The Resilient By Design Bay Area Challenge is a year-long, collaborative effort that aims to strengthen multiple Bay Area shoreline locations in resistance to sea level rise and severe flooding. Ten teams were selected to research and design solutions. In San Rafael, Bionic Team is working hard for waterfront resilience.
Bionic Team generated a wealth of information about the impacts of flooding and sea level rise on Central and East San Rafael’s valley. They developed a number of design ideas which can provide a basis for a future in-depth, community-based design process.
In support of Bionic Team, we at Resilient Shore have worked collaboratively with Shore Up Marin and the Canal Welcome Center. We helped to educate local community groups and organizations about flooding, sea level rise, and seismic risk. Community participants ware encouraged to share their needs and concerns with the team. We were fortunate to have support from local organizations:
- San Rafael City Public Works, Fire and Community Development staff provided technical input
- Marin County participated in sharing the Bay Wave vulnerability assessment
- Studio for Urban Projects organized well-attended walking, bicycle and kayak tours of the San Rafael waterfront area
- The San Rafael community joined us at a Flood Fair at Pickleweed Park as well as several meetings with local organizations and community groups
On Monday, August 20th, Bionic Team will present their final design “Elevate San Rafael” to the San Rafael City Council. This is the culmination of over a year of research, analysis and design by the multidisciplinary team.
You’re cordially invited to attend Bionic’s presentation at the City Council meeting. It will be an exciting opportunity to view the presentation and contribute to the conversation. We hope to see you there!
