2025-2030
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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2025-2030
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
Volume I: Mitigation Action Plan
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
City of Santa Monica, California
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
The City of Santa Monica has completed this 2025 update to its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (“the Plan”) that describes and analyzes several natural hazards of concern to the city and its residents, including earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, unstable slopes and landslides, wildfires and urban fires, and climate change and extreme weather. This document also discusses the potential hazards resulting from the improper use or transport of hazardous materials, and hazards related to the current and past uses of the Santa Monica Airport. The Plan does not detail disaster response tactics but rather provides resources and information meant to assist Santa Monica in reducing its future risk and preventing losses from these natural and human-made hazards. In accordance with Federal requirements, this Plan is to be reviewed and updated every five years. This is the latest, thoroughly researched and re-written update to the 2016 Plan update, with the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting limited available staffing largely responsible for the longer-thananticipated gap between updates.
This Plan update is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), Section 322 (a-d) that requires local governments, including counties, cities, and tribes in the United States, to complete a Local Hazards Mitigation Plan as a condition of receiving Federal disaster mitigation funds. These documents are to identify the hazards that have occurred or may occur in the study area, and provide mitigation strategies, referred to as action items, designed to save lives, reduce the losses associated with disaster response and recovery, and reduce repetitive, costly damage to property and infrastructure.
PLAN MISSION
The mission of the Santa Monica Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is to promote sound public policy designed to protect citizens, critical facilities, infrastructure, private property, and the environment from local natural and human-made hazards identified. This can be achieved by increasing public awareness, documenting resources available for risk reduction and loss prevention, and identifying activities to guide the City towards building a safer, more sustainable and resilient community.
PLAN’S GOALS
The goals of the Plan (Section 4) describe the overall direction that the City of Santa Monica, through its departments, agencies, organizations, employers and residents, can take toward reducing its risk to various hazards. The goals of the Plan are stepping-stones between the broad direction of the mission statement and the specific recommendations outlined in the action items.
The main goals of Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan are:
1. Protect life and property
2. Strengthen emergency services
3. Increase public awareness
4. Seek public participation
5. Foster partnerships and implementation
6. Preserve and enhance the natural systems to provide natural hazard mitigation functions Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Analysis of the natural hazards that could impact the city of Santa Monica indicates that there are six main natural hazards (earthquakes, tsunami, flooding, landslides, wildfires, and extreme weather exacerbated by climate change) that could impact Santa Monica. Several of these hazards could cause sufficient damage in the city, and potentially in the region, that a Federal emergency could be declared. Other issues considered in this document include the potential dangers associated with the production, use and transport of hazardous materials, and hazards related to the present and past uses of the Santa Monica airport, including aircraft crashes, noise pollution, and contamination of airport and airport-adjacent properties by hazardous materials. Each of these hazards as it pertains to the city of Santa Monica is briefly described below. For a detailed account of each hazard, refer to the appropriate section in Volume II of the report.
Earthquake Hazards
The most devastating hazard to Santa Monica would be a low-probability but high consequence earthquake on any of several faults that extend through or are located near the city, especially an earthquake on the section of the Santa Monica fault that underlies the northern portion of the city (Section 6). That earthquake would cause extensive damage due to ground shaking, fault rupture, liquefaction, earthquake-induced slope instability and, although less-likely, inundation due to catastrophic failure of nearby water storage reservoirs. Other potential secondary effects of such an earthquake include urban fires ignited by fallen appliances, rupture of gas mains, or fallen electrical lines, and the release of hazardous materials due to broken containers or ruptured pipelines.
Such an earthquake is estimated to result in more than $3,400 million in damage in Santa Monica alone, including damage to the building stock and infrastructure and losses to income, and would cause hundreds to thousands of injuries and dozens of fatalities. Other nearby potential earthquake sources that could significantly impact the city and region include the Palos Verdes, Malibu, Hollywood, Newport-Inglewood and Compton-Los Alamitos faults, to mention a few.
Tsunami Hazards
Most historical tsunamis generated by sources far away from Santa Monica (referred to as teletsunamis) have caused limited flooding in the city, with wave runups typically reaching heights of less than 3 feet, and only occasionally reaching heights of more than 6 feet (Section 7). Models that consider a teletsunami with a 975-year average return period estimate that the hazard zone and evacuation area would extend approximately 700 to 1,500 feet inland, inundating all residential and commercial structures and parking lots west of Pacific Coast Highway, Appian Way and locally, Neilson Way, including the Santa Monica Pier and buildings associated with it.
North of the Pier, the inundation zone is delimited by the sea bluffs of Pacific Palisades, as the bluffs provide a natural barrier to the advancement of the runup. The California Geological Survey’s Tsunami Hazard Area Maps utilize this scenario for planning and public education purposes. Given that a teletsunami takes hours to reach the coast, providing ample time for evacuations to occur, the number of injuries and fatalities are estimated to be few to none.
Residential and commercial property losses in Santa Monica as a result of an approximately 6.6- foot tsunami runup are estimated at between $18.3 and $182.5 million.
Tsunamis caused by a local source, such as a fault or a landslide offshore in the Santa Monica Bay, have generated and could generate higher waves in Santa Monica, with the potential to impact a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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larger portion of the southern half of the city. A tsunami generated by a nearby source would also reach the coastline in minutes rather than hours, limiting the time available to evacuate the areas likely to be impacted by the waves. This could be devastating if the beach is crowded. A similarsized tsunami generated by an earthquake on the section of the Palos Verdes fault located offshore Santa Monica, in the Bay, is estimated to result in 80 to 931 fatalities, and 80 to 545 injuries in the city of Santa Monica, depending on the time of day and assuming a community preparedness level of good to fair. These estimates do not account for out-of-town beachgoers, so the total number of casualties could be much higher. A tsunami-causing earthquake on the Palos Verdes fault would also result in structural damage in the region due to ground shaking and liquefaction, with losses in Santa Monica estimated at nearly $1,500 million.
Flood Hazards
There are no floodways mapped through Santa Monica (Section 8), so fluvial flooding has a very low to non-existent probability of occurring in the city. However, flooding due to intense rainfall, often combined with high tides, can cause damage in some coastal sections of Santa Monica, especially the area along the beach north of Wilshire Boulevard, which FEMA has mapped as a 100-year flood0F
1 zone susceptible to both storm flooding and storm surging. The coastal area of the city south of Wilshire Boulevard is mapped as a 100-year flood zone susceptible to storm surges.
The City has identified 85 beach-front properties located within these flood zones. The cost of structural damage to these buildings as a result of a coastal flood event is estimated at between about $4 million and $40.2 million. The damage to infrastructure such as roadways, bridges, parking lots and utilities is not considered in these estimates, nor is the cost of damaged building contents, loss of inventory, and loss of income, so the costs could be much higher.
The flood assessment for Santa Monica also includes an analysis of potential losses associated with inundation of the east-central portion of the city if Stone Canyon dam failed catastrophically, releasing all or most of the water impounded behind the dam. This dam, which is owned and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, is located approximately 4.1 miles northeast of Santa Monica, in the hills north of Bel Air. Structural analyses conducted by others have indicated that the dam can withstand shaking levels caused by either a regional magnitude 8 earthquake, or a local magnitude 6.5 earthquake, so the probability of the dam failing is low, but not nil. This lesser-known but potential hazard, which would require a short evacuation response time, could impact the City of Los Angeles neighborhoods stretching from Bel Air to Marina del Rey, and portions of the cities of Culver City and Santa Monica. A Santa Monica-specific analysis of the area of the city likely to be inundated if the dam fails, based on the dam’s Emergency Action Plan, estimates that approximately 214 buildings would be at least moderately damaged, with 23 of those buildings completely destroyed. Total economic losses in Santa Monica as a result of the Stone Canyon dam failure are estimated at about $227 million, with about 47% of that value related to business interruption and loss of income.
Landslide Hazards
Landslide hazards in the city of Santa Monica (Section 9) are limited to only a few areas with topographic relief where slope gradients exceed 20 degrees, such as the coastal bluffs in Pacific Palisades Park, the slopes bordering the Rustic Creek and Santa Monica Creek canyons on the north, and the slopes flanking the I-10 freeway. Small surficial slope failures could also occur 1 A 100-year flood is the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in magnitude in any given year; it is not a flood occurring once every 100 years.
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along the southern and southwestern portions of the Santa Monica Airport, several slopes in the south side of the city between Ashland Avenue and Dewey Street, and slopes on the flanks of Brentwood Knoll.
Historically, slope failures in the city have been reported as a result of both earthquake shaking and following intense rainfall events. Landslides that have occurred on the 50- to 150-foot-high coastal bluffs are typically generated from the sandy to gravelly alluvial fan materials that comprise most of the cliff face. Slope damage in these materials is often the result of increased pore water pressures following periods of heavy precipitation or over-irrigation. Blocks of these deposits locally separate from the larger mass and fail as block slides or topples. If saturated as a result of intense winter rains, some sections may also fail as mudslides. Given the height of the bluffs and their exposure to the elements, localized slope failures of these materials can be expected to occur sporadically. Failures of the bluffs pose a hazard primarily to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and motorists therein. Damage associated with the potential failure of the bluffs is difficult to quantify, with the costs involving cleanup of debris and closure of the road to through-going traffic that impacts both Santa Monica residents and residents of other communities served by PCH. Closures of PCH force, at best, limited access with consequential delays, and at worse, significant detours around the Santa Monica Mountains, with the potential to cause major disruption to emergency services, especially the mobilization of people in need of emergency services to the local hospitals.
Wildfire and Urban Fire Hazards
Although, historically, Santa Monica has not experienced a wildfire within its limits, the city is bordered to the north by areas that have burned previously and could burn again in the future (Section 10). The January 2025 Palisades fire, a wildfire that spread into developed areas, with ignited structures then sustaining and transmitting the fire from one building to the next, is a fresh reminder of this reality. There are at least three canyons in the southern flanks of the Santa Monica Mountains that could convey a wildfire to the northern city boundaries. These are the Mandeville, Sullivan and Rustic canyons. Wildfires in Mandeville and Sullivan canyons could burn down to Santa Monica Canyon, along the northern city boundary. Other canyons farther to the northeast of the city, if ignited, could convey a wildfire to the northeastern portion of Santa Monica in the area of the Brentwood Country Club, and then onto the vegetated corridor that extends from Montana Avenue to Centinela Avenue. The bluffs of Pacific Palisades are also locally covered with vegetation that could be ignited by embers blown in from the north-northeast, or as a result of human activities, such as illegal encampments by unhoused individuals (small vegetation fires have occurred here before).
Following the January 2025 fires, CAL FIRE issued a new map that places the northern portion of Santa Monica within a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ). Narrow strips to the south of the VHFHSZ are also now considered as having either a high or moderate fire hazard. Property losses as a result of a wildfire in the northern portion of the city now identified as having a very high fire hazard are estimated to range between $60 million and almost $600 million. A fire within the very high fire hazard zone would impact 1,715 structures. Given that nearly 99% of these structures are residential, a fire therein would result in the temporary or permanent displacement of thousands of residents. Significantly, climate change is expected to increase the likelihood of wildland fires in the mountains and hills surrounding the Los Angeles basin. In the watershed immediately to the north and northwest of Santa Monica, which is defined by the western half of the south-facing slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains, burned areas are projected to increase Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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about 19% for Santa-Ana-wind based fires and about 11% for non-Santa Ana-wind fires compared to the 1961-1990 baseline period. Properties within the fire hazard severity zones recently mapped in the city will now be required to maintain a defensible space around the structures.
Other requirements and guidelines to reduce the impact of wildfires are described in Section 10.
Structure fires, which are fires that affect the structural components of a building or infrastructure, can be confined to a single room, a portion of a building, or can engulf the entire structure, and can involve any and all parts of a structure, such as the walls, roof, or floors. Nationally, in 2023, more than 470,000 structure fires were reported, with these fires resulting in 3,070 civilian deaths, 11,790 civilian injuries, and about $14.7 billion in property losses. Residential fires accounted for nearly 75% of this total, more than 95% of the civilian deaths, 86% of the civilian injuries, and more than 77% of the property losses. Cooking is the leading cause of residential and nonresidential building fires. In Santa Monica, structure fires account for a very small percentage of the incidents that the Santa Monica Fire Department responds to on an annual basis. Nevertheless, in 2019 alone, 71 incidents were for structure fires, with all of these reported in the central and southwestern portions of the city, in areas where the building stock is, on average, more than 30 years old. The high value of real estate in Santa Monica means that a structure fire in the city, even if the fire impacts only a portion of the building, has the potential to result in tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. Structure fires also displace households, or, if in a commercial or industrial building, can result in business interruptions, and economic losses.
Climate Change and Severe Weather Hazards
The impacts of climate change, which are being felt in California and around the world, include higher temperatures and more common extreme heat events, more severe wildfires, more frequent and intense droughts, flooding due to extreme precipitation events, and coastal flooding and erosion from sea level rise. Section 11 covers the impact of extreme heat, drought, sea-level rise and severe windstorms (including Santa Ana winds and tornadoes), with an emphasis on the impacts these hazards have on human health and the environment. The data reviewed indicate that both the annual number of weather-driven events and their cost have increased in the past decade, with these numbers expected to continue to increase as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. Quantifying the costs of these hazards is difficult, but at least one study has estimated that the sea-level rise projections to the year 2100 will cost the City of Santa Monica hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure and non-market losses associated with the loss of coastal resources.
Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials, if improperly used, transported or stored, can pose a hazard to human health and the environment (Section 12). Nationally, an average of 12 releases of hazardous materials are reported every day. In Santa Monica, between 17 and 27 annual hazardous materials incidents were reported for the years between 2021 and 2023, with more than 90% of these incidents related to sewage released from pipe laterals and sewer mains damaged by tree roots or foreign matter. Other typically nuisance-level spills that have been reported in the city include gas leaks from damaged pipes, gasoline leaks from faulty gas dispensers, and oil sheens and tar balls reported at the beach. Section 11 discusses the businesses and facilities that generate or use hazardous materials in Santa Monica, including the stringent regulations that businesses that utilize large quantities of these materials are required to abide by; the potential for an earthquake to result in dozens to hundreds of pipe ruptures that could in turn release natural gas, petroleum Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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oil, and sewage; the potential for hazardous material releases as a result of a transportation accident on the freeways and streets in and near the city; and the hazards associated with cleaning products and other chemicals and materials used in households and commercial facilities.
Airport Hazards
The City of Santa Monica owns and operates the Santa Monica Airport (SMO), a general aviation airport previously known as Clover Field. SMO is the oldest operating airfield in Los Angeles County, and one of the oldest airports in the United States. During World War II, the airport was leased and operated by the Federal government, and for a period before, during and after the war, SMO was also home to the Douglas Aircraft Company. In the late 1960s, SMO was arguably one of the busiest, if not the busiest general aviation airport in the world, with more than 356,000 airport operations (takeoffs and landings) in a year. More recently, between 2018 and 2023, SMO averaged about 67,410 operations a year.
Airport hazards related to these operations include a noisy environment with occasionally high intensity noise levels, engine blasts that may result in vibrations, odors, light pollution, disruption of roadway circulation networks, and aircraft accidents (Section 13). Most of these potential hazards occur on the airport property itself or in areas immediately surrounding the airport. An analysis of past aircraft incidents in and near Santa Monica related to aviation operations at SMO showed that between 1964 and 2024 inclusive, about 2.3 accidents and incidents per year, on average, have involved SMO aircraft, with this number decreasing to about 1.13 incidents per year, on average, for the years between 2000 and 2024. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of accidents and incidents that occurred in those six years relative to the total number of flight operations at SMO amounted to about 1.7 events per 100,000 operations. Most of these incidents occurred during takeoff or landing, and thus within airport property; whereas a few occurred within about 5 miles of the airport. Given that only small aircraft fly to and from SMO, accidents related to SMO operations have always involved only a small group of people, akin to vehicular accidents involving passenger cars
SMO operations involve the routine use, storage, and transport of hazardous materials, including low-lead and unleaded aviation gasoline and jet fuel, cleaning solvents, lubricants and degreasers, and other routine materials such as commercially available cleaning products and herbicides. Past land uses at the airport also involved the use of chemicals, including volatile organic compounds, non-petroleum hydrocarbons and solvents that have been encountered in the soil and groundwater under some areas of the airport and adjacent neighborhoods. Environmental activities designed to evaluate the lateral and vertical extent of these chemicals and their remediation have been conducted and are still ongoing in some areas.
ACTION ITEMS
The action items are a list of activities that Santa Monica’s departments, agencies and residents can implement to reduce risk in the community. Some action items have community-wide application, whereas others can be implemented on an individual basis by residents and business owners. Each action item identified in Section 4 is followed by the following information:
Coordinating Organization
The coordinating organization is the public agency (or agencies) with regulatory responsibility to Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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address the hazard identified, or that is willing and able to organize resources, find appropriate funding, or oversee activity implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Coordinating organizations may also include local or regional agencies, and private entities that are capable of, or responsible for, implementing the identified activities and programs. Individuals within each responsible organization that have been identified as points of contact are also listed.
Partner organizations are agencies or public/private sector organizations that may be able to assist in the implementation of action items by providing relevant resources to the coordinating organization. The partner organizations that could be involved in the implementation of some of the action items identified are listed in the Resource Directory (Appendix A) of the Plan. These organizations, however, were either not involved during the development of the Plan, or were only partly involved, typically by participating in some of the meetings and providing data specific to a section, and should therefore be contacted by the coordinating organization to establish their commitment of time and resources to action items.
Potential Funding Sources and Constraints
Every action item is followed by a list of potential funding sources, including existing City funds and grant moneys, and where appropriate, potential constraints to implementation. These constraints may be a lack of City staff, lack of funds, or vested property rights, which might expose the City of Santa Monica to legal action as a result of adverse impacts on private property.
Timeline
Action items typically include both short- and long-term activities. The City of Santa Monica has identified mostly short-term actions to be implemented in the next five years, through 2030, recognizing that there are funding and staffing constraints that could delay their implementation.
Section 4 also lists the action items that are already being implemented on an on-going basis.
Plan Goals Addressed
The Mitigation Plan needs to be regularly monitored and evaluated to measure its success in achieving its goals once implementation begins. To that end, the plan goals addressed by each action item are identified – they provide the means by which the success of each action can be measured.
Complementary Safety Element Policies
The City of Santa Monica adopted its latest Safety Element of the General Plan in February 2025, with that document identifying several policies and action items designed to mitigate or reduce the City’s vulnerability to the same hazards covered in this Local Hazards Mitigation Plan. These two documents are linked together by reference and, upon Council’s approval, the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will serve as an appendix to the Safety Element of the City’s General Plan. Policies in the Safety Element need not be implemented within a given timeframe, are not prioritized, and are not assigned to a specific City department or agency. Thus, by identifying the Safety Element policies that are being addressed by the action items listed in the Mitigation Plan, it indirectly moves to the forefront those activities that are deemed most important to be addressed first. Future plans may consider revisiting the Safety Element policies and addressing those not already covered in this 2025 Plan Update.
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HOW WILL THE PLAN BE IMPLEMENTED, MONITORED AND EVALUATED? The Plan Maintenance Section (Section 5) of this document details the formal process that will ensure that the Santa Monica Local Hazard Mitigation Plan remains an active and relevant document. The plan maintenance process includes a schedule for monitoring and evaluating the Plan annually and producing a Plan revision every five years. This section describes how the City will integrate public participation throughout the plan maintenance process. Finally, this section includes an explanation of how the City intends to incorporate the mitigation strategies outlined in this Plan into existing planning mechanisms such as the City’s General Plan, the City’s Evacuation Plan, Building and Safety Codes, and community development plans.
Coordinating Body
The City of Santa Monica Resilience Planning Committee has been and will continue to be responsible for coordinating implementation of Plan action items and undertaking the formal review process. The City Manager, or designee, can and will assign representatives from City agencies and other organizations to serve on this committee, as appropriate, including, but not limited to, the current Resilience Planning Committee members.
Convener
City Council, as the governing body that has the responsibility and authority to promote sound public policy regarding natural and human-made hazards, is responsible for adopting the City of Santa Monica Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and Plan Updates. Adoption of the Plan by the local jurisdiction’s governing body is one of the prime requirements for approval of the Plan by FEMA and Cal OES. The approved Plan is expected to become a significant component in the arsenal of planning documents that the City relies on to increase Santa Monica’s resilience to the environmental, social and economic challenges that typically accompany disasters, while promoting the development of equitable and environmentally just planning, response and recovery activities that better serve all members of the community. The Resilience Planning Committee has responsibility for Plan implementation. The City Manager, or designee, serves as a convener to facilitate the Resilience Planning Committee meetings, and can assign tasks such as updating and presenting the Plan to the members of the committee. Plan implementation and evaluation are a shared responsibility among all Resilience Planning Committee members.
Implementation through Existing Programs
The City of Santa Monica addresses statewide planning goals and legislative requirements through its General Plan, Capital Improvement Plans, and City Building and Safety Codes. The Plan provides a series of recommendations that are closely related to the goals and objectives of these existing planning programs. The City of Santa Monica has a responsibility to implement recommended mitigation action items through existing programs and procedures.
Economic Analysis of Mitigation Projects
A benefit-cost analysis produced in 2019 by the National Institute of Building Sciences1F 2 found that
on average, every $1 spent on hazard mitigation provides the country with up to about $13 in savings in disaster losses. A similar study conducted in 2005 yielded an average of about $4 dollars in savings for $1 invested in mitigation. These values vary by geographic region and 2 https://www.preventionweb.net/media/68132/download?startDownload=20251002 and https://nibs.org/projects/natural-hazard-mitigation-saves-2019-report, accessed on October 6-7, 2025.
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hazard, but all analyses showed that money spent on hazard mitigation is money well spent. The study found that the adoption and enforcement of current building codes is one of the most effective ways to build resiliency, whereas building to standards above the required codes can have significant effects. The study also found that retrofitting lifelines has one of the highest returns on investment, resulting in savings of up to $31 for every $1 invested, with the added benefit of protecting the whole economy.
To evaluate where pre-disaster mitigation money would be best spent, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses two different but valid approaches to identify and measure the costs and benefits associated with natural hazard mitigation strategies or projects: benefit/cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. Conducting benefit/cost analysis for a mitigation activity can assist communities in determining whether a project is worth undertaking now to avoid disaster-related damages later. Cost-effectiveness analysis evaluates how best to spend a given amount of money to achieve a specific goal. Determining the economic feasibility of mitigating hazards can provide decision makers with an understanding of the potential benefits and costs of an activity, as well as a basis upon which to compare alternative projects. These exercises can also help prioritize the implementation of action items based on the limited resources available. This is covered in more detail in Appendix C.
Formal Review Process
Santa Monica’s Local Hazards Mitigation Plan will be evaluated on an annual basis to determine the effectiveness of its programs, and to reflect changes in land redevelopment or programs that may affect the mitigation priorities. The evaluation process includes a firm schedule and timeline, and identifies the local agencies and organizations participating in the evaluation of the Plan. The Convener will be responsible for contacting the Resilience Planning Committee members and organizing the annual meeting. Committee members will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the mitigation strategies in the Plan.
Continued Public Involvement
The City of Santa Monica is dedicated and committed to involving the public directly in the continual review and updates of its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. Copies of the current Plan and plan updating efforts will be posted online, on the City’s website, and hardcopies of the most recent approved Plan will be available at City Hall and/or the local library. The existence and location of the hardcopies is to be published on the City’s website and in City newsletters. The City will provide an email address for residents to send comments and feedback regarding the Plan and future updates to the City’s Chief Resilience Officer.
Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
Ciudad de Santa Mónica, California
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RESUMEN EJECUTIVO
INTRODUCCIÓN
La Ciudad de Santa Mónica ha completado en 2025 esta actualización de su Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales (“el Plan”) que describe y analiza varias amenazas naturales que pueden afectar a la ciudad y sus residentes, incluyendo terremotos, tsunamis, inundaciones, pendientes inestables y deslizamientos de tierra, incendios forestales e incendios urbanos, y cambio climático y clima extremo. Este documento también analiza los posibles peligros que resultan del uso o transporte inadecuados de substancias peligrosas y los riesgos relacionados con los usos actuales y pasados del Aeropuerto de Santa Mónica. El Plan no detalla las tácticas de respuesta a los desastres, sino que proporciona recursos e información destinados a ayudar a Santa Mónica a reducir su riesgo futuro y prevenir las pérdidas causadas por estas amenazas naturales y antropogénicas. De acuerdo con los requisitos federales, este Plan se revisará y actualizará cada cinco años. Esta es la última actualización, minuciosamente investigada y reescrita del Plan de 2016, con la pandemia de COVID-19 y la consiguiente escasez de personal disponible responsables en gran medida por el intervalo más largo de lo previsto entre actualizaciones.
Esta actualización del Plan cumple con los requisitos de la Sección 322 (a-d) de la Ley Federal de Mitigación de Desastres del 2000 (DMA 2000), que exige que los gobiernos locales, incluyendo los condados, ciudades y tribus de los Estados Unidos, elaboren un Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales como condición para recibir fondos federales para la mitigación de desastres. Estos documentos tienen como objetivo identificar los peligros que han ocurrido o pueden ocurrir en el área de estudio, y proporcionar estrategias de mitigación, denominadas medidas de acción, diseñadas para salvar vidas, reducir las pérdidas asociadas con la respuesta y recuperación siguiendo un desastre, y reducir los daños repetitivos y costosos a la propiedad y la infraestructura.
MISIÓN DEL PLAN
La misión del Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales de Santa Mónica es promover políticas públicas sólidas diseñadas para proteger a los ciudadanos, las instalaciones críticas, la infraestructura, la propiedad privada y el medio ambiente de los peligros naturales y antropogénicos identificados a nivel local. Esto se puede lograr aumentando la conciencia pública, documentando los recursos disponibles para la reducción de riesgos y la prevención de pérdidas, e identificando actividades para guiar a la Ciudad hacia la construcción de una comunidad más segura, sostenible y resiliente.
