Flood Resilience
Flood Resilience in Solano County
Bay-adjacent communities in Solano County are at risk from increased flooding caused by sea level rise, tidal surges and storm events. Extreme weather, excessive rainfall, groundwater intrusion, levee failure and bank erosion can all lead to flood destruction of property and infrastructure, and carry particular risk for socially vulnerable communities.
Much of Sustainable Solano’s flood resilience work has been in Suisun City, where partnerships with city leaders, agencies and organizations have supported active community engagement around addressing flood risk and exploring solutions. We hope this work will inform steps that other Solano cities can take as they explore their own increased flood risk.
Resources
Suisun City Community Resilience Building Workshop Summary
Proposed Suisun City Nature-Based Solutions
Tell us what you think: Suisun City resident survey
Suisun City
Nature-Based Solutions
Sustainable Solano is actively engaging community members around the types of nature-based solutions, such as marsh restoration, living levees, or peat-building wetlands, they would like to see to address flood risk. This is part of our work focused on community engagement around nature-based solutions funded through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation support through Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network and Coastal Quest.
We invite Suisun City residents to answer our survey on nature-based solutions here, and find out about upcoming events here.
This work builds upon previous community engagement Sustainable Solano led with our data partners, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s Adapting to Rising Tides program, and the local government of the City of Suisun, that brought community members into conversation around flood risk and led to the creation of a Community Resilience Building Workshop Summary.
The next steps are to engage the community around tangible solutions that the city can pursue to address those increasing risks.
Take the Survey!
Tell us what activities are most important to you along the Suisun shoreline and what types of solutions you want to learn more about. Help inform educational events, community meetings and outreach materials regarding climate adaptation and nature-based solutions.
Check back here to learn more about different types of nature-based solutions and how they could be applied in Suisun City.
Learn more about nature-based solutions and adaptation strategies in this presentation by the San Francisco Estuary Institute
A Resilience Hotspot
Flood Futures walk in partnership between Sustainable Solano and Greenbelt Alliance
Suisun City is a Greenbelt Alliance Resilience Hotspot. The Bay Area Resilience Hotspots initiative is a blueprint for where to protect communities that stand to lose the most in the face of climate change in ways that co-benefit habitats, open spaces, biodiversity, recreation, and more. Learn more about Suisun City and the Bay Area Resilience Hotspots initiative at greenbelt.org/suisun-city.
Resilient Neighborhood
Suisun City was one of Sustainable Solano’s first resilient neighborhoods. Resilient neighborhoods bring together neighbors in addressing environmental and climate challenges through community-level action, including the creation of resilient landscapes within their neighborhoods.
This part of our work encompassed raising awareness and educating the public on the impacts of flooding for the residents and stakeholders of Suisun City while also building out a resilient neighborhood in a socially vulnerable community subject to flooding in downtown Suisun. We installed two flood-resilient gardens, kicked off an annual climate event, led high school internship programs, took residents on Flood Walk tours, and empowered the community to tackle flooding.
We look forward to building on this foundational work in our current work around identifying nature-based solutions the city can pursue for future flood resilience.
Resources & Ways to Get Involved
Upcoming Resilience Events
April 27, 10 am-1 pm: Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District Community Treatment Wetland meeting & tour (Register here)
May 3, 6-7:30 pm: Spanish Flood Walk with Suisun City Mayor Alma Hernandez (Register here)
May 18, 10 am-4 pm: Rain Garden Installation at Suisun City Hall (Register here)
June 6, 6-8:30 pm: Climate Adaptations and Nature-Based Solutions Workshop with San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (Register here)
Keep an eye out for other upcoming events, including the next Climate and Environmental Festival!
Resiliency News and Updates
Gift of the Generations
Alana’s This Wonderful World project has highlighted the Pollinator Pathway garden installation with a series of three songs, as well as songs about the installation of Peace of Eden community garden at City Church Fairfield, a series on laundry-to-landscape greywater, and a series inspired by the Vallejo People’s Garden. This is her reflection and the last song in her spring series — it highlights community gardens through SuSol’s Solano Gardens program.
Fellowship Focuses on Environmental Justice, Supports Pollinators in Vacaville
As part of Sustainable Solano’s Environmental Justice Leadership Fellowship, seven students from multiple Solano County cities undertook a research and green infrastructure project in Vacaville. Students focused on the Markham neighborhood, a community grappling with several environmental challenges, and explored possible solutions, including walkability, available green spaces, and usable wildlife habitats.
Let’s Make Fairfield a Walkable Forest
Sustainable Solano is looking to help grow an urban forest in central Fairfield, where we have identified a lack of walkable infrastructure and a desperate need for tree canopy cover. By shading our yards, sidewalks, and streets with tree cover, we can mitigate the impacts of urban heat islands, purify our polluted air, and make it more pleasant for our community to walk, bike and play outdoors more often.