By Nick Reynoso, California Climate Action Corps Fellow

Nick Reynoso joined us this summer as a California Climate Action Corps Fellow with a focus on our Resilient Neighborhoods program in Suisun City and building connections with community members and local environmental leaders. In this blog, he offers his reflections on climate change and the risks it holds for coastal cities — and ways to prepare.

Transportation requires extensive use of fossil fuels. The accumulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels is having irreversible effects on our planet and will lead to greater natural disasters to our local communities: storms, floods, wildfires, etc.

Nick Reynoso

During the height of stay-at-home orders back in April 2020, daily carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 17 percent from 2019’s global mean levels. It looked as if society had found a way to reduce carbon emissions and rethink the idea of what is considered essential travel. This all sounded like good news and a win for the environment; however, it wasn’t here to last.

In December 2020, the world had reverted back to its old habits, and GHG emissions bounced-back to 2 percent higher than what they were in December 2019. 

With businesses reopening and life returning back to “normal” following the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the desire to travel is greater than ever. Most are looking for ways to get out of the house and by doing so, the International Energy Agency predicts for 2021, there will be a global energy demand of 4.6 percent, which is 0.5 percent higher than 2019’s demand. It is estimated that carbon dioxide emissions will increase by nearly 5 percent. This trajectory is unsustainable, as the demand does not divest fossil fuels, and the shift towards renewable energy is needed. 

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report unequivocally states that the warming of the planet is caused by human activity. These activities have also affected the water cycle (changes to precipitation), and are the cause of warmer ocean temperatures and rising sea levels. We are on course to reach 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels by 2040. 

With climate change, rising temperatures cause glaciers and ice sheets to melt, and cause the water from the ocean to expand due to thermal expansion. All these events contribute to rising sea levels. With an unprecedented rate of rising temperatures, coastal flooding will be inevitable. This will affect coastal communities, and affect large portions of the U.S. Nearly 40 percent of Americans live in coastal counties. 

The San Francisco Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission projects that sea level will rise between 6 and 10 inches by 2030, and 13-23 inches by 2050. Vulnerable low-lying Bay Area cities, such as Suisun City will be impacted from severe flooding events. The objective to mitigate and plan for natural disasters is urgent for Suisun City and other Solano County cities that face flooding threats, such as Benicia and Fairfield. As a California Climate Action Corps Fellow for Sustainable Solano this summer, I attended a number of Flood Walks that shared the flood risks for the city with attendees. The information presented during these walks makes it more apparent that Suisun City will be breached from flooding of Total Water Level (TWL) events: tidal waves, storm surge, and rising sea levels. 

The Flood Resilience Action Plan (FRAP) now in development for Suisun City will plan and mitigate for future TWL flooding events. FRAP and the Flood Walks are supported through a grant from the PG&E Corporation Foundation, which supports Sustainable Solano’s Resilient Neighborhoods program. Increasing awareness for Suisun City residents about flooding and development of the FRAP will help prepare for severe flooding events.

We are still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic’s “lost year,” and there are lessons we can learn from it. To redefine what is considered “essential travel” will lessen the accumulation of GHG emissions from transportation. Such decisions could decide the fate of local Bay Area cities.

By Jonathan Erwin, Program Manager

We are excited to grow our Resilient Neighborhood program into Suisun City this year. Building on our previous work in Vallejo’s Resilient Hubs and looking at the Resilient Neighborhood model as a whole, the power of community continues to be the biggest asset in addressing environmental threats, but also encompassing true resilience. This past year has shown us that we all are inherently resilient towards unexpected change from climate events to a global pandemic. We all have the capacity to adapt to new threats in our daily lives. With the power of community, belonging and access to resources, we find ways to adapt and thrive.

Within Suisun City, the threat is pretty obvious for this marshside town, with its scenic water views and port history to its presently charming waterfront. Anticipated flooding from rising sea levels, heavy rain and tidal events are among the biggest climate threats to face the city. Suisun City is the most impacted town in the entire Bay region at a 24-inch water event, according to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s Adapting to Rising Tides report. A series of aged levees and a robust water management strategy can manage current pressure within reason. But as the threat potential continues to increase in coming years, Suisun City is working towards action to collectively weather the storm.

With a coalition of the mayor, city leaders, SF BCDC and additional stakeholders, our plan with Suisun City is to start by organizing a Flood Resilience Action Plan — a living strategy that residents and leaders can use to educate, advocate and prepare for upcoming water events. Working on a slightly different scale from our Resilient Neighborhoods in Vallejo, we understand the power that comes with climate action when local government is involved. Through this plan a citywide strategy co-authored by the community will help build ownership and power amongst stakeholders. We hope that everyone’s voice is heard and validated in addressing the threats of flooding in a future Suisun City.