OBJETIVOS DEL PLAN
Los objetivos del Plan (Sección 4) describen la dirección general que la Ciudad de Santa Mónica, a través de sus departamentos, agencias, organizaciones, empleadores y residentes, puede tomar para reducir su riesgo ante diversos peligros. Los objetivos del Plan son escalones entre la dirección general de la declaración de misión y las recomendaciones específicas descritas en las medidas de acción. Los principales objetivos del Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales de Santa Mónica son:
1. Proteger la vida y la propiedad
2. Fortalecer los servicios de emergencia
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3. Aumentar la conciencia pública
4. Solicitar la participación pública
5. Fomentar alianzas y la implementación
6. Preservar y mejorar los sistemas naturales para proporcionar funciones de mitigación de peligros naturales
RESUMEN DE CONCLUSIONES
El análisis de las amenazas naturales que podrían afectar a la ciudad de Santa Mónica indica que hay seis riesgos naturales principales (terremotos, tsunamis, inundaciones, deslizamientos de tierra, incendios forestales y condiciones meteorológicas extremas exacerbadas por el cambio climático) que podrían afectar a Santa Mónica. Varias de estas amenazas podrían causar daños suficientemente graves en la ciudad, y potencialmente en la región, como para que se declare una emergencia federal. Otros temas considerados en este documento incluyen los posibles peligros asociados con la producción, el uso y el transporte de materiales o sustancias peligrosas, y los riesgos relacionados con los usos actuales y pasados del Aeropuerto de Santa Mónica, incluyendo accidentes aéreos, contaminación acústica, y contaminación, por materiales peligrosos, del aeropuerto y las propiedades adyacentes al aeropuerto. Cada uno de estos riesgos en lo que impacta a la ciudad de Santa Mónica se describe brevemente a continuación. Para obtener una descripción detallada de cada riesgo, consulte la sección correspondiente del Tomo II del informe.
Riesgos Sísmicos
El riesgo más devastador para Santa Mónica sería un terremoto de baja probabilidad pero de graves consecuencias en cualquiera de las fallas que se extienden a través de la ciudad o se encuentran cerca de ella, especialmente un terremoto en la sección de la falla de Santa Mónica que se encuentra debajo de la parte norte de la ciudad (Sección 6). Ese terremoto causaría grandes daños debido al temblor del suelo, la ruptura de fallas, la licuefacción, la inestabilidad de las laderas inducida por el terremoto y, aunque es menos probable, la inundación debido al colapso catastrófico de los depósitos de almacenamiento de agua cercanos. Otros posibles efectos secundarios de un terremoto incluyen los incendios urbanos provocados por la caída de electrodomésticos, la ruptura de la red de gas o la caída de líneas eléctricas, así como la liberación de materiales peligrosos debido a la ruptura de contenedores o tuberías.
Se estima que un terremoto de este tipo provocará más de $3,400 millones de dólares en daños solo en Santa Mónica, incluyendo los daños al stock de edificios e infraestructura y las pérdidas de ingresos, y causaría entre cientos y miles de lesiones y docenas de muertes. Otras posibles fuentes sísmicas cercanas que podrían afectar significativamente a la ciudad y a la región incluyen las fallas de Palos Verdes, Malibu, Hollywood, Newport-Inglewood y Compton-Los Alamitos, por mencionar algunas.
Riesgos de Tsunami
La mayoría de los tsunamis históricos generados por fuentes alejadas de Santa Mónica (conocidos como teletsunamis) han causado inundaciones limitadas en la ciudad, ya que las olas generalmente han alcanzado alturas de menos de 3 pies, y sólo ocasionalmente han alcanzado alturas de más de 6 pies (Sección 7). Los modelos que consideran un teletsunami con un período promedio de retorno de 975 años estiman que la zona de peligro y el área de evacuación se extenderían aproximadamente entre 700 y 1,500 pies tierra adentro e inundarían todas las Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
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estructuras residenciales y comerciales y los estacionamientos al oeste de la Pacific Coast Highway, Appian Way y, localmente, Neilson Way, incluyendo el muelle de Santa Mónica y los edificios asociados a él. Al norte del muelle, la zona de inundación está delimitada por los acantilados marinos de Pacific Palisades, ya que los acantilados proporcionan una barrera natural para el avance de la subida de agua. Los mapas de áreas de peligro de tsunami producidos por el Servicio Geológico de California utilizan este escenario con fines de planificación y educación pública. Debido a que un teletsunami tarda horas en llegar a la costa, lo que da tiempo suficiente para efectuar evacuaciones, se estima que el número de lesiones y muertes es bajo o nulo. Las pérdidas de propiedades residenciales y comerciales en Santa Mónica como resultado de un tsunami de aproximadamente 6.6 pies se estiman entre $18.3 y $182.5 millones de dólares.
Los tsunamis causados por una fuente local, como una falla o un deslizamiento de tierra en alta mar en la bahía de Santa Mónica, han generado y podrían generar olas más altas en Santa Mónica, con el potencial de afectar a una mayor parte de la mitad sur de la ciudad. Un tsunami generado por una fuente cercana también llegaría a la costa en minutos en lugar de horas, lo que limitaría el tiempo disponible para evacuar las áreas que podrían ser afectadas por las olas. Esto podría ser devastador si la playa está llena de gente. Se estima que un tsunami de tamaño similar generado por un terremoto en la sección de la falla de Palos Verdes ubicada frente a la costa de Santa Mónica, en la bahía, ocasionaría entre 80 y 931 muertes y entre 80 y 545 lesiones en la ciudad de Santa Mónica, según la hora del día y suponiendo un nivel de preparación de la comunidad de bueno a justo. Estas estimaciones no toman en cuenta a bañistas que viven fuera de la ciudad, por lo que el número total de víctimas podría ser mucho mayor. Un terremoto que provoque un tsunami en la falla de Palos Verdes también provocaría daños estructurales en la región debido a la sacudida del suelo y la licuefacción, con pérdidas en Santa Mónica estimadas en casi $1,500 millones de dólares.
Riesgos de Inundación
No hay vías de inundación cartografiadas en Santa Mónica (Sección 8), por lo que las inundaciones fluviales tienen una probabilidad muy baja o inexistente de ocurrir en la ciudad. Sin embargo, las inundaciones debidas a lluvias intensas, a menudo combinadas con mareas altas, pueden causar daños en algunas secciones de la costa de Santa Mónica, especialmente en el área a lo largo de la playa al norte de Wilshire Boulevard, que la FEMA ha clasificado como una zona de inundación de 100 años0F
1 susceptible tanto a inundaciones por tormentas como a marejadas. La zona costera de la ciudad al sur de Wilshire Boulevard está catalogada como zona inundable en un periodo de 100 años, susceptible a daños por marejadas. La Ciudad ha identificado 85 propiedades frente a la playa ubicadas dentro de estas zonas de inundación. El costo de los daños estructurales a estos edificios como resultado de una inundación costera se estima entre aproximadamente $4 y $40.2 millones de dólares. Estas estimaciones no incluyen los daños a la infraestructura, como carreteras, puentes, estacionamientos y servicios públicos, ni el costo de los daños al contenido de los edificios, la pérdida de inventario y la pérdida de ingresos, por lo que los costos podrían ser mucho más elevados.
La evaluación de inundaciones en Santa Mónica también incluye un análisis de las posibles pérdidas asociadas con la inundación de la parte centro-este de la ciudad si la represa de Stone Canyon fallara catastróficamente y liberara toda o la mayor parte del agua acumulada en el 1 Una inundación de 100 años es aquella que tiene una probabilidad del uno por ciento de igualar o superar su magnitud en un año determinado; no es una inundación que ocurre una vez cada 100 años.
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embalse. Esta represa, que es propiedad de y está operada por el Departamento de Agua y Energía de Los Ángeles, está ubicada aproximadamente 4.1 millas al noreste de Santa Mónica, en las colinas al norte de Bel Air. Los análisis estructurales realizados por terceros han indicado que la represa puede soportar sacudidas causadas por un terremoto regional de magnitud 8 o un terremoto local de magnitud 6.5, por lo que la probabilidad de que la represa falle es baja, pero no nula. Este peligro poco conocido pero potencial requeriría una respuesta de evacuación casi inmediata, y podría afectar a los vecindarios de la ciudad de Los Ángeles que se extienden desde Bel Air hasta Marina del Rey y a partes de las ciudades de Culver City y Santa Mónica. Un análisis específico del área de la ciudad de Santa Mónica que probablemente se inundaría si la represa fallara, basado en el Plan de Acción de Emergencia de la represa, estima que aproximadamente 214 edificios sufrirían daños al menos moderados, y 23 de esos edificios quedarían completamente destruidos. Las pérdidas económicas totales en Santa Mónica como resultado de la falla de la represa de Stone Canyon se estiman en unos $227 millones de dólares, y alrededor del 47% de ese valor está relacionado con la interrupción de las actividades comerciales y la pérdida de ingresos.
Riesgos de Deslizamientos de Tierra
Los riesgos de deslizamientos de tierra en la ciudad de Santa Mónica (Sección 9) se limitan a unas pocas áreas con relieve topográfico donde las pendientes superan los 20 grados, como los acantilados costeros del Parque Pacific Palisades, las laderas que bordean los cañones Rustic Creek y Santa Monica Creek en el norte, y las laderas que flanquean la autopista I-10. También podrían producirse pequeños deslizamientos superficiales a lo largo de las zonas sur y suroeste del Aeropuerto de Santa Mónica, en varias pendientes en el lado sur de la ciudad entre Ashland Avenue y Dewey Street, y en pendientes en los flancos de Brentwood Knoll.
Deslizamientos de tierra se han registrado históricamente en la ciudad como consecuencia tanto de terremotos como de lluvias intensas. En los acantilados costeros que tienen 50 a 150 pies de alto, los deslizamientos de tierra usualmente se generan de los materiales aluviales arenosos y gravosos que componen la mayor parte de la pared del acantilado. El daño en éstas pendientes usualmente ocurre tras periodos de fuertes lluvias o riego artificial excesivo que causan el aumento de la presión intersticial en los materiales aluviales. Bloques de estos depósitos se separan localmente de la pendiente y fallan cuando el bloque se desliza o se derrumba. Si los depósitos geológicos se saturan como resultado de lluvias invernales intensas, algunas secciones también pueden fallar como flujos de lodo. Dada la altura de los acantilados y su exposición constante a los elementos, sin duda que fallas localizadas en éstas pendientes se van a producir esporádicamente. Los deslizamientos de tierra en los acantilados representan un peligro principalmente para la Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) y para los automovilistas en la PCH. Los daños asociados con la posible caída de los acantilados son difíciles de cuantificar, ya que los costos que incluyen la limpieza de los escombros y el cierre de la carretera al tráfico que pasa por allí afectan tanto a los residentes de Santa Mónica como a los residentes de otras comunidades atendidas por la autopista PCH. Los cierres de la autopista PCH provocan, en el mejor de los casos, un acceso limitado con los consiguientes retrasos y, en el peor, desvíos significativos alrededor de las montañas de Santa Mónica, lo que puede causar interrupciones importantes en los servicios de emergencia, especialmente en la movilización de personas que necesitan servicios de emergencia a los hospitales locales.
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Riesgos de Incendios Forestales y Urbanos
Aunque, históricamente, Santa Mónica no ha sufrido un incendio forestal dentro de sus límites, la ciudad hace frontera al norte con áreas que se han quemado anteriormente y que podrían volver a quemarse en el futuro (Sección 10). El incendio de Palisades de enero de 2025, un incendio forestal que se extendió a áreas desarrolladas, con estructuras incendiadas que luego sustentaron y transmitieron el fuego de un edificio a otro, es un reciente recordatorio de esta realidad. Hay al menos tres cañones en los flancos meridionales de las montañas de Santa Mónica que podrían transmitir un incendio forestal a los límites norte de la ciudad. Estos son los cañones Mandeville, Sullivan y Rustic. Incendios forestales en los cañones de Mandeville y Sullivan podrían llegar al cañón de Santa Mónica, a lo largo del límite norte de la ciudad. Si se incendian otros cañones más al noreste de la ciudad, podrían transmitir un incendio forestal en la parte noreste de Santa Mónica, en el área del Brentwood Country Club, y luego en el corredor con vegetación que se extiende desde Montana Avenue hasta Centinela Avenue. Los acantilados de Pacific Palisades también están localmente cubiertos de vegetación que podría incendiarse con brasas alentadas por vientos que lleguen desde el norte-noroeste, o como resultado de actividades humanas, como los campamentos ilegales de personas sin hogar (incendios pequeños de vegetación ya han ocurrido aquí).
Después de los incendios de enero de 2025, CAL FIRE publicó un nuevo mapa que coloca la parte norte de Santa Mónica dentro de una zona de gravedad de riesgo de incendio muy alta (VHFHSZ).
Ahora también se considera que dos franjas estrechas al sur de la VHFHSZ tienen un riesgo de incendio alto y moderado, respectivamente. Se estima que las pérdidas de propiedades como resultado de un incendio forestal en la parte norte de la ciudad, que ahora presenta un riesgo de incendio muy alto, oscilan entre $60 y casi $600 millones de dólares. Un incendio dentro de la zona de muy alto riesgo de incendio afectaría a 1,715 estructuras. Debido a que casi el 99% de estas estructuras son residenciales, un incendio en esa zona podría provocar el desplazamiento temporal o permanente de miles de residentes. De manera significativa, se espera que el cambio climático aumente la probabilidad de incendios forestales en las montañas y colinas que rodean la cuenca de Los Ángeles. En la cuenca hidrográfica inmediatamente al norte y noroeste de Santa Mónica, que está definida por la mitad occidental de las laderas orientadas al sur de las montañas de Santa Mónica, se prevé que, en comparación con el período de referencia de 1961 a 1990, las áreas quemadas van a aumentar alrededor del 19% en el caso de incendios abanicados por los vientos de Santa Ana y alrededor del 11% en el caso de los incendios que no están relacionados con los vientos de Santa Ana. Las propiedades situadas dentro de las zonas de alto riesgo de incendio recientemente identificadas en la ciudad deberán ahora mantener un espacio protegido alrededor de las estructuras. En la Sección 10 se describen otros requisitos y normas para reducir el impacto de los incendios forestales.
Los incendios de estructuras, que son incendios que afectan a los componentes estructurales de un edificio o infraestructura, pueden limitarse a una habitación individual, a una parte de un edificio, o pueden abarcar toda la estructura, y pueden afectar a todas y cada una de las partes de una estructura, como las paredes, el techo o los pisos. A nivel nacional, en 2023, se registraron más de 470,000 incendios de estructuras que provocaron la muerte de 3,070 personas civiles, 11,790 heridos entre la población civil y aproximadamente $14,700 millones de dólares en pérdidas de propiedades. Los incendios residenciales representaron casi el 75% de este total, más del 95% de las muertes de civiles, el 86% de las lesiones civiles y más del 77% de las pérdidas de propiedades. Cocinar es la causa principal de incendios en edificios residenciales y no residenciales. En Santa Mónica, los incendios estructurales representan un porcentaje muy Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
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pequeño de los incidentes a los que el Departamento de Bomberos de Santa Mónica responde anualmente. Sin embargo, solo en 2019, 71 incidentes se debieron a incendios de estructuras, y todos ellos se registraron en las partes central y suroeste de la ciudad, en áreas donde el stock de edificios tiene, en promedio, más de 30 años. El alto valor de los bienes inmuebles en Santa Mónica significa que un incendio estructural en la ciudad, incluso si afecta solo a una parte del edificio, tiene el potencial de provocar daños de decenas a cientos de miles de dólares a la propiedad. Los incendios en edificios también provocan el desplazamiento de familias ó, si se producen en edificios comerciales o industriales, pueden provocar interrupciones en la actividad comercial y pérdidas económicas.
El Cambio Climático y los Riesgos de Clima Extremo
Los impactos del cambio climático que se están sintiendo en California y en todo el mundo incluyen temperaturas más altas y temporadas de calor extremo más comunes, incendios forestales más graves, sequías más frecuentes e intensas, inundaciones debidas a lluvias extremas, e inundaciones costeras y erosión por el aumento del nivel del mar. La Sección 11 cubre el impacto del calor extremo, la sequía, el aumento del nivel del mar y las tormentas de viento fuertes (incluyendo los vientos de Santa Ana y tornados), con énfasis en los impactos que estos peligros tienen en la salud humana y el medio ambiente. Los datos analizados indican que tanto el número anual de eventos provocados por el clima como su costo han aumentado en la última década, y se espera que estas cifras sigan aumentando a medida que los efectos del cambio climático se hagan más pronunciados. Cuantificar los costos de estos peligros es difícil, pero un estudio ha estimado que las proyecciones del aumento del nivel del mar hasta el año 2100 costarán a la ciudad de Santa Mónica cientos de millones de dólares en daños a la infraestructura, además de pérdidas no económicas relacionadas con la destrucción de recursos costeros.
Materiales Peligrosos
Los materiales peligrosos, si se utilizan, transportan o almacenan de manera inadecuada, pueden representar un peligro para la salud humana y el medio ambiente (Sección 12). A nivel nacional, se notifica un promedio de 12 liberaciones de materiales peligrosos cada día. En Santa Mónica, entre los años 2021 y 2023, se registraron entre 17 y 27 incidentes anuales relacionados con materiales peligrosos y más del 90% de estos incidentes se relacionaron con aguas de desagüe liberadas por tuberías laterales y principales de alcantarillado dañadas por raíces de árboles o materias extrañas. Otros derrames que suelen ser molestos y que se han reportado en la ciudad incluyen fugas de gas de tuberías dañadas, fugas de gasolina de dispensadores de gas defectuosos, y manchas de aceite y bolas de alquitrán reportadas en la playa. La Sección 11 discute las empresas e instalaciones que generan o utilizan materiales peligrosos en Santa Mónica y resume las regulaciones estrictas que deben cumplir las empresas que utilizan grandes cantidades de estos materiales; y analiza la posibilidad de que un terremoto provoque entre docenas y cientos de rupturas de tuberías que, a su vez, podrían liberar gas natural, petróleo y aguas residuales. La Sección 11 también analiza la posibilidad de que se liberen materiales peligrosos como resultado de un accidente de transporte en las autopistas y calles de la ciudad y sus alrededores; y los peligros asociados con productos de limpieza y otros productos químicos y materiales utilizados en hogares e instalaciones comerciales.
Riesgos Aeroportuarios
La ciudad de Santa Mónica es propietaria y operadora del Aeropuerto de Santa Mónica (SMO), un aeropuerto de aviación general anteriormente conocido como Clover Field. SMO es el aeródromo Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
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en funcionamiento continuo más antiguo del Condado de Los Ángeles y uno de los aeropuertos más antiguos de los Estados Unidos. Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el aeropuerto fue arrendado y operado por el gobierno federal, y durante un período antes, durante y después de la guerra, SMO también fue la sede de la Douglas Aircraft Company. A finales de la década de 1960, SMO era posiblemente uno de los aeropuertos de aviación general más transitados del mundo, por no decir el más transitado, con más de 356,000 operaciones aeroportuarias (despegues y aterrizajes) al año. Más recientemente, entre 2018 y 2023, SMO tuvo un promedio de 67,410 operaciones al año.
Los peligros aeroportuarios relacionados con estas operaciones en SMO incluyen un entorno ruidoso con niveles de ruido ocasionalmente de alta intensidad, explosiones de motores que pueden provocar vibraciones, olores, contaminación lumínica, interrupción de las redes de circulación de las calles alrededor del aeropuerto, y accidentes aéreos (Sección 13). La mayoría de estos peligros potenciales ocurren en la propia propiedad del aeropuerto o en las áreas que rodean al aeropuerto. Un análisis de los incidentes aéreos ocurridos en Santa Mónica y sus alrededores relacionados con las operaciones de aviación en SMO reveló que, entre 1964 y 2024 inclusive, se dieron, en promedio, 2.3 accidentes e incidentes por año en los que se vieron involucradas aeronaves de SMO. Para los años entre 2000 y 2024, ésta cifra se redujo a un promedio de 1.13 incidentes por año. En los seis años entre 2018 y 2023, en promedio, aproximadamente 1.7 accidentes e incidentes ocurrieron por cada 100,000 operaciones de vuelo en SMO. La mayoría de estos incidentes ocurrieron durante el despegue o el aterrizaje y, por lo tanto, dentro de la propiedad del aeropuerto, mientras que algunos ocurrieron a unas 5 millas del aeropuerto. Debido a que solo las aeronaves pequeñas vuelan hacia y desde SMO, los accidentes relacionados con las operaciones de SMO siempre han involucrado solo a un pequeño grupo de personas, al igual que los accidentes de vehículos que involucran automóviles de pasajeros.
Las operaciones del SMO involucran el uso rutinario, almacenamiento y transporte de materiales peligrosos, como gasolina de aviación y combustible para aviones con bajo contenido de plomo y sin plomo, solventes de limpieza, lubricantes y desengrasantes, y otros materiales como productos de limpieza y herbicidas disponibles comercialmente. Los usos anteriores de la propiedad donde se encuentra el aeropuerto también involucraron el uso de productos químicos, incluyendo compuestos orgánicos volátiles, hidrocarburos no derivados del petróleo y solventes. Éstas sustancias se han encontrado en el suelo y las aguas subterráneas en algunas áreas del aeropuerto y vecindarios adyacentes. Se han llevado a cabo actividades ambientales diseñadas para evaluar la extensión lateral y vertical de estos productos químicos y su remediación. Éstos estudios aún continúan en algunas áreas.
MEDIDAS DE ACCIÓN
Las medidas de acción son actividades que los departamentos, agencias y residentes de Santa Mónica pueden implementar para reducir el riesgo en la comunidad. Algunas medidas de acción tienen una aplicación en toda la comunidad, mientras que otras pueden ser implementadas de forma individual por los residentes y propietarios de negocios. Cada medida de acción identificada en la Sección 4 va seguida de la siguiente información:
Organización Coordinadora
La organización coordinadora es la agencia pública (o agencias) con responsabilidad reguladora Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
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para abordar y resolver el peligro identificado, o que está dispuesta y es capaz de organizar recursos y conseguir la financiación adecuada, o de supervisar la implementación, el seguimiento y la evaluación de las medidas de acción. Las organizaciones coordinadoras también pueden incluir agencias locales o regionales y entidades privadas que son capaces o responsables de implementar las actividades y programas identificados. En la Sección 4 también se incluyen las personas dentro de cada organización responsable que han sido identificadas como puntos de contacto.
Las organizaciones asociadas son agencias u organizaciones del sector público/privado que pueden ayudar a implementar las medidas de acción proporcionando a la organización coordinadora los recursos pertinentes. Organizaciones asociadas que podrían participar en la implementación de algunas de las medidas de acción identificadas se incluyen en el Directorio de Recursos (Apéndice A) del Plan. Sin embargo, la mayoría de éstas organizaciones no participaron durante la elaboración del Plan o solo lo hicieron parcialmente, por lo general participando en algunas de las reuniones y proporcionando datos específicos sobre una sección. Por lo tanto, la organización coordinadora deberá ponerse en contacto con las organizaciones asociadas para establecer si ellas están dispuestas a comprometer tiempo y recursos durante la implementación de las medidas de acción.
Posibles Fuentes Financieras y Limitaciones
Cada medida de acción va seguida de una lista de posibles fuentes de financiamiento, incluyendo los fondos municipales existentes y las subvenciones y, cuando corresponde, las posibles limitaciones de implementación. Estas limitaciones pueden incluir la falta de personal de la Ciudad para hacer el trabajo, la falta de fondos, ó la falta de derechos de propiedad adquiridos que podrían exponer a la Ciudad de Santa Mónica a acciones legales como resultado de los impactos adversos a la propiedad privada.
Cronograma
Las medidas de acción típicamente incluyen actividades tanto a corto como largo plazo. La Ciudad de Santa Mónica ha identificado principalmente acciones a corto plazo que se implementarán en los próximos cinco años, hasta el 2030, reconociendo que existen limitaciones de fondos y personal que podrían retrasar la implementación de estas medidas. La Sección 4 también enumera las medidas de acción que ya se están implementando de forma continua.
Metas del Plan Abordadas
El Plan de Mitigación debe ser monitoreado y evaluado regularmente para medir su éxito en el logro de sus metas una vez que comience la implementación. Con ese fin, cada medida de acción identifica las metas del plan que está abordando, a modo de medir el éxito de cada acción.
Políticas Complementarias del Elemento de Seguridad del Plan General La Ciudad de Santa Mónica adoptó su último Elemento de Seguridad del Plan General en febrero de 2025, y ese documento identifica varias políticas y medidas de acción diseñadas para mitigar o reducir la vulnerabilidad de la Ciudad a los mismos peligros cubiertos en este Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales. Estos dos documentos están vinculados entre sí por referencia y, tras la aprobación del Concejo Municipal, el Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales servirá como apéndice al Elemento de Seguridad del Plan General de la Ciudad. Las políticas del Elemento de Seguridad no tienen que implementarse en un plazo determinado, no tienen prioridad y no se Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
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asignan a un departamento o agencia específica de la Ciudad. Por lo tanto, al identificar las políticas del Elemento de Seguridad que se abordan en las medidas de acción enumeradas en el Plan de Mitigación, indirectamente pasan a primer plano aquellas actividades que se consideran más importantes y que deben abordarse primero. Los planes futuros pueden considerar la revisión de las políticas del Elemento de Seguridad y abordar aquellas que aún no se han cubierto en esta actualización del Plan de 2025.
¿CÓMO SE IMPLEMENTARÁ, SUPERVISARÁ Y EVALUARÁ EL PLAN?
La Sección de Mantenimiento del Plan (Sección 5) de este documento detalla el proceso formal que garantizará que el Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales de Santa Mónica siga siendo un documento activo y relevante. El proceso de mantenimiento del Plan incluye un cronograma para monitorear y evaluar el Plan anualmente y producir una revisión del Plan cada cinco años. Esta sección describe cómo la Ciudad integrará la participación pública durante todo el proceso de mantenimiento del Plan. Finalmente, esta sección incluye una explicación de cómo la Ciudad propone incorporar las estrategias de mitigación descritas en este Plan en los mecanismos de planificación existentes, como el Plan General de la Ciudad, el Plan de Evacuación de la Ciudad, los Códigos de Construcción y Seguridad, y los planes de desarrollo comunitario.
Organismo Coordinador
El Comité de Planificación de la Resiliencia de la Ciudad de Santa Mónica ha sido y seguirá siendo responsable de coordinar la implementación de las medidas de acción del Plan y emprender el proceso de revisión formal. El Administrador de la Ciudad, o su persona designada, puede asignar y asignará representantes de las agencias municipales y otras organizaciones para que formen parte de este comité, según corresponda, incluyendo, entre otros, los miembros actuales del Comité de Planificación de la Resiliencia.
