Port officials tell oversight committee seismic and flood work for Embarcadero Seawall is moving into project selection after litigation delay

Brad Benson, Port of San Francisco waterfront resilience director, and Carlos Colon, waterfront program administrator, updated the Citizens General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee on the 2018 Embarcadero Seawall earthquake safety bond and the wider waterfront resilience program. Benson said litigation over ballot materials delayed the first sale but that the city—s appeals were resolved and the Port issued an initial sale on June 2 in the amount of roughly $49.7 million. He said the port has been using operating revenues and state grants to advance work in the interim and plans to reimburse eligible expenses from bond proceeds.

Benson described a two-year multi-hazard risk assessment that examined multiple earthquake scenarios and sea-level-rise projections. He summarized the assessment—s high-end finding that combined seismic and flood damages and disruption could reach as much as $30 billion by the end of the century if no mitigation occurs. "We—ve just completed a more…