The AdaptSea Seattle Waterfront Resilience Partnership serves as a partnering framework for public waterfront stakeholders to develop a shared strategy for synchronizing investments and local regulatory approaches to improve the resilience of Seattle waterfront infrastructure and transportation/freight corridors. This phase of the Partnership focused on sea level rise (SLR) adaptation.
Partners
- Port of Seattle
- City of Seattle (Public Utilities, Parks and Recreation, City Light, Office of Sustainability and Environment, Office of Planning and Community Development, Department of Transportation, Department of Construction and Inspections, Office of the Waterfront)
- King County Wastewater Treatment Division
- Washington State Department of Transportation (Washington State Ferries)
- The Northwest Seaport Alliance
2025 Research and Modeling
Informed by best available science
- Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States (NOAA 2022)
- Projected Sea Level Rise for Washington State — A 2018 Assessment (Miller et. al 2018)
- Coastal Storm Modeling System Groundwater Study (USGS 2020)
- Interactive Washington State Sea Level Rise Data Visualizations (Lavin et. al 2019)
- USGS Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) Puget Sound and HERA Flood Tool
Dynamic wave modeling and asset exposure mapping
- AdaptSea StoryMap — Dynamic Wave Modeling and Asset Exposure Inventory Mapping
- Wave modeling performed for Elliott Bay and the entire Bay shoreline
- 2D wave runup modeling performed to provide coastal flooding and hazard zone extent for near-term (2-foot) and long-term (5-foot) SLR scenarios for 10- and 100-year storm events
- Mapped hazard zones along the shoreline from Golden Gardens in the north, to Duwamish River Mile 4.5, and around West Seattle to Brace Point
- Assessed asset hazard exposure for four key focus areas, each with large concentrations of multiple partner agencies' assets
Case studies
- Olympia SLR Response Collaborative: Sea Level Rise Response Plan and Interlocal Agreement between Port of Olympia, City of Olympia, and LOTT Clean Water Alliance.
- San Francisco OneSF and ClimateSF Programs: Coordination and governance between City/County/Port for coastal flood resilience, capital planning for flood and climate adaptation, and USACE feasibility study.
- The Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County: Special purpose local authority to undertake and support “resilience infrastructure projects.”
- Bellingham Bay Partnership: Comprehensive strategy between Ecology and multiple cleanup site owners.
Select partnering opportunities
- Perform habitat evolution modeling to understand the effects of changing coastal conditions and support project design and decision-making.
- Support research into the effects of sea level rise on groundwater, and its effects on infrastructure and previously remediated sites.
- Explore options for joint ownership, funding, and facilitation of AdaptSea work — potentially through formal interagency agreements.
- Joint Adaptation Framework — meta-vulnerability analysis that identifies overlap between existing studies and intersecting interests
- Hazard mitigation and response planning — expand coordination beyond emergency management departments
- Project synergies on Duwamish River — demonstration project with co-benefits and combined funding streams
- Codes and Standards — identify opportunities to expedite adaptation, explore feasibility of alternative or phased compliance in data-informed “adaptation pathways” model
Project documents
- AdaptSea Project Charter (PDF)
- AdaptSea Technical Memo (PDF)
- Total Water Level and Sea Level Rise Calculator (Zipped Excel file)
- 2025 AdaptSea Recommendations Report (PDF)