Convocante
El Concejo Municipal, como órgano de gobierno que tiene la responsabilidad y la autoridad de promover políticas públicas sólidas con respecto a los peligros naturales y antropogénicos, es responsable de adoptar el Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales de la Ciudad de Santa Mónica y las actualizaciones del Plan. La adopción del Plan por parte del organismo rector de la jurisdicción local es uno de los requisitos principales para la aprobación del Plan por parte de FEMA y Cal OES. Se espera que el Plan aprobado se convierta en un componente importante del arsenal de documentos de planificación en los que se basa la Ciudad para aumentar la resiliencia de Santa Mónica ante los desafíos ambientales, sociales y económicos que suelen acompañar a los desastres, al mismo tiempo que promueve el desarrollo de actividades de planificación, respuesta y recuperación equitativas y ambientalmente justas que sirvan mejor a todos los miembros de la comunidad. El Comité de Planificación de la Resiliencia es responsable de la implementación del Plan. El Administrador de la Ciudad, o su designado, actúa como convocante para facilitar las reuniones del Comité de Planificación de la Resiliencia y puede asignar tareas como actualizar y presentar el Plan a los miembros del comité. La implementación y la evaluación del Plan son una responsabilidad compartida entre todos los miembros del Comité de Planificación de la Resiliencia.
Implementación a Través de Programas Existentes
La Ciudad de Santa Mónica aborda los objetivos de planificación estatales y los requisitos Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales
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legislativos a través de su Plan General, sus Planes de Mejora de Capital, y sus Códigos de Construcción y Seguridad de la Ciudad. El Plan proporciona una serie de recomendaciones que están directamente relacionadas con las metas y los objetivos de estos programas de planificación existentes. La Ciudad de Santa Mónica tiene la responsabilidad de implementar las medidas de acción recomendadas a través de los programas y procedimientos existentes.
Análisis Económico de Proyectos de Mitigación
Un análisis costo-beneficio realizado en 2019 por el Instituto Nacional de Ciencias de la Construcción1F
2 reveló que, en promedio, cada dólar gastado en la mitigación de los riesgos proporciona al país un ahorro de hasta $13 dólares en pérdidas por desastres. Un estudio similar realizado en 2005 rindió un ahorro promedio de alrededor de $4 dólares por cada dólar invertido en la mitigación. Estos valores varían según la región geográfica y el riesgo, pero todos los análisis mostraron que el dinero que se gasta en la mitigación de los riesgos es dinero bien gastado. El estudio determinó que la adopción y aplicación de los códigos de construcción actuales es una de las formas más eficaces de aumentar la resiliencia, mientras que construir con estándares que superan los códigos requeridos puede tener efectos significativos. El estudio también reveló que la modernización de la infraestructura vital (agua, energía, transportación) tiene uno de los mayores retornos por inversión, con un ahorro de hasta $31 dólares por cada dólar invertido, con el beneficio adicional de proteger toda la economía.
Para evaluar dónde se gastaría mejor el dinero para la mitigación de desastres, la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias (FEMA, por sus siglas en inglés) utiliza dos enfoques diferentes pero válidos para identificar y medir los costos y beneficios asociados con las estrategias o proyectos de mitigación de peligros naturales: el análisis de beneficios/costos y el análisis de costo-efectividad. La realización de un análisis de beneficios/costos para una actividad de mitigación puede ayudar a las comunidades a determinar si vale la pena emprender un proyecto ahora para evitar daños relacionados con el desastre en el futuro. El análisis de costo-efectividad evalúa la mejor manera de gastar una cantidad determinada de dinero para lograr un objetivo específico. Determinar la viabilidad económica de la mitigación de riesgos puede proporcionar a los responsables de la toma de decisiones una comprensión de los posibles beneficios y costos de una actividad, así como una base para comparar proyectos alternativos. Estos ejercicios también pueden ayudar a priorizar la implementación de los elementos de acción en función de los limitados recursos disponibles. Esto se trata con más detalle en el Apéndice C.
Proceso de Revisión Formal
El Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales de Santa Mónica se evaluará anualmente para determinar la eficacia de sus programas y para reflejar los cambios en la reurbanización de terrenos o en los programas que puedan afectar las prioridades de mitigación. El proceso de evaluación incluye un calendario y un cronograma firmes, e identifica las agencias y organizaciones locales que participan en la evaluación del Plan. El convocante será responsable de contactar a los miembros del Comité de Planificación de la Resiliencia y de organizar la reunión anual. Los miembros del comité serán responsables de monitorear y evaluar el progreso de las estrategias de mitigación del Plan.
2 https://www.preventionweb.net/media/68132/download?startDownload=20251002 y https://nibs.org/projects/natural-hazard-mitigation-saves-2019-report, consultados del 6 al 7 de octubre de 2025.
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Participación Pública Continua
La Ciudad de Santa Mónica está dedicada y comprometida a involucrar al público directamente en la revisión y actualización continuas de su Plan de Mitigación de Riesgos Locales. Las copias del Plan actual y las iniciativas de actualización del Plan se publicarán en línea, en el sitio web de la Ciudad, y las copias impresas del Plan aprobado más reciente estarán disponibles en el Ayuntamiento y/o en las bibliotecas locales. La disponibilidad y ubicación de las copias impresas se publicará en el sitio web de la Ciudad y en los boletines informativos municipales. La Ciudad proporcionará una dirección de correo electrónico para que los residentes envíen comentarios y opiniones sobre el Plan y las actualizaciones futuras al Director de Resiliencia de la Ciudad.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION ......................................................................................... PAGE # VOLUME I: MITIGATION ACTION PLAN
Executive Summary..................................................................................................... ES-1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................... ES-1 PLAN MISSION............................................................................................................................................. ES-1 PLAN’S GOALS ............................................................................................................................................ ES-1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................... ES-2 Earthquake Hazards............................................................................................................................ ES-2 Tsunami Hazards................................................................................................................................ ES-2 Flood Hazards.................................................................................................................................... ES-3 Wildfire and Urban Fire Hazards........................................................................................................ ES-4 Climate Change and Severe Weather Hazards.................................................................................... ES-5 Hazardous Materials........................................................................................................................... ES-5 Airport Hazards.................................................................................................................................. ES-6 ACTION ITEMS ............................................................................................................................................. ES-6 Coordinating Organization ................................................................................................................. ES-6 Potential Funding Sources and Constraints ......................................................................................... ES-7 Timeline ............................................................................................................................................. ES-7 Plan Goals Addressed......................................................................................................................... ES-7 Complementary Safety Element Policies............................................................................................. ES-7 HOW WILL THE PLAN BE IMPLEMENTED, MONITORED AND EVALUATED?............................................................. ES-8 Coordinating Body.............................................................................................................................. ES-8 Convener............................................................................................................................................ ES-8 Implementation through Existing Programs......................................................................................... ES-8 Economic Analysis of Mitigation Projects ........................................................................................... ES-8 Formal Review Process....................................................................................................................... ES-9 Continued Public Involvement ........................................................................................................... ES-9 Resumen Ejecutivo.................................................................................................... ES-10 INTRODUCCIÓN......................................................................................................................................... ES-10 MISIÓN DEL PLAN ...................................................................................................................................... ES-10 OBJETIVOS DEL PLAN .................................................................................................................................. ES-10 RESUMEN DE CONCLUSIONES ...................................................................................................................... ES-11 Riesgos Sísmicos............................................................................................................................... ES-11 Riesgos de Tsunami .......................................................................................................................... ES-11 Riesgos de Inundación...................................................................................................................... ES-12 Riesgos de Deslizamientos de Tierra................................................................................................. ES-13 Riesgos de Incendios Forestales y Urbanos....................................................................................... ES-14 El Cambio Climático y los Riesgos de Clima Extremo....................................................................... ES-15 Materiales Peligrosos........................................................................................................................ ES-15 Riesgos Aeroportuarios..................................................................................................................... ES-15 MEDIDAS DE ACCIÓN................................................................................................................................. ES-16 Organización Coordinadora ............................................................................................................. ES-16 Posibles Fuentes Financieras y Limitaciones..................................................................................... ES-17 Cronograma...................................................................................................................................... ES-17 Metas del Plan Abordadas ................................................................................................................ ES-17 Políticas Complementarias del Elemento de Seguridad del Plan General.......................................... ES-17 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
SECTION ......................................................................................... PAGE # ¿CÓMO SE IMPLEMENTARÁ, SUPERVISARÁ Y EVALUARÁ EL PLAN....................................................................... ES-18 Organismo Coordinador................................................................................................................... ES-18 Convocante ...................................................................................................................................... ES-18 Implementación a Través de Programas Existentes ........................................................................... ES-18 Análisis Económico de Proyectos de Mitigación............................................................................... ES-19 Proceso de Revisión Formal.............................................................................................................. ES-19 Participación Pública Continua ........................................................................................................ ES-20 Section 1: Introduction
WHY DEVELOP A LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN?.......................................................................................1-2 SCOPE AND IMPACT OF THE PLAN ....................................................................................................................1-4 NATURAL HAZARD LAND USE POLICY IN CALIFORNIA........................................................................................1-5 SUPPORT FOR NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION .................................................................................................1-6 PLAN METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................1-8 Guidelines and Requirements for Mitigation Plans ...............................................................................1-8 Input From the Resilience Planning Committee ....................................................................................1-8 Hazard Specific Research ...................................................................................................................1-10 Public Participation Process and Stakeholder Surveys.........................................................................1-10 PLAN STRUCTURE.........................................................................................................................................1-12 Volume I: Mitigation Action Plan........................................................................................................1-13 Volume II: Hazard Specific Information..............................................................................................1-14 Volume III: Resources.........................................................................................................................1-15 CHANGES FROM THE 2016 PLAN...................................................................................................................1-16 Section 2: Community Profile
WHY PLAN FOR NATURAL HAZARDS IN THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA? ................................................................2-1 GEOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT..............................................................................................................2-1 Physiographic Location and Description ..............................................................................................2-1 Major Rivers and Other Bodies of Water ..............................................................................................2-2 Climate.................................................................................................................................................2-3 Soils and Rocks.....................................................................................................................................2-5 Other Significant Geologic Features .....................................................................................................2-6 COMMUNITY HISTORY ...................................................................................................................................2-7 POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS .................................................................................................................2-9 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT...................................................................................................2-14 TRANSPORTATION, COMMUTING PATTERNS AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES ................................................................2-16 Section 3: Risk Assessment
WHAT IS A RISK ASSESSMENT? .........................................................................................................................3-1 Hazard Identification............................................................................................................................3-1 Profiling Hazard Events ........................................................................................................................3-5 Vulnerability Assessment / Inventorying Assets.....................................................................................3-6 Risk Analysis.........................................................................................................................................3-7 Assessing Vulnerability / Analyzing Development Trends.....................................................................3-8 CRITICAL FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE .......................................................................................................3-8 FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR RISK ASSESSMENT...............................................................................................3-11 SUMMARY OF RISK ASSESSMENT FOR THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA ....................................................................3-12 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
SECTION ......................................................................................... PAGE # Section 4: Goals and Mitigation Actions
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................4-1 HAZARD MITIGATION OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................4-1 National Flood Insurance Program .......................................................................................................4-1 Senate Bill 1241 and Assembly Bill 38 .................................................................................................4-2 Assembly Bill 2140...............................................................................................................................4-3 California Public Resources Code Chapter 7.5, Sections 7.5 and 7.8....................................................4-3 PLAN COMPONENTS.......................................................................................................................................4-4 Mission.................................................................................................................................................4-4 Goals....................................................................................................................................................4-4 Protect Life and Property ...................................................................................................................4-4 Strengthen Emergency Services .........................................................................................................4-4 Increase Public Awareness................................................................................................................4-4 Seek Public Participation...................................................................................................................4-5 Foster Partnerships and Implementation ............................................................................................4-5 Preserve and Enhance Natural Systems .............................................................................................4-5 Components of the Plan’s Actions ........................................................................................................4-5 Coordinating Organization................................................................................................................4-6 Timeline ............................................................................................................................................4-7 Plan Goals Addressed........................................................................................................................4-7 Constraints ........................................................................................................................................4-7 PRIORITIZATION PROCESS ...............................................................................................................................4-7 2025-2030 HAZARD MITIGATION ACTIONS...................................................................................................4-13 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES HELPFUL DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.......................................................4-16 Section 5: Plan Maintenance
MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN....................................................................................................5-1 Plan Adoption.......................................................................................................................................5-1 Coordinating Body................................................................................................................................5-1 Convener..............................................................................................................................................5-3 Implementation through Existing Programs...........................................................................................5-3 Economic Analysis of Mitigation Projects .............................................................................................5-3 EVALUATING AND UPDATING THE PLAN...........................................................................................................5-4 Formal Review Process.........................................................................................................................5-4 Continued Public Involvement .............................................................................................................5-4 PROGRESS MADE SINCE ADOPTION OF THE 2016 PLAN .....................................................................................5-5 VOLUME II: HAZARDS
Section 6: Earthquakes
Section 7: Tsunamis
Section 8: Flood Hazards
Section 9: Landslides
Section 10: Wildfires and Urban Fires
Section 11: Climate Change and Severe Weather
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
SECTION ......................................................................................... PAGE # Section 12: Hazardous Materials
Section 13: Airport Hazards
VOLUME III – APPENDICES
Appendix A: Master Resource Directory.......................................................................A-1 Appendix B: Public Participation Process and Meeting Materials..................................B-1 Appendix C: Economic Analysis of Natural Hazard Mitigation Projects........................C-1 Appendix D: Acronyms............................................................................................... D-1 Appendix E: Glossary .................................................................................................. E-1 Appendix F: California Disasters Since 1950................................................................ F-1 Appendix G: Major Dams in Los Angeles County ........................................................ G-1 Appendix H: Plates...................................................................................................... H-1 Appendix I: References................................................................................................ I-1 Appendix J: City Council Adoption Resolution............................................................. J-1
TABLES, FIGURES AND PHOTOS
Tables
Table 2-1: Mean Minimum (Min), Average (Ave) and Maximum (Max) Monthly Temperature at the Santa Monica Pier.............................................................................................................................2-3 Table 2-2: Mean Minimum (Min), Average (Ave) and Maximum (Max) Monthly Temperature at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport .......................................................................................................2-3 Table 2-3: Record Monthly Temperatures (°F) and Years of Record in Santa Monica ...............................2-4 Table 2-4: Averages of Annual Cumulative Rainfall for Santa Monica (historical and current), Los Angeles (historical and current), and San Gabriel (historical) ................................................................2-4 Table 2-5: Historical Population Counts for the City of Santa Monica ......................................................2-9 Table 2-6: Place of Birth Statistics for Santa Monica Residents Compared with California (2020 American Community Survey) ...............................................................................................................2-12 Table 2-7: Population Breakdown, by Race, in the City of Santa Monica (2020) ....................................2-13 Table 2-8: Percentage of Families and People in Santa Monica and California whose Income in the Prior 12 Months Was Below Poverty Levels (2018-2022, 5-Year Estimates) ...................................2-13 Table 2-9: Year Housing Structures in Santa Monica Were Built (and Comparison with California) .......2-14 Table 2-10: Selected Housing Characteristics in Santa Monica and California .........................................2-15 Table 2-11: Employment and Industry in Santa Monica Compared to California ......................................2-16 Table 3-1: Blank Spreadsheet Listing Hazards with the Potential to Impact the City of Santa Monica.......3-2 Table 3-2: List of Hazards Identified as Likely to Impact the City of Santa Monica, Compiled and Ranked .............................................................................................................3-3 Table 3-3: List of Maps that are Part of This Plan (Plates are in Appendix H) ............................................3-5 Table 3-4: Federal Criteria for Risk Assessment.......................................................................................3-11 Table 3-5: Critical Facilities In and Near Santa Monica at Potential Risk from the Hazards Discussed in this Plan............................................................................................................3-15 Table 4-1: Elements of the STAPLEE Process.............................................................................................4-8 Table 4-2: Criteria to Consider as Part of the STAPLEE Process.................................................................4-8 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
SECTION ......................................................................................... PAGE # Table 4-3: Complete List of Action Items Developed by the Resiliency Planning Committee .................4-10 Table 4-4: Action Item Prioritization Results...........................................................................................4-12 Table 4-5: Hazard Mitigation Actions, City of Santa Monica ..................................................................4-14 Table 4-6: Project Evaluation Worksheet................................................................................................4-17 Table 5-1: Status of Action Items Completed or Ongoing Since 2016.......................................................5-6 Figures
Figure 1-1: City of Santa Monica (dark blue lines show approximate City boundary and study area).........1-4 Figure 2-1: Physiographic Map of Santa Monica and Surrounding Areas...................................................2-2 Figure 2-2: Average Annual Rainfall by Month, Recorded at the Santa Monica Pier Weather Station (historical values) and the Santa Monica Airport (“current normal”) ........................................2-5 Figure 2-3: Age Distribution of the Population in Santa Monica Compared to California ........................2-12 Figure 2-4: Major Roads In and Near Santa Monica ................................................................................2-18 Figure 3-1: Essential / Critical Facilities In and Near Santa Monica..........................................................3-10 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
Throughout history, southern California residents, including people living in the city of Santa Monica and adjacent areas, have experienced a variety of natural hazards common to the area. Indigenous Americans and early European settlers who depended directly on the land for their food, housing and general welfare surely experienced many of the same natural hazards that impact the area today, including earthquakes, floods, wildfires, Santa Ana winds, landslides, and mudflows. Significant, unusual events were likely remembered and passed down from one generation to the next through oral histories. Unfortunately, most of these histories have been lost. In the late 1700s and 1800s, the natural events that disrupted the lives of the settlers were generally recorded in journals, letters, and newspaper articles. With the advent of photography, some of the impacts of natural hazards were recorded in photographs. Beginning in the early 1900s, as people began to attempt to understand and modify their environment to reduce the impact of natural hazards on the local population and the landscape, these events were also recorded in scientific publications. Today we rely on many of these sources to document the area’s past exposure to natural hazards. Given that the past is often the key to the present and the future, we use these accounts to assess the area’s potential future risks.
This is important because as the local population increases, natural hazards have the potential to pose an even higher risk to the population and economic welfare of the region. The impacts of climate change also add to the urgency of developing and adopting mitigation actions that will help the region become increasingly resilient to natural hazards.
As of 2024, if California were a country, it would rank as the fourth largest economy in the world with a gross domestic product of $4.08 trillion0F
1 , and the city of Santa Monica is a vibrant and
significant member of that economy. People originally from all over the United States and the world now call Santa Monica home because of its gentle Mediterranean climate, geographical attributes (the bay and ocean are at their doorstep, and the mountains are just a short drive away), and ample job opportunities. However, the southern California terrain is the product of powerfully active natural forces that form and tear down mountains at remarkable rates by geological standards, and when humans interact with this changing environment, there is a high possibility for the population to be negatively impacted. Thus, a natural event, such as an earthquake, has the potential to cause significant damage at the personal, local, and regional levels with the potential for loss of life, injuries, destroyed or impaired structures and infrastructure, loss of income, and the high costs associated with disaster response and recovery.
In addition to earthquakes, Santa Monica residents may also be impacted by windstorms, hurricanes, drought, slope failures, liquefaction, wildfires, soil erosion and expansive soils, and other natural hazards. Some of these, like hurricanes, occur very infrequently, whereas others, such as erodible, expansive and liquefiable soils, can be effectively mitigated with well-understood engineering methods. Being a coastal community, Santa Monica is also susceptible to coastal flooding resulting from a variety of phenomena, including storms, rogue waves, tsunamis, and sea-level rise due to global warming. The historical record and our current state of knowledge indicate that those hazards with the potential to cause the most damage in Santa Monica include earthquakes, strong winds, 1 Based on data obtained from https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/07/15/californias-economy-leads-thenation/#:~:text=World%27s%20fifth%20largest%20economy%20California%20is%20the,to%20the%20U.S.%20 Bureau%20of%20Economic%20Analysis and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_California#:~:text=The%20economy%20of%20the%20State%20of%2 0California,world%2C%20behind%20Germany%20and%20ahead%20of%20Japan, both accessed on March 14, 2025.
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wildfires, coastal and pluvial flooding (typically due to atmospheric rivers), and slope failures along the coastal bluffs. A very low-probability but high-risk event with the potential for loss of life and damage to infrastructure would be a tsunami caused by an earthquake on one of the faults offshore in Santa Monica Bay. These are the natural hazards that are covered in most detail in this document, given that it is possible to minimize the losses that result from these hazards through careful and robust planning, financial investment and community participation in the implementation of hazard reduction measures.
In alignment with the City’s Safety Element of the General Plan, this document also addresses some human-made issues; namely the management of hazardous materials and aviation hazards associated with the current use of Santa Monica airport, and inundation caused by the catastrophic failure of water retention structures. Thus, this report discusses the management of hazardous materials, including the use, storage, and transportation of hazardous materials through the city and in the Santa Monica airport facilities where hazardous substances were previously used, stored, and potentially discarded. Given that natural and human-made events typically only become a hazard when they interact with and impact the built environment and the people that live, work and play therein, possible mitigation actions that can be used to either avoid these hazards or to strengthen our built environment, including buildings and infrastructure, are also discussed.
WHY DEVELOP A LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN?
The total global economic cost of damage caused by natural disasters in the past 40-plus years has increased significantly1F
2 ; the result of an overall increase in population, increased development and exposure, and the impact of human-caused climate change. Thus, the average global damage costs for the ten-year period between 1984-1993 is about $30.2 billion, whereas the average global cost for the ten-year period between 2014-20232F
3 is $168.2 billion. These figures capture the combined costs of drought, floods, extreme weather, extreme temperature, landslides, dry mass movements, wildfires, volcanic activity and earthquakes. Extreme weather, floods and earthquakes are responsible for most of the losses reported.
In the United States, between 1980 and 2024, there have been 403 weather-related disasters (drought, flooding, freeze, severe storm, tropical cyclone, wildfire, and winter storms) that have each caused more than $1 billion in damages. In fact, combined, these 403 disasters have caused $2,917.5 billion in damages (adjusted for inflation).3F 4 In California alone, during the same time
period, there were 14 drought events, 6 flood events, 3 freeze events, 4 severe storm events, and 19 wildfires that cost between $2 billion and $200 billion each.4F 5 The costs from the 2025 Palisades
and Eaton fires, including property damage, cleanup expenses, infrastructure repair, temporary housing, and business and employment losses, are currently estimated at $250-$275 billion, although the actual cost will likely not be known for years.5F 6 The available data also show that
weather-related losses in the past five years have been two- to three-times the losses experienced in the previous 40 years, showing that the costs from natural disasters are indeed increasing. 2 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/damage-costs-from-natural-disasters; accessed March 17, 2025. 3 2023 is the last full year for which data are available as of March 17, 2025. 4 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/US; accessed April 3, 2025. 5 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/CA; accessed April 3, 2025. 6 https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-estimates-more-than-250-billion-in-damages-andeconomic-loss-from-la-wildfires/1733821, accessed July 30 2025.
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Earthquakes in urban areas are also costly. For example, the moderate-sized 1994 Northridge earthquake caused an estimated $20 billion in damages and more than $40 billion in economic losses.6F
7 Adjusted for inflation to 2025 dollars, these estimates amount to $43.5 billion and $87 billion, respectively.
These costs emphasize the importance of identifying effective ways to reduce a community’s vulnerability to disasters. Hazard mitigation plans assist in this endeavor by identifying resources, information, and strategies for risk reduction, while helping to guide and coordinate mitigation activities. With these aims in mind, the City of Santa Monica began work on its first Hazard Mitigation Plan (Plan) in June 2003; the document was completed and approved in 2004, and adopted in 2005. Many of the actions contained therein have since been implemented, helping the City be better prepared for future disasters.
The last update to the City’s Plan before this one was completed in 2016. This 2025 update to the City’s Plan builds on the 2016 document and incorporates the new requirements for these documents as spelled out in FEMA’s Local Mitigation Planning Policy Guide FP 206-21-0002 that became effective on 19 April 2023. In accordance with these requirements, this 2025 Plan does the following:
1. summarizes the natural disasters known to have historically impacted the southern California region, including in the past nine years since the last Plan was completed;
2. addresses how climate change is already impacting the community and presents the most recent peer-reviewed projections on climate change based on future greenhouse gas concentrations trajectories (the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change);
3. discusses the impact that the natural and human-caused hazards pose to the local community, including sensitive populations;
4. summarizes the mitigation actions that the City of Santa Monica has implemented since 2016 to reduce its vulnerability to natural hazards; and
5. provides a list of new strategies, activities and implementation actions that will further prepare the community to resist the impact of potential future natural and some humancaused hazard events, with an emphasis on equitable outcomes to the vulnerabilities identified.
This 2025 Plan also details the extensive public participation effort that was undertaken as part of the update. This included several meetings with an expanded advisory team comprised of several City staff members, representatives from the local school district and Santa Monica Community College, the local Chamber of Commerce, local hospitals, and neighboring City and County officials; an online survey open to all City residents, staff, and workers; and several community workshops presented both in-person and online. The survey and workshops were designed to update residents on the hazards and vulnerabilities identified during preparation of this Plan and its companion document, the City’s Safety Element of the General Plan, and obtain feedback on mitigation actions and strategies proposed by the residents, City staff and other stakeholders.
As with the original 2005 document and updates since, the 2025 Plan provides a set of action items 7 https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/earthquakes/northridge; accessed April 3, 2025.
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that can help reduce the City’s risk from natural hazards through education and outreach programs, by fostering the development of partnerships, and by continuing to implement preventive activities (such as land use programs) that limit or guide development in areas at risk from natural hazards.
This 2025 Plan update discusses the City’s current hazard conditions, and provides actions that are consistent with current City standards and other relevant Federal, State or regional regulations, including FEMA requirements.
The resources and information contained within this Plan are meant to:
1) establish a basis for coordination and collaboration among City, County, and State agencies, non-governmental and private entities, and people that live and work in the city of Santa Monica;
2) identify and prioritize future mitigation projects designed to promote a more disaster-resilient and sustainable city, including reduced costs associated with disaster response and recovery; and
3) assist in meeting the requirements of federal assistance programs.
The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan works in conjunction with other City plans, including the City’s Safety Element of the General Plan and the City’s Emergency Operations Plan. The updates presented here will be reflected by reference in these other plans and documents.
