San Francisco Bay

Green Infrastructure Planning for the City of Richmond with GreenPlan-IT

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | November 1st, 2018

The City of Richmond, via the San Francisco Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP), is required to develop and implement a Green Infrastructure (GI) Master Plan to re

The City of Richmond, via the San Francisco Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP), is required to develop and implement a Green Infrastructure (GI) Master Plan to reduce stormwater mercury and PCB loads. This project used GreenPlan-IT, a planning tool developed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and regional partners, to identify feasible and cost-effective GI locations within the City boundary to support the development of GI Plans for permit compliance.  GreenPlan-IT comprises four distinct tools: (a) a GIS-based Site Locator Tool that combines the physical properties of different GI types with local and regional GIS information to identify and rank potential GI locations; (b) a Modeling Tool that is built on SWMM5 to establish baseline conditions and quantify anticipated runoff and pollutant load reductions from GI implementation; (c) an Optimization Tool that uses an evolutionary algorithm to identify the best combinations of GI types and numbers of sites within a study area for achieving flow and load reduction goals; and (d) a Tracker Tool that tracks GI implementation and reports the cumulative programmatic outcomes for regulatory compliance and other communication needs. 

Green Infrastructure Planning for the City of Sunnyvale with GreenPlan-IT

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | July 2nd, 2018

The City of Sunnyvale, via the San Francisco Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP),is required to develop and implement a Green Infrastructure (GI) Master Plan to re

The City of Sunnyvale, via the San Francisco Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP),is required to develop and implement a Green Infrastructure (GI) Master Plan to reduce stormwater mercury and PCB loads. This project used GreenPlan-IT, a planning tool developed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and regional partners, to identify feasible and cost-effective GI locations within the City boundary to support the development of GI Plans for permit compliance.  GreenPlan-IT comprises four distinct tools: (a) a GIS-based Site Locator Tool that combines the physical properties of different GI types with local and regional GIS information to identify and rank potential GI locations; (b) a Modeling Tool that is built on SWMM5 to establish baseline conditions and quantify anticipated runoff and pollutant load reductions from GI implementation; (c) an Optimization Tool that uses an evolutionary algorithm to identify the best combinations of GI types and numbers of sites within a study area for achieving flow and load reduction goals; and (d) a Tracker Tool that tracks GI implementation and reports the cumulative programmatic outcomes for regulatory compliance and other communication needs. 

Green Plan-IT Application Report for the East Bay Corridors Initiative

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | November 1st, 2018

Regional planning of Green Infrastructure (GI) is an important aspect of building in or retrofitting GI and other green spaces across municipal jurisdictions. This level

Regional planning of Green Infrastructure (GI) is an important aspect of building in or retrofitting GI and other green spaces across municipal jurisdictions. This level of planning allows for GI to be implemented according to natural boundaries and builds important partnerships across municipalities. The East Bay Corridors Initiative is a unique partnership across 13 jurisdictions, county and regional agencies, as well as community groups and businesses to plan new housing, create job opportunities, and improve parks and streets with linkages to essential services (ABAG 2016). The Initiative covers a large swath of the East Bay of San Francisco Bay, CA from Rodeo in the North to Union City in the South and focuses on Priority Development Areas (PDAs) and transportation linkages. In addition to the above focus, the Initiative will also look at opportunities for GI implementation across the Corridor. The Resilience priority within the Initiative focuses on sustainable infrastructure including regional GI implementation, green streets, and stormwater/flooding mitigation (ABAG 2016). The objective of this project was to use GreenPlan-IT, a planning tool developed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), to identify feasible GI locations within the East Bay Corridor footprint. Results from the application of the Site Locator Tool will be used to: 1) identify potential green infrastructure projects for the Corridor’s sustainable infrastructure planning efforts, including the development of information for municipal and regional GI Master Plans and Stormwater Resources Plans; and 2) potentially help comply with municipal Stormwater Permit requirements.  GreenPlan-IT is a planning level tool that was developed over the past five years with strong Bay Area stakeholder consultation and designed to support the cost-effective selection and placement of green infrastructure in urban watersheds through a combination of GIS analysis, watershed modeling, optimization techniques, and data visualization. Structurally, GreenPlan-IT comprises four standalone tools: (a) a GIS-based Site Locator Tool that combines the physical properties of different GI types with local and regional GIS information to identify and rank potential GI locations; (b) a Modeling Tool that is built on EPA’s SWMM5 (Rossman, 2010) to establish baseline conditions and quantify anticipated runoff and pollutant load reductions from GI sites; (c) an Optimization Tool that uses a cost-benefit analysis to identify the best combinations of GI types and number of sites within a study area for achieving flow and/or load reduction goals; and (d) a tracker tool that is used to track GI implementation and report the cumulative programmatic outcomes for regulatory compliance and other communication needs. The Toolkit package, consisting of the software, companion user manuals, and demonstration report, is available on the GreenPlan-IT web site hosted by SFEI. 

