, Santa Cruz
Benjamin Hamlington, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Kristina Hill, University of California, Berkeley
Felix Landerer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Phil Thompson, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Jenn Eckerle, Ocean Protection Council
Justine Kimball, Ocean Protection Council

Liz Whiteman, Ocean Science Trust
Monica LeFlore, Ocean Science Trust
Dominique Kone, Ocean Science Trust