Section 322 (a-d) of the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires that local governments, as a condition of receiving Federal disaster mitigation funds, have a mitigation plan that:
1) describes the hazards, risks and vulnerabilities specific to the community, 2) identifies and prioritizes mitigation actions,
3) encourages the development of local mitigation, and
4) provides technical support for these efforts.
This Local Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City of Santa Monica serves to meet these requirements.
SCOPE AND IMPACT OF THE PLAN
Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan affects the entire city (see Figure 1-1 below).
This Plan provides a framework for planning for the main natural hazards that have the potential to impact the Santa Monica area, in addition to some human-caused hazards identified during the preparation of the Safety Element of the General Plan. The resources and background information in the Plan are applicable City-wide, and the goals and recommendations can lay the groundwork for local mitigation plans and partnerships.
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Figure 1-1 – City of Santa Monica
(dark blue lines show the approximate City boundary and study area) Source: Google Maps (2024)
NATURAL HAZARD LAND USE POLICY IN CALIFORNIA
Planning for natural hazards should be an integral element of any city’s land use planning program.
All California cities and counties are required to have Safety Elements, one of seven mandatory elements of their General Plans, that document the natural hazards specific to the area and provide the framework by which ordinances to reduce these hazards are implemented. However, Safety Elements are typically updated only once every 15 to 25 years and are often superseded by other local and statewide planning regulations (in 2023 Santa Monica began the process of updating the City’s Safety Element that was last issued in 1995; City Council approved the Safety Element update at their meeting on February 11, 2025).
With the requirements for Local Hazard Mitigation Plans, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) essentially exported the California municipal Safety Element idea to the rest of the United States, but with an expanded format that includes the requirement for a more publicly open and economically quantifiable planning process for community disaster reduction. FEMA also requires that Local Hazard Mitigation Plans be reviewed on a yearly basis and be updated every five years. Thus, whereas Safety Elements traditionally emphasize hazard mapping and develop forwardlooking land use planning policies to minimize those hazards, FEMA has directed that, following the hazard mapping effort, an emphasis be placed on hazard mitigation policies that are based on quantifiable vulnerability, loss, and risk analysis. FEMA also requires extensive public participation recognizing that without public education and citizen buy-in of mitigation needs, it is nearly impossible to mobilize the level of support necessary to fully begin to deal with multi-hazard mitigation over multi-decadal timescales. Given that climate change is expected to increase the frequency, duration and intensity of natural hazards, such as wildfires, extreme heat, drought, storms, heavy precipitation, and sea level rise, and that extreme weather hazards are now Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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responsible for a significant portion of the costs from natural disasters in the United States, Local Hazard Mitigation Plans are now also required to address climate change.
The continuing challenge faced by local officials and State government is to keep the local hazard mitigation plans effective in responding to the changing conditions and needs of California’s diverse and growing communities without forgetting the effect that low-probability but high-risk natural events (such as major earthquakes, which can skip entire generations and are therefore likely to be dismissed over time) can have on the built environment. This is particularly true in the case of planning for natural hazards where communities must balance development pressures with detailed information on the nature and extent of hazards. Planning for natural hazards therefore calls for local plans to include inventories, policies, and ordinances to guide the safe development of areas that history shows can be greatly impacted by infrequent but large-magnitude natural hazard events.
These inventories should include the compendium of hazards facing the community, the built environment at risk, the personal property that may be damaged by hazard events, and most of all, the people who live in the shadow of these hazards. Mitigation actions and strategies need to provide for equitable outcomes that benefit the whole community, ensuring that underserved and socially vulnerable populations can recover from a disaster.
SUPPORT FOR NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION
Like disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, all mitigation is local, and the primary responsibility for the development and implementation of risk reduction strategies and policies lies with local jurisdictions, including cities, counties, special districts and tribes. Local jurisdictions, however, are not alone. Partners and resources exist at the regional, State and Federal levels.
Numerous California and Federal agencies have a role in the research and public education about natural hazards and in natural hazard mitigation. Some of these key agencies include:
♦ The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is responsible for disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and the administration of federal funds to California’s local jurisdictions after a major disaster declaration. ♦ The California Geological Survey (CGS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are responsible for geologic hazard characterization, public education, and the development of partnerships aimed at reducing risk. The Earthquake (Section 6), Tsunami (Section 7), Flooding (Section 8), and Landslide (Section 9) hazards sections of the Plan utilized maps, publications and consensus reports issued by the California Geological Survey and/or the U.S. Geological Survey.
♦ The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC; used to be the Southern California Earthquake Center) gathers information about earthquakes, integrates this information on earthquake phenomena, and communicates this to end-users and the general public to increase earthquake awareness, reduce economic losses, and save lives. Many publications, research data and website information provided by SCEC were referred to in the Earthquake section of this report.
♦ The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is responsible for all aspects of wildland fire protection on state lands, including administration of the state's private and public forests. Fire hazards prevention, suppression and rescue services in the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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city are provided by the Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD). The Fire Hazards section (Section 10) of the Plan relies extensively on data provided by and available from both the CALFIRE and SMFD websites.
♦ The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides an extensive array of products and services designed to help communities prepare for disasters, in addition to providing assistance after a disaster. As part of these efforts, FEMA manages the National Flood Insurance Program, including the preparation and issuance of Flood Insurance Studies and Flood Insurance Rate Maps that delineate areas within the 100-year and 500-year flood zones. The Flooding Hazards section (Section 8) of this Plan relies on the FEMA-provided maps for Santa Monica, in addition to other resources that provide information on how to reduce the impact of flooding. Local Hazard Mitigation Plans like this one are mandated by FEMA. Thus, to facilitate the preparation of these documents FEMA has also prepared several guides and publications that are referred to in this document. FEMA also developed and distributes the GIS-based risk assessment software called HazUS (Hazards US), which can be used to estimate the risk from the natural hazards of earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, and floods. This software was used for this study to estimate the costs of four different earthquake scenarios, in addition to tsunamis, coastal flooding, and dam inundation. The results of these scenarios are summarized in the appropriate section of this report. ♦ The California Division of Water Resources (DWR) plans, designs, constructs, operates, and maintains the State Water Project; regulates dams; provides flood protection; and assists in emergency management. It also educates the public and serves local water needs by providing technical assistance. Dam inundation maps and other data prepared for and administered by the DWR and other departments under the DWR were used in the Flooding Hazards section of the Plan addressing inundation due to dam failure. ♦ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keeps records of storms and other natural hazard events for all regions of the United States, and conducts climate change research. The NOAA database was used extensively in the Tsunami, Flooding, Wildfire, and Climate Change and Extreme Weather sections (Sections 7, 8, 10 and 11) of this Plan.
NOAA’s National Weather Service also serves as the administrator of the NOAA Tsunami Program, supporting a worldwide network of tsunami detection, forecast, and warning systems to serve the US coastline.
♦ The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a United Nations project that compiles and publishes scientific studies related to climate change for the purpose of determining the state of knowledge on climate change, providing policymakers with data on the implications and potential future risks associated with climate change, and putting forward adaptation and mitigation options. Various reports issued by the IPCC were used in the Climate Change and Extreme Weather section (Section 11) of this Plan.
In addition to the agencies listed above, this report also used information extracted from various other sources including dozens of peer-reviewed scientific papers, books and news articles. The specific publications, books, and webpages referenced during the preparation of this Plan are identified in the appropriate section and are listed in Appendix I: References. Thus, information contained in the Plan is based on research from a variety of sources including those described above, with emphasis on data previously collected by the consultant for the Technical Background Report Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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to the City’s Safety Element of the General Plan Update. The consultant was helped on this effort by staff from the City of Santa Monica, who conducted data research, facilitated steering committee meetings and public workshops, and developed the final Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The following section and subsections outline the methodology followed, including discussion of the specific requirements that the Plan addresses; the individuals that participated in the process of developing this Plan update; the research methods followed; and the public participation process.
PLAN METHODOLOGY
Guidelines and Requirements for Mitigation Plans
The following are the Federal requirements for approval of a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan:
♦ open public involvement, with public meetings that introduce the process and project requirements;
♦ the public must be afforded opportunities for involvement in identifying and assessing risk, drafting a Plan, and public involvement in approval stages of the Plan; ♦ community cooperation, with opportunity for other local government agencies, the business community, educational institutions, and non-profits to participate in the process; and ♦ incorporation of local documents, including the City’s General Plan, the Zoning Ordinance, the Building Codes, and other pertinent documents.
The following components must be part of the planning process:
♦ complete documentation of the planning process;
♦ a detailed risk assessment on hazard exposures in the community; ♦ a comprehensive mitigation strategy, which describes the goals and objectives, including proposed strategies, programs and actions that can be implemented to reduce or minimize long-term vulnerabilities;
♦ a plan maintenance process, which describes the method and schedule of monitoring, evaluating and updating the Plan and integration of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan into other planning mechanisms;
♦ formal adoption by the City Council; and
♦ plan review by both FEMA and Cal OES.
These requirements are spelled out in greater detail in the following sections of the Plan and supporting documentation.
Input From the Resilience Planning Committee
The Resilience Planning Committee (RPC) guided the development and update of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, and played an integral role in developing the mission, goals, and action items. The committee consisted of representatives from the following agencies in the City of Santa Monica:
City of Santa Monica Manager’s Office, Office of Emergency Management City of Santa Monica Fire Department, Fire Prevention City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Administration Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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City of Santa Monica Public Works, Engineering and Street Services City of Santa Monica Community Development Department, City Planning City of Santa Monica Information Services Department, GIS Input on specific sections of the Plan was also provided by representatives from the following agencies and organizations:
City of Santa Monica Departments
City of Santa Monica Attorney’s Office
City of Santa Monica Manager’s Office, Office of Emergency Management City of Santa Monica Community Development Department, Building and Safety City of Santa Monica Community Development Department, City Planning City of Santa Monica Department of Transportation
City of Santa Monica Finance Department
Santa Monica Fire Department, Fire Administration
Santa Monica Fire Department, Fire Prevention
City of Santa Monica Housing and Human Services Department City of Santa Monica Information Services Department
City of Santa Monica Police Department
City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Administrative Services City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Engineering & Street Services City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Office of Sustainability and the Environment City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Santa Monica Airport City of Santa Monica Rent Control Department
Regional Government Partners
City of Los Angeles, Emergency Management Department
County of Los Angeles, Office of Emergency Management Local Educational Institutions
Santa Monica College (SMC)
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD)
Local Hospitals
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health/Santa Monica Medical Center Providence Saint John’s Health Center
Local Non-Profits
American Red Cross
Westside Food Bank
Local Business Organizations
Downtown Santa Monica Business Improvement District
Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce
Santa Monica Travel and Tourism
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Hazard Specific Research
Santa Monica’s consultant and City staff collected data and compiled research on the natural hazards that have historically impacted the southern California region, with an emphasis on the Santa Monica area, and identified several hazards that have the potential to cause damage in the city.
These include earthquakes, tsunamis, coastal floods, inundation due to dam failure, slope failures or landslides, windstorms, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events related to climate change.
Human-caused incidents that also have the potential to result in localized damage to the community include urban fires, releases of hazardous materials and aircraft accidents. Noise pollution related to the airport was identified as a nuisance. Other potential hazards that were identified by the Resilience Planning Committee members that are not addressed in this document include pandemics, terrorist acts, civil unrest, active shooter incidents, riots and protests, and cyberattacks to infrastructure. The City has guidelines that address several of these potential hazards already in place and chose to align this Plan’s hazards with those in the City’s Safety Element, approved in 2025. Future versions of this Plan may include some of these subjects.
As mentioned previously, research materials used in the preparation of this Plan include publications by federal agencies such as FEMA, USGS and NOAA; state agencies such as CGS, Cal OES and CALFIRE; the City of Santa Monica’s Safety Element, and other sources. The City’s consultant conducted research by referencing historical local sources, interviewing City of Santa Monica employees and residents who provided invaluable data regarding past local disasters, and locating information specific to the City of Santa Monica in historical documents.
City of Santa Monica’s staff proposed and then evaluated the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the mitigation activities, resources and programs, and potential action items presented in this updated Plan. This evaluation was based on their experience in implementing the action items in the Safety Element and the previous 2016 Plan, and based on feedback from stakeholder surveys and interviews.
Public Participation Process and Stakeholder Surveys
As mentioned earlier, the City of Santa Monica began preparation of the first, original version of its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2003; the Plan was completed and approved by both the State and FEMA in 2004, and adopted in 2005. Work on the first update of this original document began in the summer of 2013, with the final revised update adopted in March 2016.
Work on this 2025 updated Plan began on June 27, 2023 when the City of Santa Monica entered in a contractual agreement with Earth Consultants International, Inc., the consultant retained to work with the City on preparing this update. The City’s Office of Emergency Management identified the City departments and local agencies that would be part of the Resilience Planning Committee (RPC), and the kick-off meeting for the project was held at the EOC’s meeting room on September 14, 2023.
Work on the various sections of the Plan, including HazUS loss estimations for several earthquake, tsunami and flood scenarios began in earnest thereafter, with drafts of several of the hazard sections submitted for review by the City throughout 2024 and into early 2025. The findings of the HazUS loss estimations were presented to the RPC at a workshop on January 23, 2024.
Work on the Technical Background Report to the Safety Element, and the Safety Element proper, companion documents to the Plan, was conducted in parallel, with similar hazards addressed in all these documents. As part of the public participation component for both the Safety Element and the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, a survey was posted online that asked respondents to weigh in on the natural and environmental hazards of most concern to them and their perceived level of preparedness for a variety of hazards. The online survey was available in English and Spanish and paper copies in both languages were made available at both the Main Library and the Pico Branch Library. The results of that survey informed the direction of both the Safety Element and the Plan.
The Safety Element was completed in August 2024, with City Council approving the document on February 11, 2025. The Final Safety Element, Technical Background Report to the Safety Element, and Vulnerability Assessment for the Safety Element can be accessed here.
Public workshops to discuss the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan were conducted on April 30 and May 2, 2024. The April 30 workshop materials were prepared in Spanish with a real-time translation available to attendees in an effort to reach and inform the City’s Spanish-speaking residents. An online version of the presentation was also held on May 22, 2024. The meeting was recorded and placed on YouTube. Availability to this YouTube recording was advertised in the City of Santa Monica News website (SaMoNews) and a several other City of Santa Monica webpages. As of March 19, 2025, the online presentation had been viewed 278 times; and as of August 5, 2025, the presentation had been viewed 318 times. The PowerPoint presentation slides are included in Appendix B.
Following the public workshop presentations, another meeting with the RPC was held on May 15, 2024. After a PowerPoint presentation that summarized the objectives of the Plan and the findings regarding the hazards covered in the Plan was completed, the committee members were asked to break out into groups and develop a list of potential action items intended to reduce or mitigate the hazards assigned to them. During the last 90 minutes of the meeting, the break-out groups discussed their recommendations, and the top recommendations for each hazard category were identified.
Following this meeting, a survey was prepared and distributed to all committee members and City staff asking for the action items identified to be ranked according to priority. The action items and the priority ranking based on this survey are presented in Section 4 of this report.
It is important to note that while work on this Plan update was being conducted, the City of Santa Monica and adjacent areas were impacted by several natural disasters. The most significant and costly of these events include:
1. Between December 2022 and March 2023, the southern California region experienced a series of atmospheric rivers that dropped significant precipitation on the local mountains, causing debris flows and landslides locally. At least three Disaster Declarations that included Los Angeles County were issued in response to these storms.
2. On August 20, 2023, the southern California region was impacted by heavy rain and strong winds brought on by Tropical Storm Hilary, with numerous areas reporting street flooding, mudslides and debris flows.
3. Between February 4 and February 8, 2024, the southern California region was impacted by a slow-moving atmospheric river that dropped between 6 and 12 inches of rain, again causing flooding, mudslides and debris flows.
4. On December 9-10, 2024, the area experienced strong Santa Ana winds that fanned the Franklin Fire that ultimately consumed more than 4,000 acres in Malibu. The Santa Monica area was impacted by both ash and smoke from those fires, and traffic associated with the closure of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).
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5. On January 7-8, 2025, another round of extremely strong Santa Ana winds hit the southern California region and fanned the Palisades and Eaton fires. The Palisades fire extended south to within 1/3 mile of the city of Santa Monica. Much of the city north of Montana Avenue was in an evacuation zone, with mandatory evacuation orders issued for all residents on San Vicente Boulevard and all areas north to the City limits in place for almost a full week.
Warning notifications were issued for areas between San Vicente Boulevard and Montana Avenue, from 11th Street to PCH, and from 11th Street to 26th Street, and from Montana Avenue to Wilshire Boulevard between 10th Street and PCH. Ash and smoke from the fire impacted the community and especially vulnerable populations. The winds cost the City over $180,000, with these expenses associated with the clearing of almost 50 fallen trees and 122 tree limb failures, and the transport of 375 tons of vegetation debris to appropriate landfills. Short- and long-term effects of these fires include a decrease in local tourism and business activity, and an increased demand on Santa Monica’s rental market, resulting in rising rents. Santa Monica also provided and continues to provide a refuge for many displaced by the fires, potentially causing additional strain on the City’s real-estate market.
City emergency management personnel working on this Plan were the primary responders to these regional events, participating in mitigation, response and recovery activities. In addition, sections of the report that had already been drafted were updated after these events occurred, triggering additional revisions. The fires in 2024 and 2025 in particular, occurred after the action items for this next five-year cycle had been identified and prioritized. As a result, new action items that address wildfires that had not been originally identified as priorities were added to this Plan. These actions were partly based on public feedback during wildfire community meetings and during the Safety Element Council presentation. This is also discussed in Section 4.
PLAN STRUCTURE
The resources and information cited in the Plan provide a strong local perspective and help identify strategies and activities to make the City of Santa Monica more disaster-resilient.
Each section of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan provides information and resources to assist City staff and the public in understanding the hazard-related issues facing Santa Monica’s citizens, businesses, and the environment. Combined, the sections of the Plan work together to create a document that guides the mission to reduce risk and prevent loss from future natural hazard events and some human-made situations.
The structure of the Plan enables the user to refer to specific sections of interest. It also allows the City to review and update specific sections as needed when new data become available. The ability to update individual sections of the Plan places less of a financial burden on the City. Decisionmakers can allocate funding and staff resources to selected pieces in need of review, thereby avoiding a full update, which can be costly and time-consuming. New data can be easily incorporated, resulting in a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan that remains current and relevant to the City of Santa Monica.
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Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is organized in three volumes, as follows:
1. Volume I contains the Executive Summary followed by Sections 1 through 5: introduction, Community Profile, Risk Assessment, Goals and Action Items, and Plan Maintenance.
2. Volume II discusses the hazards addressed in the document, with each of the main hazards identified assigned a specific section.
3. Volume III includes several appendices that support the information presented in Volumes I and II, including documentation on the public participation effort, resources, and list of references, among others.
Updates to these volumes include additions summarizing natural hazard events that impacted the southern California area and Santa Monica between 2016 and January 2025, and changes or updates to the regulations issued by both the Federal and State governments aimed at reducing the impact of natural hazards. Each section of the Plan is discussed further below, with an emphasis on the specific changes made as part of this update.
Volume I: Mitigation Action Plan
Executive Summary: Five-Year Action Plan
The Five-Year Action Plan provides an overview of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan’s mission, goals, and action items.
Section 1: Introduction
The Introduction describes the background and purpose of developing the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City of Santa Monica.
Section 2: Community Profile
This section presents the history, geography, demographics, and socioeconomics of the city of Santa Monica, with emphasis on the most recently available census data (2020 and 2022 American Community Survey) and development changes in the City since 2016. This section serves as a tool to provide an historical perspective of natural hazards in Santa Monica, and a springboard to understand how natural hazards can impact the City in the future.
Section 3: Risk Assessment
This section provides information on hazard identification, vulnerability and risk associated with the natural hazards, and some human-made hazards, found to pose a risk to the city of Santa Monica.
Section 4: Goals and Action Items
This section is the “Policy Document” that enumerates the specific action items that Santa Monica has chosen to undertake to further reduce its risk to the hazards described in Volume II of the document. Section 4 is completely new, presenting the action items that the City has prioritized for possible implementation during the five-year period between 2025 and 2030.
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Section 5: Plan Maintenance
This section provides information on Plan implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and lists the action items and hazard-reduction activities completed by the City in the past nine years (2016-2024 inclusive).
Volume II: Hazard Specific Information
Hazard-specific information on six major categories of natural hazards is addressed in this Plan.
Chronic hazards, such as coastal and pluvial flooding and strong Santa Ana winds, occur with some regularity and may be forecast through scientific methods. Catastrophic hazards do not occur with the frequency of chronic hazards, but notwithstanding, they can have devastating impacts on life, property, and the environment. In southern California, because of its geology and terrain, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, landslides and windstorms have the potential to be both catastrophic as well as chronic.
The hazards addressed in the Plan include:
Section 6: Earthquakes—including ground shaking, fault rupture, liquefaction, and slope failure due to ground shaking.
Section 7: Tsunamis—including both tele-tsunamis and locally generated tsunamis.
Section 8: Floods—including coastal flooding due to storms, fluvial (riverine) flooding, and pluvial (urban) flooding associated with atmospheric rivers. This section also discusses inundation due to catastrophic failure of above-ground water storage tanks and reservoirs.
Section 9: Landslides—including rock falls, topples, slides, spreads, mud or debris flows, and soil slips. This section also describes the geologic setting and geologic units that underlie Santa Monica.
Section 10: Wildfires and Urban Fires—including the wildfires that have recently impacted the hills north of Santa Monica; structure fires and after-earthquake fires. The section also describes the model ordinances and codes used to reduce the fire hazard, and the City’s fire suppression capabilities.
Section 11: Climate Change and Severe Weather—including extreme heat, drought, sea-level rise, and severe windstorms. Each of these phenomena are described within both a historical and future context specific to Santa Monica with an emphasis on the effects that climate change may have on the frequency and intensity of these events, and the impact that these weather events can have on socially vulnerable populations.
Section 12: Hazardous Materials Management—new section that addresses the potential release onto the environment of hazardous materials due to leaking underground storage tanks, transportation accidents, damaged pipelines, earthquakes, and the use of hazardous materials in household. The section describes past releases of potentially hazardous materials in Santa Monica and the resources available to reduce and manage these events.
Section 13: Airport Hazards—new section that discusses aviation accidents and incidents, noise nuisance related to airport traffic, and the past and current use of hazardous materials at the Santa Monica Airport.
Each of the hazard-specific sections includes information on the history, hazard causes and characteristics, hazard and vulnerability assessment, risk analysis, and local, state, and national resources available to mitigate or reduce the impact of these hazards. Goals and action items aimed Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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at reducing these hazards, if identified as priorities for the next five-year cycle, are provided in Section 4.
Volume III: Resources
The Plan appendices are designed to provide users of Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan with additional information to assist them in understanding the contents of the Mitigation Plan, and potential resources to assist them with implementation.
Appendix A: Master Resource Directory
This appendix provides a resource directory, which includes City, regional, State, and national resources and programs that may be of technical and/or financial assistance to the City of Santa Monica during Plan implementation. Most of the same data are also included at the end of Sections 6 through 11, where resources specific to the hazards addressed are listed.
Appendix B: Public Participation Process
This appendix includes specific information on the various public processes used during development of the 2025 Plan, including meetings, public workshops, and presentations made during the update process, and the individuals that participated in the process of developing the 2025 Plan update. Copies of the PowerPoint presentations prepared for the meetings and workshops are included here. Appendix B also includes the response to comments received from the public posting of the final draft of the document in AugustSeptember 2025.
Appendix C: Benefit Cost Analysis
This appendix describes FEMA's requirements for benefit cost analysis in natural hazards mitigation, as well as various approaches that FEMA recommends be used for conducting an economic analysis of proposed mitigation activities.
Appendix D: List of Acronyms
This appendix provides a list of acronyms for City, regional, state, and federal agencies and organizations that may be referred to within Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Appendix E: Glossary
This appendix provides a glossary of terms used throughout the Plan.
Appendix F: California Disasters
This appendix lists major California disasters since 1950. This list was updated to include events that occurred between 2016 and through January 2025.
Appendix G: List of Dams
This appendix provides a list of major dams and reservoirs in Los Angeles County.
Appendix H: Maps
This appendix contains the maps referenced throughout the Plan.
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Appendix I: References
This appendix lists the references (plans, studies, technical reports and websites) used in the preparation of the Plan.
Appendix J: Plan Adoption
Documentation regarding the formal adoption of the 2025 Plan Update.
CHANGES FROM THE 2016 PLAN
Several sections of the 2025 Plan Update have been modified from the 2016 Plan. Changes made to specific sections of the Plan are summarized further below.
Section 1: Summarizes the process by which the 2025 Plan was created, with emphasis on the review process and the opportunities provided for City Staff and the public to review and provide feedback on the document.
Section 2: This section was expanded, providing a more detailed description of Santa Monica’s physiographic location to better set the stage for why Santa Monica is susceptible to the natural hazards covered in this document. The population and demographics sections were completely revised and expanded to provide a more thorough analysis of the City’s population based on data from the 2020 Census and 2022 American Community Survey.
Section 3: This section of the Plan was enhanced to identify in table format those hazards that the Resilience Planning Committee agreed pose a potential hazard to the City, with rankings for probability of occurrence and potential level of risk. This section also identifies the critical facilities in the city and their vulnerability to the various natural hazards described in the Plan.
Section 4: The Action Items portion has been completely revised and updated to present the mitigation measures that the City has identified as current priorities in its effort to reduce its risk to the natural and human-made hazards identified. The action items are classified into three groups as follows: 1) action items that are already being implemented on an on-going basis, as part of the development or re-development process; 2) action items to be implemented in the short-term, that is, the next 5-year cycle (2025-2030); and 3) long-term action items that the City is considering for implementation in the next approximately 10 years that reference long-term policies and programs identified in the updated 2025 Safety Element of the General Plan.
Section 5: This section was completely updated to discuss how the Plan will be maintained in the next 5 years, and how progress on natural hazard reduction efforts will be measured. This section also identifies those action items listed in the 2016 Plan that have already been completed or are being implemented on an on-going basis.
Section 6: The earthquake hazards section was updated to describe the more recent earthquake events that impacted the southern California area through January 2025; provide a detailed description of the local and regional faults that could cause an earthquake that would be felt in Santa Monica; and more significantly, include the 2018 Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones (APEFZ) for the Santa Monica fault issued by the California Geological Survey in 2018. Any property in Santa Monica located within an APEFZ identified by the State is now required to conduct a fault investigation if the property is to be re-developed into a structure more than two-stories high. This Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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section also presents the findings of HazUS-based loss estimations conducted for the city addressing the impact that an earthquake on the Santa Monica, San Andreas, Newport-Inglewood or Palos Verdes faults would have on the city, including estimates of damage to structures, critical and essential facilities; casualties; and economic losses. The previous plan provided data on the structures impacted by the Northridge earthquake, but did not provide loss estimates for a plausible future earthquake scenario.