GreenPlan-IT Tracker

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | June 14th, 2018

This technical memo describes the purpose, functions, and structure associated with the newest addition to the GreenPlan-IT Toolset, the GreenPlan-IT Tracker. It also sh

This technical memo describes the purpose, functions, and structure associated with the newest addition to the GreenPlan-IT Toolset, the GreenPlan-IT Tracker. It also shares the opportunities for further enhancement and how the tool can operate in concert with existing resources. Furthermore, this memo describes a licensing plan that would permit municipalities to use the tool in an ongoing way that scales to their needs. The memo concludes with a provisional roadmap for the development of future features and technical details describing the tool’s platform and data structures. About the GreenPlan-IT Toolkit Municipalities across the state and beyond are carefully planning and implementing green infrastructure in their developed landscape to restore key aspects of the natural water cycle. Green infrastructure helps to achieve stormwater attenuation and contaminant filtration by increasing the pervious surfaces in often sophisticated ways. Additionally, green infrastructure features, as city dwellers have come to realize, demonstrate multiple benefits in addition to improving surface porosity, such as peak, volume, and load reductions, urban heat island mitigation, traffic calming, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, natural aesthetics, and others. The benefits are substantial, but so are the potential costs. GreenPlan-IT helps planners to make smart decisions in the types and locations of green infrastructure, minimizing effort and cost while maximizing the effectiveness of the public and private investments. GreenPlan-IT modules are focused on green infrastructure planning and assessment, including the Site Locator Tool, Modeler, and Optimizer tools. Together the modular toolkit can be used to take a city from a position of not knowing where to consider GI placement (a daunting position given the MRP C3 and C11/12 requirements), to a plan that includes a list and map of feasible locations and a map of baseline flow and pollutant load conditions, and a selected optimal set of placement locations for achieving flow and load reductions at minimal cost. Now, with the advent of the GreenPlan-IT Tracker, there is also a web based tracker for quantifying and communicating the locations, types, and treatment areas of GI installations (the outputs of all the planning efforts) and quantifying the peak flows, volumes, and loads reduced (the outcomes of all the implementation and cost expenditure that the community is asking for).

Groundwater Accounting Platform — Real-World Impact from DWR Investment in Open, Scalable SGMA Tools

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) | November 3rd, 2025

Groundwater Conditions Report Water Year 2021

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 15th, 2022

Groundwater dominates snowmelt runoff and controls streamflow efficiency in the western United States

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | May 3rd, 2025

Groundwater in California

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | June 6th, 2024

Groundwater level observations in 250,000 coastal US wells reveal scope of potential seawater intrusion

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 26th, 2020

Seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers can increase groundwater salinity beyond potable levels, endangering access to freshwater for millions of people. Seawater intrus

Seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers can increase groundwater salinity beyond potable levels, endangering access to freshwater for millions of people. Seawater intrusion is particularly likely where water tables lie below sea level, but can also arise from groundwater pumping in some coastal aquifers with water tables above sea level. Nevertheless, no nation-wide, observation-based assessment of the scope of potential seawater intrusion exists. Here we compile and analyze ~250,000 coastal groundwater-level observations made since the year 2000 in the contiguous United States. We show that the majority of observed groundwater levels lie below sea level along more than 15% of the contiguous coastline. We conclude that landward hydraulic gradients characterize a substantial fraction of the East Coast (>18%) and Gulf Coast (>17%), and also parts of the West Coast where groundwater pumping is high. Sea level rise, coastal land subsidence, and increasing water demands will exacerbate the threat of seawater intrusion.

Groundwater Management Principles and Strategies to Monitor, Analyze and Minimize Impacts to Drinking Water Wells: A Framework for State Action to Support Drought Resilient Communities

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 15th, 2021

This framework was developed in response to support drinking water access for groundwater-dependent communities.

This framework was developed in response to support drinking water access for groundwater-dependent communities.