On the Ground

We are bringing our community-level experience from creating the Resilient Neighborhood hubs in Vallejo to bear on our work in Suisun City. Beneficial environmental and residential-scale installations addressing climate threats will continue to be a part of our work in Suisun City. Meeting people where they are at, we look forward to utilizing low-tech and high impact strategies for flood mitigation that are accessible and replicable across the entire city. Many of the strategies we used in Vallejo, like in-ground trenches for capturing rainwater, called swales, native plantings, and building up healthy soil, are universally beneficial in addressing many climate threats from urban heat islands to localized flooding and water management. We hope that a community-informed process will lead us to develop new techniques and strategies that we can build into our toolkit and provide hyperlocal solutions.

In addition we realize that the threat will impact portions of Suisun City differently. Our focus is to build organically a Resilient Neighborhood in the most environmentally and socially vulnerable communities of Seabreeze, Victorian Harbor and Old Town (in the outline on the map above). Our research has shown these communities will be the most impacted in regards to flooding, while also having the smallest means to implement change. Within Covid guidelines we hope to jumpstart initiatives in these local neighborhoods to build community, promote resources and foster local champions in accessible and transformative ways over the next year. 

As the Resilient Neighborhoods program has progressed in Vallejo under the incredible leadership and work of Gabriela Estrada, our new terrain in Suisun City introduces Jonathan Erwin as our newest Resilient Neighborhoods program manager. Jonathan comes to this project with a systems-thinking lens in community building, rooted in racial and environmental justice. In Baltimore his work with socially vulnerable communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy led to a resident-centered approach in addressing climate threats, rooted in holistic solutions. A designer by training, he loves co-building creative ways to meet the wants and needs of the community to equip people to be more resilient. 

If you are interested in our work Suisun City, have an idea on a possible site, or want to stay informed about the project, feel free to reach out to Jonathan at Jonathan@sustainablesolano.org 

The Resilient Neighborhoods program is generously funded through the PG&E Corporation Foundation.  

By Gabriela Estrada, Program Manager

The Vallejo Resilient Neighborhoods pilot program came to a successful conclusion at the end of December 2020 with the establishment of two Resilient Neighborhood hubs in Vallejo. The program focused on heat mitigation and looked to nature as a guide to better equip neighborhoods to adapt and thrive in the face of environmental, social and economic change. This pilot program in Vallejo successfully created hubs in Central Vallejo and South Vallejo that incorporated rainwater capture, laundry-to-landscape greywater systems, shade trees and structures and permaculture garden principles while bringing neighbors together to work on the projects. While this pilot project might have come to a close in Vallejo, the program will be expanding to Suisun City this month. While Vallejo and Suisun City each have their own challenges, opportunities and needs, the lessons learned in developing the first two Resilient hubs in Vallejo will help inform the next steps of the program. 

Here are some of the important lessons learned:

Lessons Learned and Future Considerations  

Organic Development of the Neighborhood Model

The organic development of interest and engagement that occurs once the installation process is underway at homes in a new Resilient Neighborhood now informs our approach to building additional Resilient Neighborhood Hubs across the county. While we initially thought that the only way to move forward was with a team of four neighbors at the same time, we discovered that sometimes it is OK to just find one or two neighbors who are initially interested. Working with them will build momentum and community interest and will create a more organic approach.

Expanded, Adaptable Offerings

Our initial site selection and program scope did not allow us to support a vast majority of the community interested in participating in the program. We are exploring how to create a more accessible, tiered offering system — installing just certain elements that fit a site, rather than looking for sites that can support all of those elements — that allows us to provide resources, support and continued engagement.  

Building Resilience Through Collaboration and Shared Goals

Community collaboration around shared goals and trust building was proven powerful and effective. It was inspiring to see the impact of the process of bringing neighborhoods together to work towards shared solutions, and in the valuable social network building it provides. We will continue to use this model to inform our approach in working with the community to support their vision and goals.

Fostering Community Ownership of this Model

Developing ways to encourage deeper relationship-building with our participating neighbor-teams, both in offering more support through the establishment period and in nurturing organic leadership within the Hubs to help drive expansion is key. As such, we will work to identify offerings and tools that can support community development beyond our initial partnership.

To read more about the lessons learned, see the full report here.  

Although it might seem like our work in Vallejo is done, we will continue to support members of the Resilient Neighborhood Hubs as best we can through our other programs. The Solano Gardens program, for example, will fund monthly gardening classes in the South Vallejo Neighborhood garden in collaboration with the Emmanuel Temple Apostolic Church. This church is a seven-minute walk from the South Vallejo Hub. Here, Sustainable Solano will be hosting monthly educational classes and seed giveaways in an effort to teach people about sustainable gardening techniques. Classes will be held from 9-11 am starting April 24 with a class about companion planting. These classes will be open to everyone. 

If you are interested in participating, be on the lookout for more information! 

The Resilient Neighborhoods program is generously funded through the PG&E Corporation Foundation.