Section 7: The updated tsunami hazards section discusses significant tsunami events including the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people worldwide. This catastrophe prompted the development and deployment of an international tsunami monitoring system, and led several communities, including many cities in California, to identify evacuation routes and develop tsunami training programs. The updated section describes the potential for southern California to be impacted by tsunamis generated by any of several subducting faults along the Pacific Ring of Fire, which would create a distant-source tsunami (teletsunami), and by faults in the Santa Monica Bay. An earthquake on a local fault could have a catastrophic effect on the city. To evaluate the risk of both a teletsunami and a local tsunami on Santa Monica, this section includes HazUS-based loss estimates for a tsunami originating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, and a local tsunami caused by an earthquake on the offshore section of the Palos Verdes fault in Santa Monica Bay.
Section 8: The flood hazards section was updated to describe the storms that have impacted the Los Angeles region, including Santa Monica between 2014 and January 2025, with an emphasis on atmospheric rivers. The impacts of tropical storm Hilary were also discussed. The revised section also provides HazUS-based loss estimates for Santa Monica as a result of the catastrophic failure of Stone Canyon dam and reservoir, a water storage facility owned by the City of Los Angeles in the hills above Bel Air that, if it failed, could inundate a portion of Santa Monica along its eastern boundary, near and surrounding the Interstate 10 (I-10).
Section 9: The landslides section was significantly modified to include a more in-depth description of different types of slope failure, and includes a slope distribution map and a slope instability map for Santa Monica. The maps identify those areas in Santa Monica that are susceptible to slope damage, such as the properties along the city’s northern boundary, the hillside areas south of the Brentwood Country Club, the coastal bluffs facing the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), the slopes facing the I-10, and the hillside areas north of Penmar Golf Course. The section also discusses in detail the mitigation actions, both past and ongoing that have been implemented to reduce slope failures along the coastal bluffs in Pacific Palisades Park.
Section 10: The renamed wildfire and urban fire section was updated significantly and includes a description of the most significant wildland fires in California that have generated an increased awareness of this issue in light of climate change, triggering changes in regulations and insurance practices. The regulatory context and Federal, State and local programs that have been developed to mitigate the hazard of wildfires are discussed extensively with an emphasis on how these programs apply to and are being implemented in Santa Monica. The 2025 Plan also discusses in far more detail the potential for structure fires to occur in the city, especially in mixed-use areas and in older neighborhoods, and the potential for fires to occur following an earthquake.
Section 11: The climate change and severe weather section combines and expands on the severe windstorm/thunderstorm and climate change/sea level rise sections in the 2016 Plan, and relies on Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 1
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the more recent projections of greenhouse gas concentrations and sea level rise issued in 2022 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other organizations. The section summarizes significant weather events that have impacted Los Angeles County between 2016 and January 2025, with emphasis on those events that have occurred near Santa Monica.
Additional Changes: The 2016 updated Plan addressed two human-related hazards related to community events and the Exposition Light Rail. The Community Events section discussed the potential impacts of a large group of people concentrating in a limited geographic area, including increased chance for an act of terrorism or civil unrest to occur, and the potential for a large number of casualties if a community event coincided with a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, severe weather event, or structural fire in a high-occupancy building. Action plans designed to deal with hazards associated with large groups of people were developed and are now routinely implemented by the City as needed.
The Exposition Light Rail section discussed the risks associated with train accidents in an urban environment where the train lines extend through the city rather than around it. Some of the issues mentioned included accidents due to human error, equipment malfunction, and the potential impact of what at the time was a proposed project on existing street widths, especially the lack of 20-footwide lane for fire engine access. Several mitigation measures to be implemented by the various responsible agencies including the Exposition Construction Authority, METRO, Santa Monica City staff, and the Santa Monica Fire Department were identified and included in the design and construction, effectively mitigating several of the concerns that the City had originally identified. As a result, these hazards are not covered in the 2025 Plan.
Instead, the 2025 Plan includes two new sections on human-caused hazards associated with hazardous materials and the use and potential reuse of the Santa Monica airport facilities. These sections replace the sections that addressed hazards related to community events, and the construction and use of the Exposition Light Rail that were included in the 2016 Plan. Santa Monica has a Community Events Committee that addresses the permits and deployment of resources necessary to manage most community events in the City, and has developed a series of special operations plans to address a variety of events that would result in large groups of people converging in a small geographic area. The Exposition Light Rail section in the 2016 Plan enumerated the series of actions that the Los Angeles County Metro, City of Santa Monica staff and various other organizations implemented in the design-build process to make the light rail and associated stations compatible with street traffic, pedestrian safety, and ability of the Fire Department and other emergency response organizations to respond to emergencies as needed.
The Appendices were updated as needed to reflect the most current information, with emphasis on changes made between 2016 and 2024 (or January 2025 where the data were available).
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SECTION 2: COMMUNITY PROFILE
WHY PLAN FOR NATURAL HAZARDS IN THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA? Earthquakes, rainstorms, and strong winds have previously exposed the Los Angeles metropolitan area, including the city of Santa Monica, to the financial and emotional costs of recovery. These same natural hazards, and other natural and human-made hazards described herein, have the potential to pose a future negative impact on the city. Santa Monica is essentially “built-out,” with population growth generally associated with the replacement of low-density housing with mediumand high-density housing.
Given that natural hazards are inevitable, and that populations in hazardous areas are increasing in response to development, there is a need to develop strategies, coordinate resources, and increase public awareness to reduce the risk and losses from future natural hazard events. Identifying the risks posed by natural hazards, and developing strategies to reduce their impact can assist in protecting life and property. In Santa Monica, local residents have worked together with City staff and other stakeholders to create this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) document that addresses the potential hazards of most concern to Santa Monica’s residents.
GEOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Physiographic Location and Description
The city of Santa Monica is 8.4 square miles in area and is located in the northwestern margin of the Los Angeles Basin. Santa Monica is bordered by communities that are part of the city of Los Angeles to the north, east, and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west (Figure 2-1). The city’s coastal location, along one of the widest stretches of beach along the Santa Monica Bay region, make Santa Monica both a sought-after living locale and a top tourist destination.
Santa Monica is located at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, with the northern half of the city sitting on a broad, gently south-sloping alluvial fan that was formed by streams draining the mountains to the north. These mountains, together with the San Gabriel Mountains to the east, are part of the west-trending Transverse Ranges, which form the northern boundary to the Los Angeles Basin. The mountains form a topographic, geomorphic, geologic, and tectonic barrier in the region.
On its west side, the low-lying beach forms a buffer between the Pacific Ocean and the coastal bluffs. The southern portion of the city is sitting on older marine, lake, playa and estuarine deposits that are now slightly to moderately elevated above the active floodplain of Ballona Creek, located to the south.
Ground surface elevations across the city vary from 0 to 10 feet above mean sea level (amsl) along the beach, to approximately 175 feet amsl at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Airport and 340 to 370 feet amsl near the northeastern corner of the city, on Brentwood Knoll and near the intersection of 26th Street with La Mesa Drive. The coastal bluffs in the northwestern corner of the city rise approximately 50 to 150 feet above the beach below. Farther north, in the Pacific Palisades area, the bluffs are approximately 200 feet high.
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Figure 2-1: Physiographic Map of Santa Monica and Surrounding Areas (physiographic elements in black and white; cities in darker blue; City of Los Angeles neighborhoods in light blue; for a larger version of this map refer to Map H-1 in Appendix H) Major Rivers and Other Bodies of Water
There are no major rivers or floodways extending through or near the city of Santa Monica. Ballona Creek, which flows into the ocean just south of the Marina del Rey area, is now a relatively small, mostly channelized distributary of the Los Angeles River, but in centuries past, this stream used to carry the Los Angeles River floodwaters out to sea through the Ballona Lagoon, a shallow estuary that historically extended north to within 0.5 miles of Santa Monica. The last time this happened was between 1815 and 1825 (for a more in-depth discussion on this topic, see Section 8). Geologic maps and older topographic maps of the region suggest that streams draining the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in the area east of Brentwood Knoll converged in what today is the eastcentral portion of Santa Monica and then drained west following the low-lying area now mostly occupied by the I-10 Freeway. Most intermittent drainage in this area is now captured by catch basins and storm drains.
The north end of the city generally coincides with the southern side of the canyon formed by Santa Monica Creek, and near its northwestern end, with the southern portion of Rustic Creek Canyon.
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these creeks incised down to reach equilibrium with the lower sea-level, in the process forming the deeply incised canyons that are there today. Both of these creeks are concrete-lined and have significant flows only following rainstorm events. Flooding in these streams does not impact Santa Monica, except at their mouth, where they debouch at the beach. Here, in the northwestern corner of Santa Monica, FEMA has identified a 100-year flood zone due to storms. The coastal region is within a 100-year flood zone dominated by storm surges.
Santa Monica is downstream of the Stone Canyon dam and reservoir. If the dam failed, the floodwaters could inundate a portion of the city, in the area around Olympic Boulevard and the I-10 Freeway, with significant impacts on the residential and commercial structures in the area, and thus the residents and workers that occupy those buildings. This is also discussed further in Section 8.
Climate
Santa Monica enjoys a Mediterranean-type climate, with typically mild, sunny winters, and warm, dry summers. Its coastal location, however, provides an ameliorating effect, with smaller daily and seasonal ranges in temperature compared to other locations farther inland. Average daily temperatures in the city of Santa Monica range from about 56 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months (December to February) to 65 to 69 degrees in the summer months (July through September).
However, the temperatures can vary by more than 17 degrees, as the average minimum and average maximum ranges measured at the Santa Monica Pier (Table 2-1) and the Santa Monica Airport (Table 2-2) weather stations show. Table 2-3 shows that historically, temperatures in Santa Monica have deviated substantially from the average values, with both unseasonally cold and hot temperatures having been measured in the city. Note, however, that most unseasonally cold days were measured in the first 20 years of the 1900s, whereas most of the unseasonally hot days have been measured in the past decade or so.
Table 2-1: Mean Minimum (Min), Average (Ave) and Maximum (Max) Monthly Temperature at the Santa Monica Pier
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Min 49.6 49.7 51.8 53.2 55.8 59.2 61.5 62.3 60.9 58.5 53.6 49.5 55.5 Ave 55.8 56.0 56.8 58.3 59.6 62.7 65.4 66.0 65.5 63.0 60.3 56.5 60.5 Max 62.0 62.2 61.8 63.4 63.4 66.3 69.4 69.7 70.0 67.5 66.9 63.4 65.5 Monthly climate normal based on data collected at the Santa Monica Pier between 1991 and 2020. From https://www.weather.gov/ accessed May 16, 2024.
Table 2-2: Mean Minimum (Min), Average (Ave) and Maximum (Max) Monthly Temperature at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Min 48.7 49.0 51.0 52.8 56.6 59.6 62.9 63.2 62.3 58.1 52.0 47.7 55.3 Ave 57.3 57.3 58.7 60.4 62.7 65.5 69.0 69.8 69.2 66.1 61.0 57.0 62.8 Max 66.0 65.6 66.4 68.1 68.9 71.4 75.1 76.5 76.1 74.0 70.1 66.2 70.4 Monthly climate normal based on data collected at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport between 1991 and 2020. From https://www.weather.gov/ accessed May 20, 2024.
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Table 2-3: Record Monthly Temperatures (°F) and Years of Record in Santa Monica Temp Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual High 88
2018
90 2022
94 2015
95 2009
94 2014
92 1957
92 2018
95 1983
103
2010
101
2017
100
1966
89 1979
103
2010
Low 26
1913
32 1903
28 1907
33 1917
39 1915
41 1908
42 1906
47 1919
40 1907
37 1919
32 1919
30 1916
26 1913
Based on data recorded between 1900 and 2023 as follows: 1900-1938, Santa Monica weather station near the intersection of 11th Street and Olympic Boulevard; 1939-2000, Santa Monica Pier; 2001-2023, Santa Monica Municipal Airport.
Source: https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/santa-monica, with data from the NOAA National Climate Data Center accessed on September 1, 2023.
Rainfall in the Santa Monica area averages around 12 inches per year. The data available suggest that the Santa Monica Pier, on average, receives about 1.7 inches more rain per year than the Santa Monica Airport. However, because the time range covered by the records differs between these two stations, the differences could also be indicative of an overall drier trend. This is presented on Table 2-4. This table also presents data for three different rain stations in Los Angeles (station at the Civic Center, which in 1999 was replaced by the station at USC0F 1 , and a station at LAX). The table also
lists average rainfall totals at the San Gabriel Fire Station that illustrate that areas at higher elevations, above the Los Angeles basin, generally receive noticeably more rainfall. Rainfall averages by month for the Santa Monica area are summarized on Figure 2-2 below, which shows that most precipitation occurs during the winter months between November and March, with very little to no rain measured in June through September.
Table 2-4: Averages of Annual Cumulative Rainfall for Santa Monica (historical and current), Los Angeles (historical and current), and San Gabriel (historical) Weather Station Location and Time Range Cumulative Inches per Year (Averaged)
Santa Monica Pier (1948-2005) 12.87
Santa Monica Airport (1998-2024) 11.19
Los Angeles Civic Center (1950-1995) 14.9
Los Angeles USC (30-year average between 1999-2020) 14.25 Downtown Los Angeles (1844-2024 combined between Civic
Center and USC stations)
14.82 Los Angeles International Airport - LAX (1944-2024) 11.99 San Gabriel Fire Department (1939-1995) 17.46
Sources: https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?casmon, https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we139a.php, https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we13.php, https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we09a.php, https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?casgfd; all accessed July 2, 2024. 1 According to https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we13.php (accessed on July 2, 2024), on May 20, 2024, the official Downtown Los Angeles weather observation site was relocated from the University of Southern California (USC) campus to the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center in Elysian Park. The new site is approximately four miles northeast of the USC campus, at the training center for the Los Angeles Fire Department, on the south side of Dodger Stadium.
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Figure 2-2: Average Annual Rainfall by Month, Recorded at the Santa Monica Pier Weather Station (historical values) and the Santa Monica Airport (“current normals”) However, “average” precipitation means very little in this region, as annual rainfall amounts have ranged from one-third the normal amount to more than double the normal amount, with rainfall in southern California characterized as “feast or famine.” This is covered in more detail in Section 8.
Soils and Rocks
The sediments and soils underlying Santa Monica determine to some extent the potential geologic hazards that may occur in different regions of the city. Therefore, understanding the geologic characteristics of the sediments underlying Santa Monica is an important first step in hazard mitigation and avoiding at-risk development. The types and characteristics of the unconsolidated sediments, soils, and, at depth, the bedrock, that underlie the city are also a reflection of the geologic and climatic processes that have affected this region in the past several million years.
Although located near the rugged Santa Monica Mountains, the landscape within the city itself is relatively simple (for a geologic map of the area, refer to Figure 9-2, and Plates H-3a and H-3b in Appendix H). The northern portion of the city is underlain by a broad, gently south-sloping alluvial fan that emanated from the mountains to the north. These deposits were transported to their current location by ancestral streams and/or gravity (as mudflows or slopewash) over thousands to tens of thousands of years, building an approximately 80- to 100-foot-thick section of sand, gravelly sand and silt at the base of the mountains. We know that the Santa Monica Mountains are the source for these sediments because the gravels, which occur in large amounts in the alluvial fan deposits, typically consist of clasts of bedrock types that crop out in these mountains. The rock type most Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 2
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often seen in the gravelly sections is Santa Monica slate, a dark bluish gray metamorphic rock, but lesser amounts of granitic, volcanic and sedimentary rocks also common in the Santa Monica Mountains are also present. The alluvial surface is now disconnected from the mountains by the deep ravine of Santa Monica Canyon. At depth below the alluvial fan deposits is a thick sequence of non-marine and marine sediments that extend to depths of between 5,000 and 12,000 feet.
On its western boundary, the low-lying beach serves as a buffer between the Pacific Ocean and the coastal bluffs (the Pacific Palisades), with ongoing erosional processes causing the retreat of these bluff faces. The beach areas and the stream channels north and south of the city are filled with historical to latest Holocene (less than about 4,000 years old) deposits. Near the southwestern portion of the city, between Barnard Way on the west, Main Street on the east, and Strand Street on the north, wind-deposited (eolian) deposits have been mapped. All of these youthful sediments are susceptible to differential settlement, liquefaction (if water occurs within about 35 feet of the ground surface), and erosion. Older marine, lake (lacustrine), playa or estuarine deposits, now elevated above the active floodplain, are present in the southern portion of the city. These deposits consist of sand, silty sand and gravel, in some areas cemented by calcite accumulation or modified by soilforming processes. These deposits may be corrosive to metals or concrete, and where capped by soils, may have a high expansion potential. These issues can be mitigated if recognized prior to or during construction.
Other Significant Geologic Features
The city of Santa Monica is located in the western half of southern California, and as a result lies on the Pacific (tectonic) Plate. The Pacific Plate moves northwesterly at a rate of approximately 50 millimeters (2 inches) per year relative to the North American plate, with the San Andreas fault system forming the boundary between plates. The city of Santa Monica is also located near the transition zone between the Transverse Ranges and the Peninsular Ranges physiographic provinces (regions of distinct geology, topography and sometimes ecology). Aligned with the San Andreas fault, the Peninsular Ranges province is represented by a series of northwest-trending faults, mountain ranges and valleys stretching from the base of the Santa Monica Mountains on the north to the Mexican border to the south. The west-trending Santa Monica-Hollywood fault zone, and the Santa Monica Mountains and San Gabriel Mountains to the east, are part of the Transverse Ranges province.
Earthquake faults in this region are mainly of the strike-slip and oblique-slip type, and where they have been most recently active, they have deformed the landscape and altered drainage patterns.
Examples of strike-slip faults in this region include the Palos Verdes, Newport-Inglewood and Elsinore-Whittier faults. The Newport-Inglewood fault zone trends southeasterly across the Los Angeles Basin and is responsible for uplifting the chain of low hills and mesas that extends from Beverly Hills to Newport Beach across the relatively flat coastal plain (including Beverly Hills, Cheviot Hills, Dominguez Hills, Signal Hill, and Newport Mesa). The fault is an active structure and was the source of the 1933 magnitude (M) 6.4 Long Beach earthquake. The Santa Monica fault is considered a left-lateral oblique-slip fault that is in part responsible for uplift of the Santa Monica Mountains. Several traces of this fault have been mapped across the city of Santa Monica. The Santa Monica fault has not caused a significant earthquake in historical times, but is considered seismically active. This is discussed further in Section 6.
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The Los Angeles Basin experiences many small tremors every year, but its history has been shaped by several relatively infrequent, but powerful earthquakes. The first historical earthquake in southern California was recorded in 1769, when the Portolá expedition was camped next to the Santa Ana River in what is now the Olive community in the city of Orange, but earthquakes undoubtedly have shaken the area for millennia. Other more recent earthquakes occurred in 1812, 1857, 1933 (Long Beach), 1987 (Whittier Narrows), 1994 (Northridge), and 2019 (Ridgecrest). The Northridge 1994 earthquake (M 6.7) dramatically affected Santa Monica and is to date the most expensive earthquake in United States history due to its proximity to the Los Angeles area and extensive damage to structures. The earthquake caused a total of 57 deaths, 1,500 injuries, and damaged approximately 12,500 structures, with the city of Santa Monica hit particularly hard.
Given that paleoseismological research indicates that great earthquakes (i.e., M >7.6) occur on the San Andreas fault at intervals between 45 and 332 years, with an average interval of 140 years, another similar earthquake on the San Andreas fault is considered likely in the not-too-distant future (if not already overdue). This fact alone should encourage local governments to strengthen their infrastructure and prepare for “the Big One.” Moreover, as discussed in Section 6, there are other faults closer to Santa Monica, including the Santa Monica fault, that have the potential to cause more damage to the city than the more-distant San Andreas fault. The earthquake hazard to the Los Angeles basin and the cities therein, including the city of Santa Monica, is thus considered severe.
COMMUNITY HISTORY
The first known inhabitants of the Los Angeles Basin, including the Santa Monica area, were Native Americans from the Gabrielino/Tongva (or Tobikhar) nation. Together with the Chumash to the north, in the Santa Barbara region, and the Kymeyaay nation to the south, in what is now San Diego County, these groups occupied a 4,000-square-mile area that extended from the Mojave Desert in the east to the Channel Islands offshore (which they reached with sea-worthy plank-built canoes).
When Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo sailed past southern California in 1542, the first Europeans to sight the California coastline, the Tongva are thought to have numbered between 5,000 and 10,000 individuals.
1F
2 Intense contact between the Spanish and the Tongva only began more than 200 years later, when the first land expedition by Europeans into what is now Los Angeles County was led by Gaspar de Portolá in 1769. This was followed in 1771 with the founding of the Mission of San Gabriel Arcángel by Junípero Serra. Many Tongva were forcibly relocated to the mission grounds and surrounding areas, generally as enslaved laborers forced to learn the European style of farming and livestock husbandry, to tend to the mission’s orchards, fields and animals. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish led to the rapid collapse of the Tongva people in the late 18th century.
In 1839, the governor of Alta California, Don Juan Bautista Alvarado, awarded a Mexican land grant to Francisco Sepúlveda II, a soldier and citizen of Los Angeles. The 33,000-acre land grant, referred to as Rancho San Vicente y Santa Mónica, included what is today Brentwood, Mandeville Canyon, and parts of Bel Air, West Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. Ownership of these land grants by Spanish 2 Lepowsky, M., 2004, Indian revolts and cargo cults: Ritual violence and revitalization in California and New Guinea, in Harkin, M. E. (editor), Reassessing revitalization movements: Perspectives from North America and the Pacific Island: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, pp. 1–61, ISBN 9780803224063.
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families was honored by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. Don Francisco died in 1853, and his heirs sold their San Vicente y Santa Monica property to the American businessman Robert S. Baker in 1872, who bought it to extend his cattle and sheep business holdings in southern California. In 1874, Mr. Baker sold a three-quarter interest to the property to Nevada Senator John Percival Jones, and in April 1875, Mr. Baker married Arcadia Bandini de Stearns, a wealthy California landowner in her own right, and a well-known socialite.
Also in 1875, the Bakers and Senator Jones decided to subdivide a part of the property they jointly owned and create the town of Santa Monica. As part of the process, they filed a Plat map for the first subdivision in Santa Monica. Residential lots 150 feet deep and 50 feet wide were planned between Ocean Avenue on the west, 26th Street on the east, and between Montana Avenue on the north and Colorado Avenue on the south. Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker is credited for creating or helping create2F
3 the original map of the city, and in the process designating lots for businesses, schools, churches, and other community structures. The lots set aside for schools and parks she ceded to the city. Stearns Baker also donated the land for Pacific Palisades Park to Santa Monica, and the property where the Veteran’s Administration is located. The City of Santa Monica was incorporated in 1886, and became a sea-side resort, with railway connection between the Los Angeles area and Santa Monica provided by the Pacific Electric Railway. Hotels, bathhouses and amusement piers catered to the beachgoers and provided employment opportunities.
In 1922, Donald Will Douglas Sr. built a plant in Santa Monica establishing the Douglas Aircraft Company. The factory provided jobs and in 1924 placed the region on the world map when two of four Douglas-built planes landed on the field after flying more than 27,500 miles in 175 days, as part of their effort to circumnavigate the globe.
3F
4 Population in the Santa Monica area more than
doubled during this period, from 15,252 in 1920 to 37,146 in 1930. During the Great Depression (1929-1939), however, Santa Monica’s businesses, especially those in the hospitality industry, suffered greatly, with many going bankrupt. A positive that came out of that period is that several important buildings in Santa Monica were built with funding provided by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program to provide jobs to millions of unemployed people, mostly building public works and infrastructure projects. Several buildings in Santa Monica were built with WPA funds including Santa Monica City Hall. Population between 1930 and 1940 increased by 44%, to about 53,500 residents.
Employment prospects in the region improved when the United States declared war during World War II. Military personnel and defense workers arrived in southern California to fill the logistical needs created by the war effort. In Santa Monica, the Douglas Aircraft Company was commissioned to build aircraft for various branches of the U.S military. By 1943, reportedly more than 44,000 people were employed by the company. The population in the region increased dramatically, and residential developments and shopping centers sprung throughout the Los Angeles region; within a few decades, the Los Angeles Basin was virtually built out. In Santa Monica, population between 1940 and 1950 increased nearly 34%, with nearly 71,600 residents reported in 1950. Immediately after the war, construction began on the freeway system, and the face of southern California was forever changed. Although Santa Monica’s population increased further between the 1950s and the 1970s (83,249 residents in 1960 and 88,289 residents in 1970), some residential communities in the city were uprooted by construction projects, including the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_Bandini_de_Stearns_Baker and https://smmirror.com/2010/11/arcadiabandini-santa-monica-shaper-hometown-hero/m, both accessed in July 2024. 4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Monica,_California, accessed on July 23, 2024.
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completed in 1958, and the Santa Monica Freeway, completed in 1966. The Civic Auditorium was built where Belmar Triangle, the first African American neighborhood in the city used to be located.
The freeway project impacted the Pico neighborhood, another significant African American community4F
5 , and home also to Latinos, as well as low-income residents. Many properties were seized under eminent domain laws.
5F
6 Both projects resulted in the displacement of hundreds of families of color and in 2021 the City of Santa Monica officially apologized for targeting these neighborhoods for condemnation.
Today, Santa Monica is home to many businesses in a wide variety of industries, including technology, digital media and content, television and film, banking, real-estate, apparel, music, gaming, fitness, food, entertainment and hospitality. The City is also home to Santa Monica College and two hospitals (UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and Providence Saint John’s Health Center); combined, these institutions provide thousands of jobs. To support its residential and commercial bases, the City has three main shopping districts, in addition to hundreds of boutiques, restaurants and small businesses.
POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS
The city’s small area and existing housing stock largely control the number of people that can call Santa Monica home. As a result, population counts for Santa Monica have not varied significantly between 1970 and 2020 (Table 2-5). According to U.S. Census data, population remained fairly stable between 1970 and 2010, and in fact decreased by 4,230 people between 1980 and 2000.
