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The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) Regional Resiliency Implementation Plan

Purpose and Need of the Phase II Study

In 2020, the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) finished the Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Study (or "Phase I Study") which identified planning gaps, baseline climate conditions, and key infrastructure vulnerabilities to climate change. The Regional Resiliency Implementation Plan and Adaptation Guidance (or "Phase II Study") furthers the Phase I study by providing specific solutions to expected transportation impacts such as asset degradation, emergency evacuation, and public safety. This work develops an assessment of regional needs, concerns, and barriers that the public and stakeholders have surrounding climate adaptation (actions taken to lessen or avoid impacts posed by climate change).

The Regional Resiliency Implementation Plan and Adaptation Guidance report is a tool for SJCOG member jurisdictions, other regional stakeholders, and the public to identify strategies to adapt to climate change and improve regional resiliency. The plan provides a range of implementation strategies for the region, which can be advanced by SJCOG and its partners to create a more resilient multi-modal transportation network in the San Joaquin region.

Resilience-building Strategies

Resilience is the "the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, or more successfully adapt to adverse events." Perhaps the most important aspect of the Phase II Study was the collection of strategies for the San Joaquin region, which can be taken to create a more resilient transportation network. These resilience-building "implementation strategies" were collected from community engagement with San Joaquin stakeholders and the public and are ranked based upon factors such as effectiveness, cost, and other benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and whether the strategy would protect a disadvantaged community. They include physical adaptation strategies, such as making levee improvements, and capacity-building options, such as identifying funding sources. See below for the top 20 strategies to advance in the region and the complete list of ranked strategies.

Footnotes

  1. AASHTO. 2017. Understanding Transportation Resilience: A 2016-2018 Roadmap for Security, Emergency Management, and Infrastructure Protection in Transportation Resilience. [online] Available at: https://ctssr.transportation.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2017/10/UTR-1-book-vers-5.pdf Back to content

Why Do we need a Resiliency Plan?

77% of San Joaquin region residents surveyed for this project said they were concerned about the day-to-day impacts from climate change.

22% of those surveyed for this project said that poor air quality was the climate change impact that worried them the most. Climate change decreases the quality of the air we breathe by increasing allergens in the air and ground-level ozone pollution. Wildfires also have a major impact on the amount of particulate matter in the air.

15% of those surveyed for this project said that wildfire was the impact from climate change that worried them most. Wildfires may burn more area in San Joaquin County by midcentury (2050), but area burned is expected to decrease or remain consistent with current conditions by end of century (2100).

Temperatures are rising and the number of extreme heat days (above 101.5 °F) in San Joaquin County are expected to increase from an average of 5 to 26 days per year over the coming century (to 2100).

Sea level rise of 1 to 3 feet in San Francisco Bay with a major storm event could lead to flooding in the Delta region and of Interstate 5 between Lathrop and Tracy.

Extreme precipitation and flood events are likely to become more frequent and severe. There may be a 21-25% increase in the intensity of the 100-year storm by midcentury (2050).