Solution: Establish a cross-jurisdictional public entity to plan, coordinate, and advance resilience projects for flooding, sea level rise, and other water-related climate risks across an entire county

Key challenge: Climate risks do not align with city boundaries, but planning, funding, and delivery are often fragmented across jurisdictions

Context: One Shoreline was established in 2020 as an independent public agency to address the water-related impacts of climate change across San Mateo County. It provides a regional platform for planning, project development, funding, and coordination where no single city can address the full risk alone.

Solution in practice: One Shoreline advances shoreline resilience plans, creek and flood resilience projects, planning policy guidance, early warning systems, and multi-jurisdictional project development across the county. Its work includes Brisbane, the southern Bayside cities, San Bruno Creek, and other shoreline and flood-prone areas.

Impact / outcome: County-wide agency (since 2020) advancing shoreline, creek and flood resilience projects across San Mateo County.

Next steps: Advance multi-jurisdictional shoreline resilience plans, develop future-conditions guidance for public infrastructure, build funding-ready project pipelines, and test links between property-level risk reduction and improved insurability.

Organizations involved:

Authoring: One Shoreline (San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District)

Implementation partners: Local Governments; Investors & Banks; Regulators & Policymakers; Civil Society Organizations