While some population growth occurred after 2000, with an increase of 6.7% between 2000 and 2010 and 3.7% between 2010 and 2020, population estimates for 2023 indicate that the city’s population has since slightly decreased. Nevertheless, Santa Monica is one of the most densely populated cities in California, and in the United States as a whole, with around 10,800 people per square mile (still considerably shy of the 74,870 people per square mile in Manhattan, New York, according to the 2010 Census).
Table 2-5: Historical Population Counts for the City of Santa Monica Year Population
1970 88,289
1980 88,314
1990 86,905
2000 84,084
2010 89,736
2020 93,706
2023 (estimated) 89,922
Source: United States Census Bureau Decennial Census of Population and Housing (https://data.census.gov/, accessed June 1, 2024).
Santa Monica’s generally consistent population counts over the past 50 years are most likely the result of limited housing development (which is constrained by the city’s geography and the fact that it is already densely built up). For example, while in California there has been a 13.9% increase in 5 Ibid.
6 https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/toxins-santa-ana-edu/santa-monica-displaced-black-familieshousing, accessed July 24, 2024.
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occupied housing units between 2000 and 2020, Santa Monica has only experienced a 2.7% increase in housing stock during the same period. Families in Santa Monica are, on average, smaller, with 2.82 members compared to the State’s average family size of 3.39. The average household size in Santa Monica has slightly increased in the past two decades, from 1.84 in 2000 to 1.95 in 2020, while the State-wide average has remained stable, at 2.87 in 2000 and 2.89 in 2020. According to the Santa Monica Housing Element Needs Assessment, the City’s housing stock grew by 1,717 units between 2010 and 2020, while population during that same time period grew by 2,621 individuals.
This suggests that Santa Monica’s slight increase in population during that time period was accommodated by slight increases in both household size and number of housing units. In 2020, the City’s housing stock consisted of approximately 52,629 total units, 11,572 (22%) of which were single units, and 40,853 (78%) which were multi-units.
Densely populated areas pose a special challenge because of the large number of people potentially exposed to a natural hazard event, such as an earthquake, at the same time. Essentially, high population densities increase risk. Furthermore, high-density housing increases the chances of structure fires spreading from one building to the next, especially in older structures. Narrow residential streets and narrow passageways between buildings can also make it more difficult for emergency response vehicles and personnel to reach those in need, and the high ratio of residents to emergency responders can affect response times.
History shows that the impacts of natural hazards in terms of exposure, vulnerability and the ability to recover vary greatly among different segments of the population. Disasters pose particular risk to older populations6F
7 and children, women, racial and ethnic minorities (especially indigenous and African American people in the United States), disabled people, and low-income populations. 7F
8 For
example, an analysis of flooding in Houston, Texas after Hurricane Harvey (2017) demonstrated greater flooding extent in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Black and socioeconomically deprived people8F
9 , highlighting inequities to exposure. Another example comes from Christchurch, New Zealand and the fatal Canterbury earthquake sequence that occurred between 2010 and 2011.
Efforts to rebuild the city have been slow and unequal, especially impacting low-income residents and renters. Despite a third of Christchurch’s population being renters, rebuilding housing infrastructure has not been prioritized, causing dramatic rent increases. Instead of focusing on multihousehold structures, there is a perceived priority of the local government in rebuilding higher income parts of the city first.9F
10 Addressing inequities and being proactive about mitigating disasters is known as environmental justice. Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental justice as the 7 Being older than 60 was the "single most important factor in determining who died in Hurricane Katrina" (Peek, L., 2013, Peek, Lori., Age; in Thomas, D.S.K., Phillips, B.D., Lovekamp, W.E., and Fothergill, A. (editors), Social Vulnerability to Disasters, 2nd Edition: CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 167-198. 8 Ryder, S.S., 2017, A Bridge to Challenging Environmental Inequality: Intersectionality, Environmental Justice, and Disaster Vulnerability: Social Thought & Research, Vol. 34, pp. 85-115; available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/44807699. 9 Chakraborty, J. et al., 2019, Exploring the Environmental Justice Implications of Hurricane Harvey Flooding in Greater Houston, Texas: American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 244-250; DOI:
10.2105/AJPH.2018.304846. 10 Sovacool, B.K., Tan-Mullins, M., and Abrahamse, W., 2018, Bloated bodies and broken bricks: Power, ecology, and inequality in the political economy of natural disaster recovery: World Development, Vol. 110, pp. 243-255; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.05.028.
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“just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment.”
10F
11 Discussions about natural hazards that include local citizen groups, insurance companies, and other public and private sector organizations, including small-business owners and residents, can help ensure that all members of the community are part of the decision-making processes.
As the paragraphs and tables below illustrate, Santa Monica’s residents include a large proportion of single-adult households, including especially women-led households, older people, disabled people, and minorities. All of these groups have the potential to be significantly impacted by a natural disaster. Furthermore, a very large proportion of Santa Monica’s residents rent rather than own the buildings that they live in. Renters and landlords are generally less likely to take on mitigation actions that will make their structures more hazard resistant. Furthermore, landlords are typically not eligible for FEMA funding following a disaster, a situation that can significantly delay the repair of rental units so that they can be re-occupied. All of these conditions can hinder the processes of disaster preparedness and recovery, unless a concerted effort is made to educate the entire population on the hazards likely to impact the community, and on mitigation actions that can be implemented by individual households and small businesses to reduce the impacts from these hazards. Renters in particular, should be aware that FEMA typically does offer limited help to eligible renters impacted by a disaster in the form of free referral services to find alternate housing, and in some instances, money to rent a different place to live for a limited period of time.
The U.S. Census Community Survey for Santa Monica in 2022 shows that a large proportion of households in the city are headed by women.
11F
12 Specifically, 37.5% of households are occupied by
women with no spouse present, compared to 20.0% of households occupied by men with no spouse present, and 33.9% of households being occupied by married couples. These statistics differ greatly from those for the entire state. In California, nearly half (48.1%) of households are occupied by married couples, 26.2% are occupied by female householders, and 18.0% are occupied by male householders.
Santa Monica has a relatively older population than California. The median age in Santa Monica is
43.3 years, which is around 5 years older than the median age for the State (37.9 years). Figure 2-3 shows the estimated age distribution for Santa Monica’s residents based on the 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates data. Compared to State averages, households in Santa Monica include fewer children and young adults. There is a spike in the population of people in their late twenties and thirties, and in general Santa Monica has a high proportion of elderly people: 21.1% of people in Santa Monica are 65 years and older, compared to 15.8% in the State as a whole.
As the data presented in Tables 2-5 and 2-6 show, almost a quarter (22.6%) of Santa Monica’s population is foreign born. Of the foreign-born population in the city, 61.8% are naturalized U.S. citizens and thus 38.2% are not U.S. citizens. Of all foreign-born residents in Santa Monica, 37.3% originate from Asia, 27.4% originate from Europe, 23.9% originate from Latin America, and the 11 https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice 12 The person designated as the householder is the “reference person” to whom the relationship of all other household members, if any, is recorded. Typically, women-headed households are households where either no adult men are present, due to divorce, separation, migration, non-marriage or widowhood; or where men, although present, do not contribute to the household income because of illness, disability, old age or other similar situation.
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remaining 11.4% originate from other regions. Relatedly, English is the primary language spoken in Santa Monica, with 72.2% of residents speaking only English, compared to the State average of
56.1%. The second most common language in Santa Monica is Spanish, which 11.1% of residents speak as their primary language. This is important to consider and plan for in hazard reduction, emergency preparedness, and mitigation actions: all emergency and disaster preparedness communications should be sent out in both English and Spanish to reach the largest possible percentage of the city’s population.
Figure 2-3: Age Distribution of the Population in Santa Monica Compared to California Source: United States Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2018-2022 (https://data.census.gov/, accessed June 3, 2024)
Table 2-6: Place of Birth Statistics for Santa Monica Residents Compared with California (2020 American Community Survey)
Santa Monica California
Born in United States 77.4% 73.4%
Born in California 39.0% 56.0%
Born in Different State 36.1% 16.0%
Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Islands, or Abroad, to American Parents 2.3% 1.4% Foreign Born 22.6% 26.6%
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Table 2-7: Population Breakdown, by Race, in the City of Santa Monica (2020) Race % of Santa Monica’s Population
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.7
Asian 8.8
Black or African American 5.3
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Native 0.1
White 69.0
Some other race 4.0
Two or more races 12.1
Population by Hispanic or Latino Origin (of any race)
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin 17.2%
Persons not of Hispanic or Latino origin 82.8%
According to the U.S. Census data, the median household income (2018-2022) in Santa Monica was $106,797 (compared to $91,905 in California and $75,149 in the entire United States). The poverty threshold varies depending on household make-up, the number persons in the household and number of children. The percentage of individuals living in poverty in the city of Santa Monica is 10.1%, which is lower than the California rate of 12.6%. On average, Santa Monica families have lower rates of poverty than California. However, as shown in Table 2-7, families with female householders and children under 5 years old, and people over 65 years old are at particular risk of poverty in Santa Monica. Specifically, for 2018-2022, 33% of the households in Santa Monica headed by women with no partner present and with related children less than 5 years old were deemed to be below the poverty level. This amounts to approximately 203 families. In the same time period, about 17.3% of the seniors more than 65 years old in Santa Monica were considered to be living below the poverty level, compared to 11.0% of the seniors in all of California.
Table 2-8: Percentage of Families and People in Santa Monica and California whose Income in the Prior 12 Months Was Below Poverty Levels (2018-2022, 5-Year Estimates) Santa Monica California
All Families 6.7% 8.5%
With related children under 18 years 7.5% 12.5%
With related children under 5 years 6.7% 9.7%
Married Couple Families 5.1% 5.1%
With related children under 18 years 4.6% 6.7%
With related children under 5 years 3.4% 4.3%
Families with Female Householder, no spouse present 12.9% 20.3% With related children under 18 years 13.6% 29.2%
With related children under 5 years 33.0% 30.3%
All People 11.6% 12.1%
Under 18 years 6.8% 16.8%
65 years and over 17.3% 11.0%
Source: Selected Characteristics of People at Specified Levels of Poverty in the Past 12 Months, using the 2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables, from data.census.gov. Note that the census tables provide margins of error; those are not included above for simplicity purposes.
Santa Monica’s population has slightly higher disability rates compared to the California average.
According to the 2022 1-Year American Community Survey, 12.3% of people in Santa Monica are disabled, compared to 11.7% in California. Ambulatory difficulties are the most common disability, Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 2
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affecting 7.8% of Santa Monica residents, whereas 6.3% of Santa Monica residents have supported living needs and 5.8% have cognitive disabilities. Disabled populations are at high risk during natural hazards, especially those with mobility issues. It should therefore be a priority to have contingency plans and support systems for these people during such emergencies.
Examining the reach of hazard mitigation policies to special needs populations may assist in increasing access to services and programs. FEMA's Office of Equal Rights addresses this need by suggesting that agencies and organizations planning for natural disasters identify special needs populations, make recovery centers more accessible, and review practices and procedures to remedy discrimination in relief application or assistance.
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
As mentioned in the introduction, the city of Santa Monica is built out; there are only a few vacant parcels and a few lots with large backyards that could be re-developed into higher-density buildings.
Therefore, in the last few years there has been little development (see Table 2-8). This also means that structures in Santa Monica tend to be older: over 75% of the housing structures in Santa Monica were built more than 40 years ago. This poses concerns for the integrity of these structures, especially in response to natural disasters.
Thus, a large regional earthquake has the potential to result in a large percentage of Santa Monica households and residents to be displaced, in numbers likely to be too large for the City to respond to effectively (see Section 6). Displaced households may need alternative short-term shelter, provided by family, friends, temporary rentals, or public shelters established by the City, County or by relief organizations such as the American Red Cross. Long-term alternative housing may require import of mobile homes, net emigration from the impacted area, and/or, the eventual repair or reconstruction of new public and private housing. Given that a large percentage of the housing units in Santa Monica are rental properties (see Table 2-9), a damaging natural hazard event has the potential to not only significantly impact Santa Monica’s residents, but the City’s makeup, as many residents may choose to find alternate housing elsewhere, in other cities. The number of people seeking short-term public shelter is of most concern to emergency response organizations. The longer-term impacts on the housing stock are of great concern to local governments, such as cities and counties.
Table 2-9: Year Housing Structures in Santa Monica Were Built (and Comparison with California) Year Housing Structure was Built Santa Monica,
Total Number, (Percent of Total)
California,
Percent of Total
2014 or later 847, (1.9%) 2.2%
2010 to 2013 678, (1.5%) 1.8%
2000 to 2009 2,319, (5.1%) 10.9%
1980 to 1999 6,824, (14.9%) 26.1%
1960 to 1979 17,483, (38.3%) 30.8%
1940 to 1959 11,094, (24.3%) 19.3%
1939 or earlier 6,461, (14.1%) 8.9%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Selected Housing Characteristics, 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, accessed on June 5, 2024.
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Housing stock is in many direct and indirect ways one of the most important commodities in a city.
As mentioned above, if a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, damages several houses in the city, this has a significant impact not only on the residents of those structures, but on the City itself.
An extreme, but real, example of this is New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. After this catastrophic event, New Orleans lost more than half of its population due to permanent relocation and more than two years later entire neighborhoods were vacant, the houses still in ruins. Many past residents of these communities started new lives in other cities and states and have not come back.
In 2020, there were still around 100,000 fewer people in New Orleans than in 2005, substantially diminishing New Orleans’ tax base. New Orleans is rebuilding and recovering, but it has taken time.
Many Santa Monica residents live in apartments or condominiums that have multiple units per structure (Table 2-9). In fact, a little less than 50% of Santa Monica residents live in structures with 10 or more units, compared to the state average of 17.4%. Similarly, only 18.4% of Santa Monica residents live in a detached one-unit house, while the California average is much higher at 58.3%.
As discussed previously, living in close quarters can put people at increased risk during some disasters or emergencies, such as structural fires that can spread from one housing unit to another, and congested exits. Structures with multiple stories can pose risks if elevators stop functioning or stairways get blocked. Mitigation measures that can be undertaken by households to protect themselves from the impacts of some of these disasters are discussed in each appropriate section of this report.
Table 2-10: Selected Housing Characteristics in Santa Monica and California Santa Monica California
Total Housing Units 52,389 14,277,867
Occupied housing units 44,495 (84.9%) 13,072,122 (91.6%) Vacant housing units 7,894 (15.1%) 1,205,745 (8.4%)
Owner-occupied 27.9% 55.3%
Renter-occupied 72.1% 44.7%
Home-ownership rate 31.8% 55.8%
Units in Structure
1-unit, detached 8,414 (18.4%) 58.3%
1-unit, attached 1,780 (3.9%) 7.2%
2 units 622 (1.4%) 2.3%
3 or 4 units 3,922 (8.6%) 5.4%
5 to 9 units 10,235 (22.4%) 5.9%
10 or more 20,658 (45.2%) 17.4%
Mobile homes 75 (0.2%) 3.5%
Housing Statistics
Average household size 1.97 2.94
Rate of single-person households 46.9% 23.8%
Median value of owner-occupied units $1,507,400 $557,100 Median monthly rent / Monthly housing costs for
renter-occupied units $1,900 $1,586
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Selected Housing Characteristics, 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, accessed on June 5, 2024.
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Santa Monica’s residents are well educated. Of the population aged 25 years and older, only 3.9% did not complete high-school, and 7.6% only completed high-school but did not go to college. 22% of this age group completed some college or obtained an associates’ degree, whereas 66.5% completed college, with 30.4% having completed graduate school or obtained a professional degree. This is reflected in the occupations and industries that Santa Monica workers are most commonly engaged in, with 68.5% of the work force involved in management, business, science or the arts (see Table 2-10). Of the city’s population 16 years old and over, an estimated 70.1% participate in the labor force, with an employment to population ratio of about 66.6%. These numbers are higher than for California overall, where the labor force participation for the same age group is estimated at 63.9%, with an employment to population ratio of 60%.
Table 2-11: Employment and Industry in Santa Monica Compared to California Principal Employment Activities Santa Monica California Management, Business, Science, and Arts occupations 68.3% 40.3% Service occupations 10.3% 18.1%
Sales and Office occupations 16.4% 20.9%
Natural resources, Construction, and Maintenance occupations 2.1% 8.8% Production, Transportation, and Material moving occupations 3.0% 11.9% Major Industries
Manufacturing 3.8% 9.0%
Retail trade 6.9% 10.4%
Educational services, and Health care and Social assistance 20.5% 21.2% Transportation, and Warehousing and Utilities 2.3% 4.7% Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, and Accommodation and Food Services 11.3% 10.2%
Professional, Scientific, and Management, and Administrative and Waste Management 25.3% 13.8%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, accessed on June 5, 2024.
TRANSPORTATION, COMMUTING PATTERNS AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES A moderate to large percentage of Santa Monica residents either work in the city, or close to it.
Specifically, 34.6% of Santa Monica’s residents work in the city, with 9.3% working from home (based on data from the ACS 5-Year estimates for 2018-2022). The State average for people working from home is 6%. Southern Californian’s love for their private automobiles is well known, with automobiles being the historically dominant means of transportation in the region. This is true of Santa Monica also, with 63.3% of the city’s residents in the workforce commuting alone via car, truck or van (according to the ACS 5-year estimates for 2018-2022). This percentage is lower than the State average of 72.5%, however. The census data also indicate that 5.1% of Santa Monica residents in the labor force carpool to work, compared to 10.0% statewide. Public transportation is used by 3.6% of the Santa Monica labor force, and another 6.5% walk to work (compared to 4.6 and 2.2%, respectively, for California overall). Additionally, 3.4% of Santa Monica residents bike to work, compared to only 0.8% for the State average.
Of the 65.4% of Santa Monica residents that commute to work outside the city, 63.7% commute less than 30 minutes, and 31.6% commute between 30 and 59 minutes. Only 4.7% of residents that work have a commute longer than one hour. The mean travel time to work (commute) for Santa Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 2
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Monica residents is 24.6 minutes. The mean travel time for commuters in California is estimated at
30.2 minutes.
Although the preferred and most common means of transportation in southern California is by automobile, Santa Monica can also be accessed from downtown Los Angeles (LA) by train and bus.
Bus service within the city is provided by Santa Monica’s own Big Blue Bus, and connections to LA are provided by the Los Angeles County’s Metro. The Big Blue Bus is operated by the City of Santa Monica’s Department of Transportation, governed by the Santa Monica City Council and services more than 58 square miles of the Los Angeles metropolitan region. Rides cost $1.10 (as of 2024) for a one-way trip with free transfers within a 2-hour time limit.
The Metro provides several bus lines between Santa Monica and the LA area as follows: Line 4 bus travels between Downtown LA. and Santa Monica via Santa Monica Boulevard, Line 20 travels between Downtown LA and Westwood/Santa Monica via Wilshire Boulevard, Line 33 travels between Downtown LA and Santa Monica via Venice Boulevard, Line 134 travels between the Downtown Santa Monica Station and Malibu, and Line 720 travels between Santa Monica and Downtown LA via Wilshire Boulevard. Santa Monica residents can also travel between Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown LA using the Metro Expo Light Rail Line train (E Line). The Metro Expo Light Rail Line connects the downtowns of both cities, with the most westerly station in Santa Monica located on the corner of Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue. Metro fares cost $1.75 for a one-way ride (as of 2024).
In terms of commuting patterns, the city is bisected by the western terminus of the Interstate 10 (I-10) Freeway, and can be accessed from the east by several major roads including, from north to south, San Vicente Boulevard, Montana Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, and Ocean Park Boulevard. Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) connects the western portion of the city with Malibu and other communities to the north, and to Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa Vista, and other communities to the south (Figure 2-4). Most streets in the city are oriented in a northeast to southwest, and northwest to southeast grid, with a few winding roads present locally in areas with topographic relief (Figure 2-4).
Within the city itself, residents and visitors can bike and walk. Santa Monica has an extensive system of bike-designated lanes and most streets also have sidewalks, typically tree-shaded, for pedestrian use. Several shared mobility companies service the Santa Monica region, with bikes, electric bikes and electric scooters available for rental through the providers’ websites or mobile apps.
Several of the hazards discussed in this document have the potential to disrupt automobile traffic and shut down the local and regional transit systems. For example, an earthquake could damage the freeway overpasses so that they are unsafe to cross. Localized urban flooding occasionally impacts sections of the I-10 freeway, the McClure Tunnel, and PCH. Earthquake- and/or storm-induced slope failures can render sections of these roads temporarily unpassable. Even strong Santa Ana winds can make driving hazardous, especially for high-profile vehicles such as trailer trucks.
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Figure 2-4: Major Roads In and Near Santa Monica
(for a larger, scaled-version of this map refer to Map H-2 in Appendix H) In terms of essential services, the City has its own Police and Fire Departments. The Police Department provides traffic control, law enforcement, domestic violence, drug abuse and youth services, among others, for the City and its residents. Information on the Police Department, including contact information, can be obtained here. The Santa Monica Fire Department has five stations across the city and provides full-time services such as fire-fighting, paramedics, fire prevention, search and rescue, hazardous material response, and airport firefighting. Information on the fire hazards in Santa Monica is discussed in Section 10. The City’s Public Works Department provides essential services to the Santa Monica community that include water supply production, treatment, and collection; collection and proper management of recoverable materials; tree trimming and street maintenance. Public education services for the school-aged children in the city of Santa Monica are provided by the Santa Monica–Malibu Unified School District.
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SECTION 3: RISK ASSESSMENT
WHAT IS A RISK ASSESSMENT?
Risk assessment is the process of estimating or calculating the potential losses (in terms of life, injuries, and property and economic damage) resulting from a hazard event. To conduct this analysis, it is necessary to identify and understand the hazards that can impact the community (hazard identification and hazard profiling), assess the vulnerability of the people, buildings and infrastructure that can be impacted by each hazard identified (vulnerability assessment and asset inventory), and estimate the potential losses (risk analysis). Each of these tasks or steps in the process, as it pertains to the city of Santa Monica, is described further below:
Hazard Identification
This is the description of the geographic extent, potential intensity and the probability of occurrence of a given hazard. To assess the perceived impact that various hazards can have on the city of Santa Monica, Resilience Planning Committee members were asked at the kick-off meeting to fill in a spreadsheet provided to them that listed a variety of natural and human-made hazards. A copy of the unfilled hazards matrix is included here as Table 3-1. Individuals were asked to weigh in on (1) the geographic extent of the hazard (widespread, moderate, or small), (2) whether or not, to their knowledge, the hazard has previously impacted the city of Santa Monica, (3) the probability (high, medium, low) of the hazard occurring in the Santa Monica area; and (4) the potential risk (high, medium, low) that each hazard poses to Santa Monica and its residents. Respondents were also encouraged to add other hazards to the list as they saw fit.
The 18 filled-in spreadsheets were collected and the data provided therein were compiled and weighted to develop a score for each hazard based on the answers provided. Points assigned to each hazard were calculated by summing the geographic extent, probability of occurrence and potential risk, as follows: widespread geographic extent, high probability of occurrence and high potential risk were each assigned 3 points; moderate geographic extent, medium probability of occurrence and medium potential risk were each assigned 2 points; and small geographic extent, low probability of occurrence and low potential risk were each assigned 1 point. The number of points earned by each hazard were summed together and the total was then divided by 18, the total number of respondents. If all respondents had identified a hazard as having a widespread geographic extent, high probability of occurrence and posing a high risk to the community, that hazard would have the maximum possible score of 9. Note, however, that some individuals did not assign a value to all hazards, and in a few instances, individual respondents assigned more than one value (such as moderate and small geographic extent) to the same hazard; as a result, not all row groups add to 18.
The final scores for each hazard were ranked from highest to lowest, with the hazard receiving the highest score assigned a rank of 1. The results of this analysis are shown in Table 3-2.
Based on these results, the top-ten ranked hazards in the city of Santa Monica, listed from highest (1) to lowest (10) are: earthquake-induced ground shaking, sea-level rise, Santa Ana winds, high to excessive heat, drought, coastal flooding, surface rupture or surface fault deformation, tsunami, thunderstorms, and liquefaction. These hazards are identified in Table 3-2 with their assigned ranks shown in red text.
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Table 3-1: Blank Spreadsheet Listing Hazards with the Potential to Impact the City of Santa Monica Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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Table 3-2: List of Hazards Identified as Likely to Impact the City of Santa Monica, Compiled and Ranked Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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Based on input received at the kick-off meeting, and research conducted for this and previous versions of this Plan, the city of Santa Monica can be impacted by several natural hazards, including:
1) earthquakes (and secondary hazards triggered by earthquakes, such as surface fault rupture, liquefaction, slope failures, releases of hazardous materials, after-earthquake fires, and dam and water reservoir failures);
2) tsunamis caused by both near-source and long-distance earthquake sources; 3) storm flooding resulting both from coastal and pluvial processes; 4) slope failures;
5) fires, including urban (structure) fires, wildland fires, and after-earthquake fires; and 6) strong windstorms and severe weather, especially hazards exacerbated by climate change (such as sea-level rise, extreme heat events, drought, and hurricanes).
Human-related hazards that can also impact the Santa Monica area include:
7) non-earthquake related releases of hazardous materials; 8) aviation accidents and other airport-related hazards such as noise pollution; 9) terrorist acts (including active shooters, cyberattacks on infrastructure, releases of harmful chemical or biological agents);
10) acts of civil unrest (protests and mobs); and
11) pandemics.
At this time, and for this document, the City chose to address only the natural hazards identified in items 1 through 6 above, and the risks posed by the human-caused releases of hazardous materials and aviation hazards (items 7 and 8). These were the natural and human-caused hazards deemed to have the greatest potential to cause damage, in terms of casualties and losses, in Santa Monica.
These are also the hazards highlighted in the recently completed and approved Safety Element of the General Plan, a companion document to the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The decision to not include items 9 through 11 from the list above was also informed by City staff indicating that in the past decade a variety of response plans specific to addressing terrorist acts, civil unrest, and pandemics have been developed and are available for City agencies and staff to implement as needed should the need arise. When work on this 2025 update to the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan began, the United States had just recently declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the City of Santa Monica, like most communities, had extensive experience in the implementation of the pandemic playbooks developed to respond to this crisis. Thus, for example, the COVID-19 playbook developed by the California Department of Public Health provided detailed strategies specific to various sectors of the work force and other populations, including farm and construction workers, school children, Native Americans, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community.
