The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) is a State of California government agency located in the City of San Francisco with a mission to protect and enhance San Francisco Bay for this and future generations. Through its laws and policies, BCDC protects hundreds of miles of shoreline, collaborates with local, regional, state and federal agencies and communities, and facilitates the implementation of the San Francisco Bay Trail and the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail. In 2019, BCDC introduced Environmental Justice and Social Equity policies into the San Francisco Bay Plan, which guide all of its activities. BCDC’s Planning Division is a leader in preparing the Bay Area for faster, better and more equitable adaptation to rising sea level, in particular through its Adapting to Rising Tides program and Bay Adapt, a regional strategy for a rising Bay. BCDC recognizes the challenges dealt to frontline communities over centuries of injustice and is committed to understanding these deep-seated historical injustices so that they are not repeated as we endeavor to protect and enhance the Bay for this and future generations.
The Adapting to Rising Tides Program (ART) is a unit in BCDC’s Planning Division and provides staff support, guidance, tools and information to help agencies and organizations understand, communicate, and begin to resolve complex climate change issues along the bay shoreline. The ART Program supports Bay Adapt, an initiative to establish regional agreement on the actions necessary to protect people and the natural and built environment from rising sea levels, and implements the Bay Adapt Joint Platform, a series of tasks designed to support this agreement.