Bay Area Sea Level Rise: A guided walk through time
For this week's review, I am excited to be presenting my ideas for this installation to the partners of the Creative Code Fellowship. I'm looking forward to getting feedback from some of my heroes in this field; Stamen, Obscura Digital, Presence, and Britelite Immersive, along with my illustrious fellow-fellows and guides from Gray Area.
eecue.com
Statement of the Problem/Challenge
- The San Francisco Bay is an estuary that is shaped by the dynamic interrelationship between water and land. The Bay Area is a relatively fleeting phenomenon and has undergone up to 4 "floodings" from melting glaciers over the past 700,000 years.
- Humans (we) have inherited this "dance" between the land and the sea and have built societies during a time of relative stability. However, the sea is rising again.
- "Sea Level Rise" in popular discourse has become polarized between an issue that is:
- Abstract and in the very distant future (Complacency/denial).
- Highly urgent and requires dramatic (technocratic) solutions.
- Communities of practitioners are developing strategies, conducting research using advanced technology and collaborative methodologies to come up with regional SLR scenarios and adaptation plans....BUT THIS WORK IS NOT ENGAGING THE PUBLIC....
What if we take a longer view of SLR, back to the last glacial maximum (18,000 years ago) when the Bay Area was a dry river valley and the coast extended past the Farallon Islands. What can the subsequent "post-glacial flooding event" reveal about future SLR projections in the region. Are there clues in the changing wetland habitats and human development patterns that reveal adaptation opportunities or failures?
Examples of Projects that have Addressed this Challenge and What are they Missing?
- Research, SLR Adaptation Management Plans, Reports, White Papers.
- Highly technical.
- Geared towards specific stakeholder groups.
- All mention "public outreach" as critical components to their plans but rarely outline specific steps about public communication strategies.
- SLR and Climate Resilience Interactive Websites, Viewers, Toolkits.
- Multiple variables to explore, each has their own focus (social, environmental, planning/engineering), none is all-encompassing.
- Multiple scenarios and custom "stressors" (sediment supply, flood events, king tide, precipitation) that influence the modeled outputs.
- Outputs are in different units of measurement (cm, m, ft)
Our Coast Our Future, Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission, PRBO, (and others) interactive viewer. http://data.prbo.org/apps/ocof/
Climate Explorer. NOAA Coastal Services Center.
- Enginneering, Ecological Restoration, and Urban Design Solutions (few examples, there are many)
Bay Arc. A Tidal Responsive Barrier. Craig Hartman. Winner of BCDC "Rising Tides" Design Competition. 2010 (?)
Kuth Ranieri Architects. Winner of BCDC "Rising Tides" Design Competition. 2010 (?)
Overview of Project & Where I am At
Exploratorium Data Visualization Residence and Visualizing the Bay Exhibit.
- Approach to inquiry based exploration and education.
- Coordination with regional scientists to communicate research results and data.
- Visualizing the Bay exhibit platform and audience.
- Data discovery and narrative development.
- Goals
Creative Code Fellowship Installation Goals and Ideas
- "A Walk through time". To experience time and natural processes in a physical space. The Bay is the main character, the sea and the land are mirrored in space to show cyclical patterns.
- Audience
What is Next/What you Need
- Data development: Technical and aesthetic style feedback
- Future SLR data for the entire extent of the SF Bay AND Delta.
- Insight into installation design, and organizing complex concepts.
NC Nelson, 1909 Shellmound locations.
Reber Plan for damming parts of the SF Bay to create a series of 4 freshwater lakes. 1940's?? (Thank you to Matthew Booker for sharing this with me. Need for further review!)