Given this recent past experience and the wealth of available resources that can be tailored as needed should a new pandemic impact the region, the City of Santa Monica chose to not include pandemics in the list of hazards addressed here. Some of these hazards, such as cybersecurity threats to critical facilities and pandemics may be addressed in future versions of the Plan.
Each of the hazards selected to be addressed in this 2025 Plan is described in detail in the following sections. Where possible, the geographic extent of each of the identified hazards in Santa Monica is displayed on a map of Santa Monica, although several of the hazards have a regional extent that exceeds the boundaries of the city. The maps that show the estimated geographic reach of these Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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hazards are an important element of this document, and are thus included within the section that describes the hazard being considered (e.g., maps of regional and local faults, expected ground accelerations, and zones susceptible to liquefaction or earthquake-induced slope failure are included in Section 6: Earthquake Hazards). Some of the city-specific hazard maps are also presented together in Appendix H in 11x17 format (see list of maps in Table 3-3 below).
Profiling Hazard Events
This process describes the causes and characteristics of each hazard, how each specific hazard has affected the southern California area and the city of Santa Monica in the past, and what parts of Santa Monica's population, infrastructure, and environment have historically been vulnerable to each specific hazard. A profile of each hazard discussed in this Plan is provided in Sections 6 through
13. Therefore, for a description of the history of hazard-specific events, please see the appropriate hazard section.
Table 3-3: List of Maps that are Part of This Plan (Plates are in Appendix H) Figure / Plate Map Title Section of
the Plan
1-1 City of Santa Monica (with dark blue lines showing City boundaries) Section 1
2-1, 9-1 /
H-1 Physiographic Map of Santa Monica and Surrounding Areas Section 2Section 9 2-4 / H-2 Major Roads In and Near Santa Monica Section 2 3-1 / H-3 Critical Facilities In and Near Santa Monica, California Section 3 6-1 Regional Map Showing Select Faults, Physiographic Provinces and Landforms Mentioned in the Text Section 6
6-2 Earthquake Shaking Levels Anticipated in California Section 6 6-4 Notable Regional Earthquakes Section 6
6-5 ShakeMap for a Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Scenario on the Malibu Coast-Santa Monica-Hollywood Fault System Section 6 6-6 ShakeMap for a Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Scenario on the Newport-Inglewood Fault Section 6
6-7 ShakeMap for a Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake Scenario on the Compton Thrust Fault Section 6
6-8 Scenario for a M7.1 Earthquake on the Puente Hills Fault Showing Estimated Intensity Values in the Region Resulting from this Event Section 6 6-9 Estimated Percent Building Losses as a Result of a Mw 7.5 Earthquake on the Puente Hills Thrust Fault Section 6
6-10 ShakeMap for a Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake Scenario on the San Andreas Fault (Repeat of the 1857 Fort Tejon Earthquake) Section 6 6-11 ShakeMap for a Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake Scenario (Shakeout) on the Southern San Andreas Fault Section 6
6-12 Faults Mapped and Inferred Through, Near and Below Santa Monica Section 6
6-13 / H-4 Earthquake Fault Zones of Required Investigation In and Near Santa Monica, California Section 6
6-14 / H-5 Seismic Hazard Zones Map, Santa Monica, California Section 6 6-15 / H-6 Census Tracts used in the HazUS Analyses Section 6 6-16 / H-7 Total Residential Building Related Losses as a Percentage of Total Residential Exposure Section 6
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Figure / Plate Map Title Section of
the Plan
6-17 / H-8 Total Commercial Building Related Losses as a Percentage of Total Commercial Building Exposure Section 6
7-1
Bathymetric Map of Santa Monica Bay Showing Continental Slope and Offshore Canyons that Could be Source or TsunamiGenerating LandslidesSection 7 7-3
World Map Showing Approximate Location of Ring of Fire, Subduction Trenches, Active Volcanoes, and Large Earthquakes Between 1900 and 2013
Section 7
7-4 / H-9 Tsunami Hazards Map, Santa Monica, California Section 7 8-2 / H-10 Flood Hazards Map, Santa Monica, California Section 8 8-3 / H-11 Dam Inundation Map, Santa Monica, California Section 8 8-4 / H-12 Anticipated Damage in Santa Monica as a Result of a Stone Canyon Dam Failure Scenario Section 8
9-1 / H-1 Physiographic Map of Santa Monica and Surrounding Areas Section 9 9-2 / H-13a & H13bGeologic Map of Santa Monica and Vicinity (H-13a) with Unit Descriptions (H-13b) Section 9
9-3 / H-1 Bathymetric Map of Santa Monica Bay Showing Offshore Canyons Section 9 9-4 / H-14 Slope Distribution Map for Santa Monica and Adjoining Areas Section 9 9-5 / H-15 Areas in Santa Monica Susceptible to Slope Failure Section 9 10-1 / H-16 Historical (1930-2025) Wildfires Near Santa Monica Section 10 10-2 / H-17 Fire Hazard Zones in and Near Santa Monica Section 10 11-7 / H-18 Flood Extent Along the Santa Monica Coastline Through the Year 2100 Using Three Sea-Level Rise Scenarios Section 11
12-2 / H-19 Hazardous Materials Site Map, Santa Monica, California Section 12 13-1 Airport Location Map Section 13
13-2 Land Use Around Santa Monica Airport Section 13
13-3 Airport Influence Zones, Santa Monica Airport Section 13 13-4 Airport Noise Contours, Santa Monica Airport Section 13 Note: Most of these maps were derived from publicly available sources. Care was taken in the creation of these maps, but the maps are provided "as is." Neither the City of Santa Monica nor Earth Consultants International can accept any responsibility for errors, omissions or positional accuracy, and therefore, there are no warranties that accompany these maps. Although information from land surveys may have been used in the creation of these maps, this does not mean that the maps represent or constitute a land survey. Users are cautioned to field verify the information on these products before making any decisions.
Vulnerability Assessment / Inventorying Assets
This is a combination of hazard identification with an inventory of the existing property development(s) and population(s) exposed to a hazard. The city of Santa Monica is built out, so new development, if and when it occurs, is in the form of infill or replacement of existing structures. Redevelopment provides an opportunity to build more seismically resistant structures, potentially with sustainable design components that make better use of existing resources, and that incorporate some of the new technologies aimed at reducing the impacts of ground shaking, wildfires, and climate change.
During the vulnerability assessment it is especially important to assess the expected performance of critical facilities. Critical facilities provide essential products and services to the general public that are necessary to preserve the welfare and quality of life, and fulfill important public safety, Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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emergency response, and/or disaster recovery functions (additional information on critical facilities is provided in a subsection below). The critical facilities in and near Santa Monica have been identified and are illustrated on Figure 3-1 and Plate H-3 (Appendix H).
It is important to realize that in the urban setting that defines Santa Monica and the surrounding Los Angeles metropolitan area, a large-scale disaster, such as an earthquake, reservoir failure or pandemic, will not be confined to corporate boundaries. Differences in the magnitude of the disaster, however, will be defined, potentially in great part, by how each city in the impacted area has prepared for, responds to, and recovers from the event. Thus, having a detailed plan (or plans) in place that addresses the specific vulnerabilities of the City, and provides mitigation measures that are implemented to reduce the hazard to critical facilities and other public and private properties, can make the community significantly more disaster-resistant. That is the main goal of this Plan.
Risk Analysis
The purpose of this task is to estimate the potential losses in a geographic area over a given period of time by assessing the damage, injuries, and financial costs likely to be sustained should a disaster occur. This level of analysis involves using mathematical models. The two measurable components of risk analysis are magnitude of the harm that may result and the likelihood of the harm occurring.
Describing vulnerability in terms of dollar losses provides the community and the State with a common framework by which to measure the potential effects of a given hazard on the assets in the area.
Loss estimates for the city of Santa Monica were conducted for the hazards of earthquakes (Section 6), tsunami (Section 7), and floods (Section 8). Four earthquake scenarios, two tsunami scenarios, and two flooding scenarios were considered. These estimates were done using HazUS, a standardized methodology for loss estimation based on a geographic information system (GIS).
HazUS was created as a project of the National Institute of Building Sciences, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and it is based on guidelines and procedures developed to make standardized loss estimates at a regional scale (allowing estimates to be compared from region to region). HazUS is designed for use by State, regional and local governments in planning for loss mitigation, emergency preparedness, response and recovery. HazUS addresses nearly all aspects of the built environment, and many different types of losses. These HazUS components have been tested against the experience of several past disasters, and against the judgment of experts.
The other hazards addressed in this Plan were assessed either quantitatively where data were available, or lacking any data at all, qualitatively. For example, to estimate the costs associated with a windstorm event, the City researched and compiled costs incurred during previous recent past windstorm events, with an emphasis on the costs borne by the City to respond to and cleanup debris.
These figures were incorporated into the report. A similar approach was used for the sections on landslides and hazardous materials, and to some extent for the coastal flooding section, as the City has been impacted in the past by these events. As part of its Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan, the City had previously estimated the costs of sea-level rise; those figures informed the sea-level vulnerability assessment presented in this Plan. Estimates of the current cost of the properties likely to be impacted by some hazards were also conducted using Crisis Track®, a GIS-based disaster management software that uses tax data to estimate the cost of structural damage in a disaster.
Costs associated with some regional hazards such as extreme heat events and drought are far more difficult to estimate. In these cases, the Plan discusses the impact that these hazards may have on Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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the community, and more significantly, on vulnerable populations, but does not provide dollar loss amounts.
Assessing Vulnerability / Analyzing Development Trends
This task provides a general description of land uses and development trends within the community so that mitigation options can be considered in land use planning and future land use decisions.
This Plan provides comprehensive description of the character of Santa Monica in the Community Profile section (see Section 2). This description includes the geography and environment, population and demographics, land use and development, housing and community development, employment and industry, and transportation and commuting patterns. Changes to the region that have occurred since the 2016 Plan was completed (and the 2010 Census considered in the 2016 Plan) are emphasized. Analyzing these components in Santa Monica can help identify areas where progress has been reported in the past decade, and potential problem areas that still need to be addressed and mitigated. The end result is that this analysis can guide the selection and prioritization of the action items considered for this five-year Plan, and their implementation and incorporation into other community development plans.
Hazard assessments are subject to the availability of hazard-specific data. Gathering data for a hazard assessment requires a commitment of resources on the part of the community being analyzed, in addition to participating organizations and agencies. Each hazard-specific section of the Plan includes a section on hazard identification using data and information obtained from City, County or State agency sources.
There are numerous strategies that Santa Monica can take to reduce risk. These strategies are described in the action items presented in Section 4, classified by hazard type and priority. Action items that address two or more hazards simultaneously are also presented in Section 4. Mitigation strategies can help reduce disruption to critical services, reduce the risk to human life, and alleviate damage to personal and public property and infrastructure.
CRITICAL FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Critical facilities are those parts of a community's infrastructure that must remain operational after a disaster. Critical facilities include hospitals, fire and police stations, emergency operation centers, communication centers, and schools, especially if used as shelters. A vulnerability assessment for these facilities involves comparing the locations of these facilities to the hazardous areas identified in the city. Critical facilities can be subdivided into several categories; those often considered in risk assessments include:
• High-risk facilities, if severely damaged, may result in a disaster far beyond the facilities themselves. Examples include power plants, dams and flood control structures, freeway interchanges, bridges, and industrial plants that use or store explosives, toxic materials or petroleum products. Although not located in the city of Santa Monica, catastrophic failure of Stone Canyon Dam would impact the eastern portion of the city, as discussed in Section
8. • Facilities critical to government response and recovery activities (i.e., life safety and property and environmental protection) include: 911 (or public safety communications) centers, emergency operations centers, police and fire stations, public works facilities, sewer and Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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water facilities, hospitals, bridges and roads, and shelters. In the city of Santa Monica this category includes City Hall and City Hall East, Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD) stations, the Santa Monica Public Safety Facility and Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Providence Saint John’s Health Center, and Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center. Public schools and libraries in the city also play an essential role in the event of an emergency or natural disaster event as they can serve as temporary shelters, mobile command centers, public information hubs, family reunification centers, etc. • Lifelines are those services that are critical to the health, safety and functioning of the community. They are particularly essential for emergency response and recovery after a disaster. Furthermore, certain critical facilities designed to remain functional during and immediately after a disaster, such as an earthquake, may be able to provide only limited services if the lifelines they depend on are disrupted. Lifeline systems include water, sewage, electrical power, communication, transportation (highways, bridges, railroads, and airports), natural gas, and liquid fuel systems. In Santa Monica, this would include the bridges and interchanges along Interstate 10 (I-10), the McClure Tunnel, Pacific Coast Highway, and the Moomat Ahiko Way. If any of these structures collapsed as a result of earthquake-induced strong ground shaking, or were obstructed by a large slope failure, traffic between the different areas of the city connected by these structures would be affected, if not completely cut-off, which would hinder access by emergency response vehicles. Casualties could also be expected if these structures collapsed. Other facilities in Santa Monica that also fall in this category include the Santa Monica Airport, the City Yards, the Arcadia Treatment Plant, the Big Blue Bus Yards, the City’s water reservoirs, the Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility, and the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project.
Most of the critical and essential facilities listed above that are in or near the city of Santa Monica are shown on Figure 3-1. Other facilities that ideally also remain functional during and following a disaster, such as an earthquake, because of their potential impact on the community are listed below.
These facilities are not included on Figure 3-1.
• High-occupancy facilities have the potential of resulting in a large number of casualties or crowd-control problems. This category includes high-rise buildings, large assembly facilities, and large multifamily residential complexes.
• Dependent-care facilities, such as preschools and schools, rehabilitation centers, prisons, group care homes, and nursing homes, house populations with special evacuation considerations.
• Economic facilities are those facilities that should remain operational to avoid severe economic impacts. These facilities include banks, archiving and vital record-keeping facilities, airports, and large industrial or commercial centers.
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Figure 3-1: Essential / Critical Facilities In and Near Santa Monica (also refer to Plate H-3 in Appendix H) Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR RISK ASSESSMENT
Federal regulations for hazard mitigation plans outlined in 44 CFR Part 201 include a requirement for risk assessment. This requirement is intended to provide information that will help communities identify and prioritize mitigation activities that will reduce losses from the identified hazards. There are seven top-level natural hazards profiled in this Plan, including earthquakes (Section 6), tsunami (Section 7), floods (Section 8), landslides (Section 9), fires (Section 10), and severe weather and climate change (both addressed in Section 11). This Plan also addresses two human-caused possible hazards, namely hazardous materials releases (Section 12), and airport hazards (Section 13). Several of these hazards can occur simultaneously or consequentially, in what is referred to as a cascade (or cascading) event. Thus, for example, an earthquake could result in the accidental release of hazardous materials from damaged pipelines or overturned containers, and/or trigger several structure fires, and an intense precipitation event, such as that associated with an atmospheric river, could trigger the failure of a water retention structure that in turn would result in inundation of areas down-gradient.
The Federal criteria for risk assessment and information on how Santa Monica’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan meets those criteria are outlined in Table 3-4 below.
Table 3-4 - Federal Criteria for Risk Assessment
Section 322 Plan
Requirement How is this addressed?
Identifying Hazards
The hazard sections (Sections 6 through 13) provide a description of the natural or human-caused events that could affect the Santa Monica area, and their potential impact on the city of Santa Monica. To the extent GIS data are available for these hazards, maps that identify the areas most likely to be impacted by each hazard have been developed for the city of Santa Monica. These Hazard Maps are listed in Table 3-1 and are included in Appendix H. Note that some potential hazards, such as windstorms, are not geographic-specific and thus cannot be mapped.
Profiling Hazard Events
Each hazard section (Sections 6 through 13) includes documentation on the history of past hazard events, and the causes and characteristics of the hazard in the city of Santa Monica and/or in the Los Angeles region.
Assessing Vulnerability:
Identifying Assets
Where data are available, the vulnerability assessment for each hazard addressed in the mitigation plan includes an inventory of critical facilities within hazardous areas. Each hazard section provides information on vulnerable areas in the city and the impact that the hazard may have on vulnerable populations. Prioritized mitigation actions for these hazards are provided in Section 4.
Assessing Vulnerability:
Estimating Potential Losses
The Risk Assessment Section of this Plan (Section 3) identifies key critical facilities and lifelines in the city and includes a map of these facilities.
Vulnerability assessments have been completed for the hazards addressed in the plan. HazUS-based quantitative estimates were conducted for the earthquake (Section 6), tsunami (Section 7) and flood (Section 8) hazards.
Estimates of the potential losses and costs to respond and/or recover from the remaining hazards (Sections 9 through 13) are based on quantitative data collected by the City for past events, or qualitative data if figures were not available.
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Section 322 Plan
Requirement How is this addressed?
Assessing Vulnerability:
Analyzing Development
Trends
The Community Profile Section of this Plan (Section 2) provides a description of the city’s geography and environment, and historical trends in the City’s population and demographics, land use, housing and community development, employment and industry, and transportation and commuting patterns.
SUMMARY OF RISK ASSESSMENT FOR THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA Local Disaster (or Hazard) Mitigation Plans such as this one are to evaluate the hazards that are most likely to impact the community for which the Plan is being prepared. There are many types of natural hazards, but not all apply to a given area. Earthquakes typically pose the greatest challenge because they occur with little or no warning, and can set into motion linked, cascading events that disrupt other natural and man-made hazards that also have the potential to cause damage to a community.
Analysis conducted for this report shows that an earthquake on the section of the Santa Monica fault that extends through the city, combined with fault sections to the east and west, would cause significant damage to Santa Monica and the northern Los Angeles region. In most parts of the city, shaking will be severe, whereas in those areas within about ½ mile from the fault zone, ground shaking is expected to be violent. If the Santa Monica fault ruptures to the ground surface, the ground deformation will damage structures, streets, and utilities that straddle the fault traces.
An earthquake on the offshore section of the Palos Verdes fault in the Santa Monica Bay could also be a worst-case earthquake scenario for Santa Monica because, in addition to strong ground shaking, the earthquake could trigger a locally generated tsunami that could cause extensive loss of life along the beach. If this earthquake and tsunami event occur at a time when the beach is crowded with day visitors, the loss of life could be in the thousands. Both the Santa Monica and Palos Verdes fault earthquake scenarios discussed here, in addition to earthquakes on other nearby seismic sources, could trigger a sequence of events, including the unintentional release of hazardous materials, structure fires, and the catastrophic failure of water storage facilities.
Santa Monica is susceptible to several hazards other than seismic, although the consequences of these other hazards will be less regionally extensive. The risk that several of the hazards pose to critical facilities in and near Santa Monica are summarized in Table 3-5, below. Some of these hazards, like liquefaction, only occur in response to seismic shaking. Other hazards can be triggered by seismic shaking, but can also happen in response to some other causes, as described further below:
• Slope instability – which can occur in response to storms, human activities, or ground shaking
• Hazardous materials release – which can occur due to an accident on the I-10 or major roadways through the city, an intentional or unintentional release at one of the industrial or commercial facilities using or storing hazardous materials, or as a result of a flood event, inundation due to catastrophic failure of a water storage facility, seismic shaking, or earthquake-induced ground deformation (such as fault rupture, liquefaction, or landsliding), and
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• Flooding – due to coastal storms, El Niño-related storms, atmospheric rivers, or the catastrophic failure of a water storage facility or debris basin.
Wildfires historically have not occurred in Santa Monica proper but have occurred in the Santa Monica Mountains to the north, most recently within about 1/2 mile of the city. Some of the water storage facilities that supply water to Santa Monica are located in or near areas that could be impacted by wildfires. These facilities are identified in Table 3-5. Structure fires are not included in Table 3-5 because these can occur anywhere in the city and typically can be contained to the structure of origin with prompt response from the SMFD. However, it is important to remember that an earthquake can be followed by structure fires ignited by fallen and arcing electric lines, gas leaks, chemical reactions, and toppled water heaters and other appliances. If several structure fires following an earthquake occur simultaneously throughout the city, these could quickly overwhelm the local fire department, especially if emergency response personnel are at the time engaged in their post-earthquake immediate assessment of critical facility damage. The SMFD’s second priority following an earthquake is to respond to structural fires, and their third priority is to conduct search and rescue operations. Thus, search and rescue operations in the first few hours after a significant earthquake are usually conducted by neighbors and family members. Structure fires are particularly dangerous in heavily developed, older areas where buildings are most often not constructed of fireresistant materials and are located close together.
Table 3-5 lists the following natural and man-made hazards: Ground shaking, surface fault rupture, liquefaction, tsunami, coastal flooding, dam inundation, slope instability, wildfire susceptibility, sealevel rise, potential exposure to hazardous materials, and exposure to airport hazards.
Table 3-5 does not include severe weather (e.g., strong Santa Ana winds) or hazards related to climate change as these are either regional in nature (e.g., drought, extreme heat, etc.) or localized in their impact but difficult to predict where they will strike (e.g., tornadoes). Strong winds, unlike earthquakes and flooding, occur often. Although high winds are regional in extent, damage as a result of high winds tends to be localized. The costs associated with wind damage are, on a per event basis, fairly small, but given their frequency of occurrence, over the long-term, costs associated with wind damage can add up. Similarly, the severe weather hazards of extreme temperatures and drought are regional in extent, but the damages tend to be localized.
As mentioned before, the costs associated with extreme temperature and drought events are hard to quantify. Given the regional impact of these events, communities may feel powerless to mitigate them. However, there are a variety of strategies that communities can implement to reduce the impact that high or excessive heat and drought events may pose on their residents. Some of these potential mitigation actions are discussed in Section 11; specific actions that Santa Monica has chosen to implement in the next five-year cycle are listed in Section 4.
Natural hazard mitigation strategies can reduce the impacts concentrated at critical facilities and public infrastructure, in addition to large employment and industrial centers that provide the economic core of the region. Natural hazard mitigation for industries and employers may include developing relationships with emergency management services and their employees before disaster strikes, and establishing mitigation strategies together. Collaboration among the public and private sector to create mitigation plans and actions can reduce the impacts of natural hazards.
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Explanation for abbreviations used in Table 3-5:
Y = Yes; N = No
S = Severe; M = Moderate; m = Minor
The entire Santa Monica area can experience ground shaking as a result of an earthquake on any of several regional faults; however, sites within ½ mile of the Santa Monica fault will experience severe ground shaking. These sites are identified with an “S” for Severe.
For reference to the various hazards included in this Table, refer to the hazards sections in Volume II and the figures therein. The regional extent of several of the hazards as it pertains to the city of Santa Monica is also highlighted in some of the plates included in Appendix H. Refer to Table 3-1 for a list of these figures and plates.
A site marked “Y” for Hazardous Materials is located within about ¼ mile of a facility that is listed as a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) site or a large generator of hazardous materials, or is located within ¼ mile of the crude oil pipeline that extends through the city (see Section 12). Sites that have reported a leak (typically of fuel) from an underground storage tank are not considered a potential source of contamination to nearby facilities because the leak is confined to the underlying soil (and maybe groundwater) and as a result, is not expected to pose an inhalation or skin-contact hazard.
Sites marked with a “Y” for Airport Hazards are located in or within about ¼ mile of the runway protection zone, airport influence zone, or inner safety zone.
Some of the critical facilities are not located directly in an area susceptible to a given hazard, but are located nearby, and access to/from the facility could be hindered. For example, surface fault rupture, landslides, and dam inundation all have the potential to impact traffic patterns and hinder access to the hospitals that serve Santa Monica.
All properties and facilities in Santa Monica are susceptible to the effects of severe weather, including strong winds, extreme heat, and drought. The damages resulting from severe weather are expected to be significantly less than those resulting from an earthquake, however.
