Suisun City Resilient Neighborhoods
Our Resilient Neighborhoods program expanded in January 2021 into Suisun City. Building on Suisun City’s relationship to the water and marsh, our focus in Suisun relates to adapting to and mitigating the impacts of flooding due to future storm events, tidal surges, and rising sea levels. Working 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, our Resilient Neighborhoods work broadens on the neighborhood model used in Vallejo to see how the collective community can work together to address rising waters through the Flood Resilience Action Plan.
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. Learn more about the flood risks Suisun City faces in this article from KneeDeep Times.
Since the program grew into Suisun City, we have installed two flood-resilient gardens, kicked off an annual climate event, led a high school internship program, taken residents on a dozen Flood Walk tours, and empowered the community to tackle flooding via the creation of a community-based action plan. Learn more about the work Sustainable Solano did alongside its partner organizations, the city and the community from 2021-2022, in this program highlight summary and program report.
While our time with PG&E’s Better Together Resilient Communities grant has drawn to a close, the push for climate resilience in Suisun has just begun. We are actively seeking opportunities to continue our partnership with Suisun City and the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District help bring the Suisun community together in overcoming the flooding challenges they face. Be sure to check back here to keep up with the expansion of our flood mitigation and outreach efforts.
To learn more about our initiatives check out the links below:
Flood Resilience Action Plan
Working under the guidance of The Nature Conservancy, Sustainable Solano held a Community Resilience Building Workshop in June 2022 with Suisun City leaders, residents, business owners and environmental professionals. The Nature Conservancy created a Summary of Findings Report from that workshop that we will be using along with city leaders to begin community conversations around climate risks and possible solutions. This report was discussed as part of a climate resilience community forum.
You can use this form to share your feedback, any questions or concerns about the information in the report.
Interested in learning more about flood risks in Suisun City? Review the self-guided Flood Walk brochure to learn more about the effects of flooding in Suisun City and what you can do at your home to add a layer of resilience against flooding.
Flood Walk brochure (learn about the risks of flooding in Suisun City):
2022 Suisun City Climate Resilience Community Forum
Presentations
Roundtable Discussion
Model Resilient Neighborhood
A Resilient Neighborhood is a place conducive to life, like our native ecosystems, which are naturally regenerative and resilient. Looking to nature as our guide, we envision neighborhoods that are better equipped to adapt and thrive in the face of environmental, social and economic changes. Foundational elements include vegetation and trees that create shade, provide habitat and clean the air, food-producing landscapes, and sustainable water management practices focused on secondary water sources, stormwater diversion and groundwater recharge. The people in a Resilient Neighborhood are deeply connected to each other, and to their collective land and native ecosystems.
We identified two model projects in mitigating flood and storm water events across downtown Suisun City. El Bosquecito, a demonstration food forest garden installed through the Solano Sustainable Backyards program, is a great example of how individual homeowners and communities can employ techniques that mitigate flooding. Learn more about that garden here.
Caisteal Termonn, a resilient garden installed in 2022 demonstrates ways to create a garden that is drought- and flood-resilient, and remediated a site that had been burned by wildfire. You can learn more about that garden here.
If you or your neighbors are interested in participating in a free yard transformation or have a site in mind, please fill out our Sustainable Landscaping Interest Form to be considered for installations this upcoming fall.
Other Ways to be Involved
We are always looking for new partners in our work and fresh ideas on how to improve the Resilient Neighborhoods program across Suisun City and Solano County. Please email the Resilient Communities Program Manager at alex@sustainablesolano.org to connect about our work.