Resilient Coast Santa Cruz 2.0: Shoreline Adaptation Management Plans

The City of Santa Cruz is seeking a consultant or team of consultants to develop accessible, community-supported Shoreline Adaptation Management Plans (SAMPs) and accompanying accessible Blueprints , for three subareas of the City’s coastline to accelerate investment in implementing coastal resilience visions and projects. The City of Santa Cruz’ 4.5-mile coast took a beating the past several storm seasons. While the City has undertaken significant coastal climate adaptation efforts in recent years to address episodic storm events and slower impacts from sea level rise, coastal storm damage in winter 2023 created a renewed community imperative to address coastal change. The proposed project builds upon this work, creating SAMPs and accompanying implementation “blueprints” for 3 coastal subareas. The project integrates the City’s prior work in developing its working adaptation pathways approach with new information, policy, planning guidance and diverse engagement to produce community-supported, fundable implementation deliverables: the East Cliff, Main/Cowell Beaches, and West Cliff Shoreline Adaptation Blueprints.

SAMPs will reference extensive prior work on existing conditions, future vulnerabilities, feasibility of adaptation alternatives, visioning and equitable engagement. The work will be informed by technical, youth and equity advisors and build upon deep and innovative engagement that is accessible with compelling visualizations of strategies and projects. Leveraging considerable momentum, existing partnerships and new knowledge, this project aims to level set planning across the City’s coast, align local and regional plans, further develop Local Coastal Program policies, and catalyze the City into implementation of its coastal community vision. This project is funded with Ocean Protection Council funding and supports 3 of the 4 goals contained in the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) Strategic Plan (2020-2025): Goal 1, Objective 1.1 Building Resilience to Coastal Hazards; Goal 2, Objectives 2.1-2.4 Enhanced engagement and improved coastal access; Goal 3, Objective 3.1 Protect and Restore Coastal Marine Ecosystems.

The City of Santa Cruz was incorporated in 1866 and formed its current charter in 1948. It is governed under a Council/Manager form of government. A Mayor and six Council members set policy for the City and a City Manager serves as chief administrator of those policies. The City is located on the coast, 75 miles south of San Francisco on the northern edge of the Monterey Bay. It encompasses 15.8 square miles with cultural and ethnic diversity among its population of 65,000. Santa Cruz is part of the National Marine Sanctuary and is a popular tourist destination owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historical landmarks.

The City provides a full range of municipal services and facilities including a recreational wharf, public golf course, over thirteen hundred acres of open space, full beach services, refuse management, law enforcement, fire protection, and water and wastewater utilities. The City is also host to University of California Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Harbor, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park.

The City of Santa Cruz was awarded an Ocean Protection Council (OPC) grant with a precise and finite amount of $396,000 for consultant services specified in this RFP. All project activities must be completed by December 31, 2026.

The City of Santa Cruz requests proposals from qualified firms for coastal climate adaptation and environmental planning services. A successful proposer will have extensive knowledge of sea level rise and climate science, climate adaptation best practices, including nature-based or natural solutions, have experience with equitable community processes, have strong written and verbal communication skills, and will have a successful track-record of completed coastal climate adaptation projects for local governments.