SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — On Tuesday, Santa Clara County leaders moved forward with a resolution to address sea levels rising and mitigate the impacts of climate change in the region.

At the first Board of Supervisors meeting of 2022, county supervisors adopted Supervisor Otto Lee’s resolution to join regional partners in adopting the Bay Adapt Joint Platform (BAJP), an initiative to address rising sea levels and climate change.

BAJP sets out guiding principles, priority actions, and tasks to help enable the region to adapt more quickly, effectively, and equitably to a rising San Francisco Bay.

“The Bay Adapt Joint Platform is a roadmap for how we can adapt faster, better, and especially more equitably to a rising Bay,” said Supervisor Lee.

“I am grateful to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, BCDC, and a host of community partners for developing the Joint Platform.”

The Adapting to Rising Tides (ART) Bay Area Regional Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Adaptation study notes that by 2040 — 28,00 socially vulnerable residents, 83,000 housing units, and 20,000 acres of wetlands, lagoon, and tidal marsh habitat are at risk of flooding.

The Bay Area, and Santa Clara County, are home to communities that are at the greatest risk of exposure to climate threats, according to the study.

A county memo spearheaded by Supervisor Lee said Santa Clara County is in a “highly networked region where impacts in one area, and responses to them, have cascading effects around the Bay.”

Supervisor Lee represents District 3 on the Board of Supervisors which encompasses the southernmost shorelines, wetlands, wildlife refuge, the Alviso slough, and Coyote Creek of the San Francisco Bay, most of Santa Clara County’s areas at the highest risk of sea level rise. 

“There are more than 80,000 housing units and 20,000 acres of wetlands at risk by 2040. Starting off the year by adopting the BAJP is the necessary action we need to save families and their homes,” said Supervisor Lee.

“I am grateful to my colleagues for unanimously adopting the BAJP. This is one of the many steps we need to take in 2022, but this is a big one.”