The Port of San Diego has received two prestigious recognitions from the Association of Environmental Professionals, San Diego Chapter. The awards were presented at the Association’s Annual Awards and Scholarship Event held October 24, 2019 in San Diego.
The Port earned an Outstanding Technical Report Award for its Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Coastal Resiliency Report. The report assesses how the Port proposes to address projected sea level rise and includes an analysis of the impacts of projected sea level rise as described in the resolution of the California Ocean Projection Council on Sea Level Rise and the latest version of the State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance Document.
The report also includes maps depicting areas that may be affected by projected sea level rise decades from now, an estimate of financial costs of the impact of projected sea level rise on public lands, including the potential cost of repair of damage, and a description of how the Port proposes to protect and preserve existing and proposed natural and built environmental resources and facilities.
The Port and its partners at the California State Lands Commission received the Outstanding Public Involvement Award for the San Diego Ocean Planning Partnership Preliminary Assessment Report.
The San Diego Ocean Planning Partnership is a collaborative pilot project between the California State Lands Commission and the Port. In the first phase, known as the preliminary assessment phase, the Commission and the Port engaged with stakeholders and collected feedback to better understand the ocean space offshore of San Diego County. Specifically, Commission and Port staff heard from stakeholders about how they use ocean space, the challenges with those uses, their previous experiences and concerns with ocean planning and similar planning processes, and suggestions on how to best manage this type of process. This feedback was used to complete the preliminary assessment report.
“As an environmental champion of San Diego Bay and its tidelands, the Port of San Diego is committed to making sure these public lands will be protected so that they may be enjoyed by future generations. Port staff did an exceptional job ensuring that the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Coastal Resiliency Report reflected this. Additionally, Port staff and State Lands Commission staff have underscored the importance of public involvement to help understand ocean planning. The Port is honored to be recognized for its efforts on both of these reports,” said Garry Bonelli, Chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners.
The Port of San Diego Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Coastal Resiliency Report can be viewed at portofsandiego.org and the San Diego Ocean Planning Partnership Preliminary Assessment Report can be viewed at sdoceanplanning.org.