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Table 3-5: Critical Facilities In and Near Santa Monica at Potential Risk from the Hazards Discussed in this Plan Map
Identifier Critical Facilities, Schools and Libraries
Ground Shaking
Surface Fault
Rupture
Liquefaction
Tsunami
Coastal Flooding
Dam Inundation
Slope Instability
Wildfire
Susceptibility
Flooding due to
Sea-Level Rise
Near Hazmat Site
or Oil Pipeline
Airport Hazard
Facilities Essential to Government and Healthcare Response PS/EOC1 Police Station/Public Safety Facility/ Emergency Operations Center, 333 Olympic Drive 0BY N N N N N Y, m N N Y N
EOC2/L2 Alternate Emergency Operations Center 2 at Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard 1BY N N N N N N N N Y N
EOC3 Alternate Emergency Operations Center at SM Airport, 3223 Donald Douglas Loop South 2BY N N N N N N N N Y Y
CH City Hall & City Hall East, 1685 Main Street 3BY N N N N N Y, m N N Y N FS-1 Fire Station #1, 1337 7th Street 4BY N N N N N N N N Y N FS-2 Fire Station #2, 222 Hollister Avenue Y N N N N N N N N Y N FS-3 Fire Station #3, 1302 19th Street Y N N N N N N N N Y N FS-5 Fire Station #5, 2450 Ashland Avenue Y N N N N N N N N Y Y FS-7 Fire Station #7, 1100 Palisades Beach Rd Y N Y Y Y N Y N Y N N FTA Fire Training Academy, 2500 Michigan Avenue Y N N N N N N N N Y N HP Police Harbor Patrol, 402 Santa Monica Pier Y N Y Y Y N N N Y N N CC Los Angeles County Court House, 1725 Main Street W Y N N N N N N N N Y N PSJHC Providence Saint John’s Health Center, 2121 Santa Monica Blvd. Y, S N N N N N N N N Y N UCLA UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, 1250 16th Street Y, S N N N N N N N N Y N AS Santa Monica Animal Shelter, 1649 9th Street Y N N N N N Y N 6BFacilities Critical to Utility and Transportation Operations SMCY Santa Monica City Yard, 2500 Michigan Avenue Y N N N N N N N N Y N ACT Arcadia Treatment Plant, 1228 South Bundy Dr., Los Angeles Y, S Y Y, m N N N N N N Y N MOR Mt. Olivette Reservoir, 924 Franklin Street Y, S Y N N N N Y Y, m N N N RR Riviera Reservoir, 1252 Capri Drive, Pacific Palisades Y, S N Y N N Y Y Y N Y N SVR San Vicente Reservoir, San Vicente Blvd. and 26th Street Y, S N N N N N N Y, M N Y N BPS Booster Pump Station, San Vicente Blvd. and 25th Street Y, S N N N N N N Y, M N Y N CWF Charnock Well Field/Treatment Plant, 11375 Westminster Avenue, Los Angeles Y N N N N Y N N N N N PPT Penmar Park Tank, 1341 Lake St, Venice Y N N N N Y, m N Y, m N N Y SWIP Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project
1771 Main Street (includes Advanced Water Treatment Facility) Y N N N N N N N N Y N SMURRF Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility, 1623 Appian Way Y N N N N N Y N N Y N Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3
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Map
Identifier Critical Facilities, Schools and Libraries
Ground Shaking
Surface Fault
Rupture
Liquefaction
Tsunami
Coastal Flooding
Dam Inundation
Slope Instability
Wildfire
Susceptibility
Flooding due to
Sea-Level Rise
Near Hazmat Site
or Oil Pipeline
Airport Hazard
SCE1 Southern California Edison (SCE) Colorado Substation, 1721 22nd Street Y N N N N N N N N Y N SCE2 SCE Santa Monica Substation, 853 Colorado Avenue Y N N N N N N N N Y N SCE3 SCE Ocean Park Substation at 3110 2nd Street Y N N N N N N N N N N SCE4 SCE Facility at 1425 Marine Street Y N N N N N N N N N Y SMA Santa Monica Airport, 3223 Donald Douglas Loop S Y N N N N N Y, m N N Y Y Bus Yard Big Blue Bus Yards, 1620 6th Street & 612 Colorado Ave. Y N N N N N N N N Y N Metro LA Metro Division 14 Facility, 1955 Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles Y N Y N N Y N N N Y N 7BPublic Schools K-12, Community College Primary Campuses, and Libraries S1 Edison Language Academy, 2402 Virginia Avenue Y N N N N N N N N Y N S2 Franklin Elementary, 2400 Montana Avenue Y, S Y N N N N N N N N N S3 Grant Elementary, 2368 Pearl Street Y N N N N N N 5BN N N N S4 John Adams Middle, 2425 16th Street Y N N N N N N N N N N S5 Lincoln Middle, 1501 California Avenue Y, S N N N N N N N N Y N S6 McKinley Elementary, 2401 Santa Monica Blvd. Y, S N N N N N N N N Y N S7 Olympic High School, 1900 Pico Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N S8 Roosevelt Elementary, 801 Montana Avenue Y, S N N N N N N N N Y N S9 Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH), 721 Ocean Park Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N S10 Santa Monica High School, 601 Pico Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N S11 Will Rogers Elementary, 2401 14th Street Y N N N N N N N N N N SMC1 Santa Monica College (SMC), Main Campus, 1900 Pico Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N SMC2 SMC Bundy Campus, 3171 S. Bundy Drive, Los Angeles Y N N N N N N N N Y N SMC3 SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th Street Y N N N N N N N N Y N L1 Fairview Branch Library, 2101 Ocean Park Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N L2 Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N L3 Montana Branch Library, 1704 Montana Ave Y, S N N N N N N N N Y N L4 Ocean Park Branch Library, 2601 Main Street Y N N N N N N N N Y N L5 Pico Branch Library, 2201 Pico Blvd. Y N N N N N N N N Y N Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 4
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SECTION 4: GOALS and
MITIGATION ACTIONS
INTRODUCTION
The ultimate goal of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans is hazard mitigation. For the purposes of this study, this means a risk-based approach to reduce or eliminate, if possible, the long-term risk to life, property and infrastructure from natural and human-made hazards. Thus, a successful hazard mitigation strategy provides a mechanism by which, during the process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural hazards, the community reduces its vulnerability to future hazard events. Historically, communities impacted by a natural or human-caused hazard will repair the damage and reconstruct to similar pre-disaster conditions. Such efforts may expedite the return to normalcy, but in the process engender a cycle of damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage.
Hazard mitigation involves the implementation of actions that enable the community to not only respond effectively to a disaster, but to recover in such a way that the post-disaster repairs and reconstruction truly strengthen it. This Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update outlines opportunities that the City of Santa Monica can use to increase the community’s resiliency to future hazard events.
This section also provides information on the process used to develop the specific goals and action items aimed at reducing the impact of several hazards on the city of Santa Monica. The action items were developed after an in-depth review of the City’s vulnerabilities and capabilities as described in Sections 2, and 6 through 13, round-table discussions with the Resiliency Planning Committee, and input from members of the community received in response to surveys prepared by the City in support of the Safety Element of the General Plan and this update to the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. For additional information on the Public Participation process, refer to Appendix B. Many of the action items identified herein were prioritized because it was recognized that their implementation would benefit a broad section of the City’s residents, with an emphasis on priority populations.
HAZARD MITIGATION OVERVIEW
Many Federal, State and local programs have been implemented over the years to reduce losses created by natural and human-made hazards in the city of Santa Monica. Several of these programs are described in detail in the appropriate sections of the Plan–the reader is referred to Sections 6 through 13 for additional information. The following sub-sections refer to some of the most significant programs and regulations that have been developed to encourage or require communities to manage and reduce some of the most common and costliest natural hazards. Each sub-section also describes how these programs are being implemented in Santa Monica.
National Flood Insurance Program
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created by the U.S. Congress in 1968. Although a community’s participation in the NFIP is voluntary, in order to receive assistance and funding from FEMA following a flood, the community must participate in the program. The City of Santa Monica has participated in the NFIP since 1983 (City ID No. 060159). Development in the flood prone areas of the city is regulated in accordance with Chapter 7.68 – Floodplain Management Regulations of the City’s Municipal Code.
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The Community Rating System (CRS), implemented in 1990, is a voluntary part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that seeks to coordinate all flood-related activities, reduce flood losses, facilitate accurate insurance rating, and promote public awareness of flood insurance by creating incentives for a community to pursue beyond the minimum requirements of the NFIP. CRS ratings are assigned on a nine-point scale, from 1 to 9, with 1 being the best rating. Residents who live within FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) receive a 5% reduction in flood insurance rates for every one-point improvement in the community’s CRS class. As a community engages in additional mitigation activities, its residents become eligible for increased NFIP policy premium discounts. The 2025 CRS Eligible Communities list includes Los Angeles County with a rating of 6 and City of Los Angeles with a rating of 7.
Beginning on April 1, 2022, FEMA began calculating NFIP flood insurance premiums using what they refer to as Risk Rating 2.0. This rating methodology calculates premiums for individual properties based on the property’s specific flood risk rather than being assigned a general risk category. Premiums are now calculated based on specific features of an individual property, including distance from water, type of flooding, flood frequency, structure foundation type, height of the lowest floor relative to BFE, prior claims, and the structure's replacement cost value. An analysis of the impacts of the new premiums on properties in Santa Monica shows that approximately 286 properties saw no increase or a very small increase in their 2025 flood insurance premiums compared to 2024, 37 properties saw a decrease in their monthly premiums of between $10 and about $100, and about 12 properties saw an increase of between $10 and $60 in their monthly premiums.
A property is considered a repetitive loss (RL) property if it has incurred two or more flood-related claims exceeding $1,000 each, paid by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) within any ten-year rolling period since 1978. As of December 9, 2024, FEMA’s records of repetitive loss properties0F
1 in the city of Santa Monica suggest one single-family residence built in 1937 that is located in census block 060377014023 and SFHA VE has filed two claims of more than $1,000 each within a ten-year period, with the most recent claim dating from March 2, 1983. Based on these data, there are no properties in Santa Monica that have had a flood-related claim with FEMA in more than 40 years.
Senate Bill 1241 and Assembly Bill 38
At the State level, and to address the increasing losses associated with wildfires at the wildlandurban interface, Senate Bill 1241 (2012 Kehoe Statutes) requires that cities revising their Housing Element of the General Plan on or after January 1, 2014 also review and update their Safety Element to address the risk of fire in State Responsibility Areas and in very high (VH) fire hazard severity zones (FHSZs).
Santa Monica’s 2021-2029 Housing Element was adopted by City Council on October 2022, with the adoption prompting the update of the City’s Safety Element. The revised Safety Element was completed in August 2024, and adopted in February 2025. In January 2025, the region was impacted by the devastating Palisades fire, which burned to within about 350 feet of the city’s northern boundary. Prior to this fire, the entire city of Santa Monica was not considered susceptible to wildfire hazards. In March 2025, CAL FIRE issued its Phase 4 maps reclassifying southern California’s fire 1 Based on a review of the csv file from https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/nfip-multiple-loss-propertiesv1, accessed May 5, 2025.
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hazard severity. The new map for the Malibu-Santa Monica region places the northernmost portion of Santa Monica, generally north of Georgina Avenue, within a VHFHSZ, and another approximately 600-foot-wide swath parallel to the southern boundary of the VHFHSZ within a high FHSZ. The next about 600 feet south of that zone is now mapped as within a moderate FHSZ. These changes are discussed in Section 10, and the new mapping is shown both as Plate H-17 in Appendix H, and as Figure 10-4 in Section 10.
As a result of this new map, the provisions of Senate Bill (SB) 1241 (2012) and Assembly Bill (AB) 38 (2019) now apply to the northernmost portion of the city of Santa Monica. This means that the City now needs to address wildfire hazards and risks, adopt policies designed to address and reduce the risks associated with wildfires, and require disclosures during real-estate transactions. This is addressed in this Plan update (see Section 10 and the Action Items in this Section 4 that address fires in the very high FHSZ. The 2025 Safety Element update, in accordance with California Government Code (GC) § 65302.15, also identifies evacuation routes from the northern reaches of the city that local residents are encouraged to use in the event of a wildfire in that area.
Assembly Bill 2140
AB 2140 (2006) provides a financial incentive for local agencies to adopt a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan as a component of the Safety Element of their General Plan. The City of Santa Monica adopted its latest Safety Element of the General Plan in February 2025. The City will link this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan by reference to their 2025 Safety Element, especially since several of the policies in the Safety Element are included as action items in this document.
California Public Resources Code Chapter 7.5, Sections 7.5 and 7.8 These sections are also known as the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act (Section 7.5) and Seismic Hazards Mapping Act (Section 7.8). The Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act (APEFZA) prohibits the placement of developments and structures for human occupancy (with certain exceptions) across the trace of Holocene-active1F 2 faults. The Seismic Hazards Mapping Act
(SHMA) requires the identification and mapping of areas subject to the effects of strong ground shaking, liquefaction, landslides or other earthquake-related ground failure so that cities and counties can encourage land use management policies and regulations aimed to reduce or mitigate these hazards. The SHMA also indicates that the State Geologist may include information on the potential effects of tsunami and seiche for use by local governments if the data are available from other sources. Both acts require that the transferor or the agent for a transferor of real estate property located in either one or both zones disclose this fact to prospective buyers.
The City of Santa Monica requires fault investigations for all developments or re-developments of habitable structures, even of single-family residences if more than two-stories high, located within the State-mapped APEFZ. The City also requires that geotechnical studies of properties located within a State-mapped seismic hazard zone include an analysis for liquefaction or slope stability, as appropriate, with the report providing engineering solutions to mitigate these hazards. These hazards and requirements are discussed in more detail in Sections 6 (fault rupture, liquefaction) and 9 (landslides). Tsunamis are covered in Section 7.
2 Holocene-active faults are faults that have moved at least once in the past 11,700 years.
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PLAN COMPONENTS
Mission
The mission of the city of Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is “to promote sound public policy designed to protect citizens, critical facilities, infrastructure, private property, and the environment from natural and human-made hazards.”
This is being achieved by increasing public awareness, documenting the resources available for risk reduction and loss prevention, and identifying and implementing activities that will help the city of Santa Monica become a safer, more disaster-resilient and sustainable community.
Goals
The goals are stepping-stones between the broad direction of the mission statement and the action items. The Plan Goals help guide the direction of future activities aimed at reducing risk and preventing loss from natural hazards. Essentially, the goals provide a framework by which to promote sound public policy designed to protect the city’s residents and visitors, the city’s critical facilities and infrastructure, private property and the environment from the natural and human-made hazards recognized as most likely to impact the area. The goals listed here serve as checklist items that City staff, Council members and the public can refer back as City departments and other organizations begin implementing the action items. These goals have been prioritized by City staff, with the most important goal (protect life and property) listed first. Other goals include strengthen emergency services, increase public awareness, seek public participation, partnerships and implementation, and natural systems. Elements of each of these goals are described further below.
Protect Life and Property
• Implement activities that assist in protecting lives by making homes, businesses, infrastructure, critical facilities, and other property more resistant to natural and humancaused hazards. • Reduce losses and repetitive damages from chronic (frequently recurring) hazard events while promoting insurance coverage for catastrophic hazards.
Strengthen Emergency Services
• Establish policy to ensure that mitigation projects to strengthen critical and essential facilities, services, and infrastructure, where needed, are considered and prioritized. • Coordinate and integrate hazard mitigation activities, where appropriate, with emergency operations, plans and procedures.
• Strengthen emergency operations by increasing collaboration and coordination among public agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, industry, and residents.
Increase Public Awareness
• Develop and implement educational and outreach programs that increase public awareness of the risks associated with natural and human-made hazards.
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• Keep the public informed of hazard mitigation initiatives and activities through community meetings, local newspapers, the City’s website, newsletters, utility bill inserts, and other similar media.
• Provide information on tools, partnership opportunities, and funding resources that can help in the implementation of mitigation activities.
Seek Public Participation
• Obtain input from City staff and the public when updating the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and other similar efforts, including during the process of developing and prioritizing the Plan goals and action items and the assignment of responsibilities, taking into consideration the expected efficacy of the proposed action items and the proposed timelines.
Foster Partnerships and Implementation
• Continue to foster communication and coordination among and within City departments, other agencies, residents, non-profit organizations, businesses, and industry so that there is a mutual, vested interest in participating in the implementation of the action items. • Encourage leadership within public and private sector organizations to prioritize and implement local, county, and regional hazard mitigation activities.
Preserve and Enhance Natural Systems
• Continue to balance the need to protect and manage the natural resources and areas in the city (such as the beach, sand dunes and the bluffs) with the need for hazard mitigation to protect lives and property, by reducing conflict that may arise between these two objectives. • Whenever possible, preserve, rehabilitate, and enhance the natural systems in ways that also provide natural hazard mitigation functions.
Components of the Plan’s Actions
The Actions are activities that City departments, in some cases in coordination with other organizations, businesses and residents, can implement to reduce risk. Each action item includes an estimate of the length of time it will take to implement. All action items identified by Santa Monica’s multi-sector Resilience Planning Committee (RPC) are short-term, meaning that City staff hope to implement them within the next two to five years. Although optimistic, this aggressive schedule illustrates the City’s strong desire to reduce several of its identified hazard vulnerabilities as soon as possible.
As discussed above, there are several mitigation activities mandated or recommended by Federal, State or local statutes that the City conducts on an on-going basis as part of its permitting and development processing. Those activities will continue to be implemented as they are an important component in the City’s efforts to reduce its vulnerability to natural and human-made disasters. The action items identified for this 2025-2030 Plan that were identified by the RPC as being high priority, are discussed further below.
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The action items are listed together to make this document as user-friendly as possible, with the goal of providing the reader and City staff in particular, with a concise document that clearly establishes the path the City has chosen to reduce its vulnerability to specific natural and human-made hazards over the next five-year period. It also allows the City departments and organizations identified as responsible for the implementation of the action items to see and manage their charges more effectively.
Note that several of the action items identified address several hazards at once, and thus fall under the Multi-Hazard (MH) umbrella. Because cities typically have limited funding and staffing resources that constrain the effective implementation and management of mitigation actions, MH action items are typically more attractive than those that only address one hazard, with MH action items more likely to be implemented first. Limited financial resources often also force jurisdictions and agencies to review and select the most cost-effective mitigation projects first, in essence prioritizing mitigation projects by their return on investment. The challenge is to maintain a balance between mitigating projects that can be implemented readily and for a relatively small amount of money, with longerterm projects that cost more but have the potential to more significantly reduce the City’s vulnerability to natural hazards. These realities should be kept in mind as the City works through its planned implementation of the action items identified.
LHMP activities may be considered for funding through Federal, State and private grant programs, and when other funds are made available through the City. To help ensure activity implementation, each action item includes information on the City department(s) or division(s) responsible for developing, implementing, and managing that activity. Upon implementation, the implementing department or division may look to partner with other organizations for resources and technical assistance. A description of possible partner organizations is provided in Appendix A, the Resource Directory of this Plan.
Many of the action items included here mirror or complement the policies in the City’s 2025 Safety Element of the General Plan and the City’s Municipal Code, but wherever possible, have been written to be more specific in that they identify the coordinating organization, timeline for implementation, goal(s) being addressed, and potential constraints, in accordance with FEMA’s requirements. 2025 Safety Element policies mirrored in the LHMP action items are also identified.
In the Safety Element, the policies are not prioritized, and are typically not assigned to a specific department. Other action items herein were developed by the RPC in response to the data collection and research process whereby specific concerns were identified, as a result of input from City departments during meetings of the RPC, or in response to input from the public during the public participation process. Mitigation actions specific to wildland fire were developed in response to the 2025 Palisades fire and input received at that time from residents and other stakeholders in the city.
Coordinating Organization
The coordinating organization is the City department, division, or other agency that is willing and able to organize resources, find appropriate funding, or oversee activity implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Coordinating organizations may include City departments, and/or other local or regional agencies, and private entities that are capable of, or responsible for, implementing activities and programs.
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Timeline
Action items typically include both short- and long-term activities. The City of Santa Monica will strive to complete the mitigation actions that are identified in this Section in five years, by 2030.
Each action item listed on Table 4-5 includes an estimate of the timeline for implementation as provided by members of the Plan’s RPC. During the yearly review of the Plan, the City will assess whether implementation of some of the action items needs to be continued into the next five-year plan based on progress made to that point, and in response to unanticipated funding or staffing constraints.
Plan Goals Addressed
The Plan goals addressed by each action item are included as a way to monitor and evaluate how well the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is achieving its goals once implementation begins.
Constraints
Constraints to the immediate implementation of the action items are typical, usually because of limited resources, as described further below. Constraints may include a lack of City staff to do the work, lack of funds, vested property rights that might expose the City to legal action as a result of adverse impacts on private property, or as a result of other similar economic, political, social or legal reasons.
It is important to note that the City of Santa Monica’s General Fund has funding limitations based on existing constraints, existing City liabilities, and reductions in travel tax revenue. Currently, there is greater uncertainty on Federal grant funding and the organization of agencies that administer funding. Funding sources may be reduced, withheld, or eliminated. Projects are also dependent on City staff’s availability to work on these projects, which can be strained during periods of staffing turnover or when emergencies or unexpected events occur and staff time and resources are refocused on preparation, response and recovery activities (as an example, the COVID-19 pandemic or recent Palisades fire). City staff who primarily oversee hazard mitigation projects are also expected to take on a large amount of work to safely execute major special events in the next five (5) years, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.
PRIORITIZATION PROCESS
After the consultant gave a presentation to the Resilience Planning Committee (RPC) describing the hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities that were identified as part of the LHMP preparation process2F 3 , the
committee members were asked to divide into several smaller groups. The groups were loosely formed based on area of expertise (i.e., firefighters together, engineers from building safety and public works together, environmental planners together, etc.). Each group was asked to identify potential mitigation actions that address the hazards that they most closely aligned with based on their background and role at the City, with the action items designed to specifically address the vulnerabilities identified during the risk assessment.
3 The PowerPoint presentations and additional information regarding these workshops, meetings, and participants are all contained in Appendix B.
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The members of the RPC were asked to keep in mind the following requirements as they prepared their proposed action items:
• The Plan must include a wide, comprehensive range of action items or projects, and the action items must cover a wide range of the Plan goals, as discussed above • Every action item needs to identify who the responsible agency will be (no orphan actions allowed)
• Where possible, potential funding sources need to be identified • Potential constraints to the funding and overall implementation of the action item need to identified and discussed
• Every action item should have generalized timeline of its implementation, either as ongoing, short- and long-term, or as the calendar year when ideally the action item has been deployed and/or completed
• Potential action items should include activities designed to alleviate the long-term risk from climate change, and should also be sensitive to or benefit underserved communities in the city
• To identify appropriate action items and establish their priority, the RPC members were asked to refer to the STAPLEE (Social, Technical, Administrative, Political, Legal, Economic, and Environmental) process (see Tables 4-1 and 4-2). Although the specific grading scheme recommended by the STAPLEE process was not used, RPC members were encouraged to consider the criteria listed in Table 4-2 as they qualitatively weighted the action items proposed.
Table 4-1: Elements of the STAPLEE Process
SOCIAL Community Acceptance Effect on Segment of Population TECHNICAL Technical Feasibility Long-term Solution Secondary Impacts ADMINISTRATIVE Staffing Funding Allocated Maintenance/Operations POLITICAL Political Support Local Champion Public Support LEGAL State Authority Existing Local Authority Potential Legal Challenge ECONOMIC Benefit of
Action Cost of Action Contributes to Economic Goals Outside Funding Required ENVIRONMENTAL Effects on
Land/Water
Effect on
Endangered
Species
Effect on
HAZMAT /
Waste Sites
Consistent with
Community
Environmental Goals
Consistent with
Federal Laws
Table 4-2: Criteria to Consider as part of the STAPLEE Process CRITERIA SPECIFIC IMPACT Specific QUESTIONS to Consider for EACH IMPACT
Social
Acceptance Is the action perceived as socially acceptable to a wide segment of the population?
Effect on Segment of
Population
Is the action item likely to impact (positively or negatively) a particular segment of the population?
Technical
Feasibility Is the action feasible given our current knowledge or science? Long-Term Solution Is implementation of this action going to reduce the hazard permanently?
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CRITERIA SPECIFIC IMPACT Specific QUESTIONS to Consider for EACH IMPACT
Administrative
Staffing
Is there staff currently at the City doing this work? Does it involve 1 person, or more?
Is there staff currently at the City doing this work? Does the City need to hire someone to get the work done?
Funding allocated Is there funding currently allocated? Is the funding available sufficient to do the work without cutting corners?
Maintenance Does this action require constant maintenance and upgrade? Political
Public support Is the action going to be popular with the public? Political support Is the action going to be popular with the Mayor and City Council?
Legal
State authority Is there a State mandate or a recommendation to have this done?
Local authority Is there a local mandate or recommendation to implement this action
Possible legal action? Is this action likely to get challenged in court? Economic
Benefit What are the economic benefits of implementing this action?
Cost What are the economic costs of implementing this action? Outside Funding Is there outside funding available to implement this action? Environmental
Impacts on Environment
(Land, Water,
Endangered Species, etc.)
Does this action have a positive or negative impact on the environment?
Consistent with
Community's
Environmental Goals
Is the proposed action consistent with the City's
environmental goals?
RPC members were also asked to consider and include if at all feasible, several requests made by members of the community who had participated in the public workshops and surveys. Items on this list included:
• Information and training on:
Insurance coverage and availability
Preparing neighborhoods to help themselves
Disaster preparedness for earthquake, fire, airplane crash, cyberattack, terrorist attack, armed shooter, emergency kits
• Distribution of supplies (hazard kits, water, battery backups) • Increased and recurrent communication on disaster preparedness • Increased enforcement and assistance with seismic retrofits • Upgrade / retrofit utilities, infrastructure
• Enact legislation making air conditioning mandatory in multi-residential buildings • Invest on measures to help City be more extreme-heat resistant • Improve street safety (more street lights, clear sidewalks, discourage loitering, manage crime) • Food resiliency programs, such as community gardens
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The potential action items identified by these breakout groups were compiled, and organized into major categories based on project type, as follows:
• Local Planning
• Local Assessment and Regulations
• Structure and Infrastructure
• Natural Systems Improvements
• Education and Awareness Programs, and
• City Readiness Initiatives
The potential action items identified by the RPC are summarized in Table 4-3 below.
Table 4-3: Complete List of Action Items Developed by the Resiliency Planning Committee Category Summarized Potential Action Item Abbreviation
Local Planning
Water deconfliction planning: Identify strategies for immediate and long-term local potable water services during disaster events; identify strategies to prioritize water usage during emergencies.
LP-1
Cooling/heating center plan: Develop plan and operational requirements to activate cooling/heating centers during extreme weather events.
LP-2
Evacuation plan and route plans: Evaluate multi-modal citywide evacuation procedures and create a citywide evacuation plan to implement evacuation procedures during emergency events.
LP-3
Santa Monica Airport (SMO) space design: In the planning of the SMO space, ensure that emergency preparedness, mitigation and response features are included.
LP-4
Stone Canyon Dam (SCD) plan and outreach: Create Citywide response plan for inundation due to failure of SCD, including educating residents within inundation zone.
LP-5
Local
Assessment and
Regulations
Resilient City facility design standards: Implement and enhance design standards for City-owned and/or City/tenant-operated facilities to make them more disaster-resilient. Prioritize seismic retrofits.
LAR-1
Targeted building code standards: Implement City building code requirements for critical and essential facilities to improve postdisaster operations.
LAR-2
Wildfire assessment: Conduct further assessment on Santa Monica wildfire hazards and risk to determine if future building code or other regulations should be recommended.
LAR-3
Building heating/cooling requirements: Explore health and safety standards for indoor and outdoor workers and residential properties to reduce injury/illness to residents during wildfire and extreme weather events.
LAR-4
Evacuation route street standards: Examine/implement street standards for properties along evacuation routes and other evacuation requirements such as street parking restrictions, valet requirements, emergency vehicle access, etc.
LAR-5
Santa Monica bluff and I-10 freeway slope mitigation: Continue to inspect and monitor bluff and I-10 freeway slope stability. Where necessary, implement actions to mitigate land instability, especially during rain and seismic events.
LAR-6
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Category Summarized Potential Action Item Abbreviation
Structure and
Infrastructure
Back-up utilities: Identify and create program to implement critical utility back-up systems at City facilities and essential/emergency community facilities, including microgrids, solar + storage, and other back-up sustainable utility resources.
SI-1
Tsunami alarm system: Implement siren warning system to alert public to evacuate Santa Monica beaches, Pier and low-lying areas in the event of tsunami warning or imminent threat, such as coastal inundation or landslide.
SI-2
Water infrastructure seismic assessment: Examine water system resistance to local seismic hazards, especially water infrastructure that crosses potential liquefaction zones and mapped traces of projections of the Santa Monica fault. Consider retrofitting older water pipelines and other strategies to address seismic vulnerabilities.
SI-3
Traffic/street light improvements: Harden street and traffic light infrastructure to prevent copper theft and resulting power disruptions.
SI-4
Natural Systems
Improvements
Natural dune restoration: Continue to expand Natural Dune Beach restoration project to protect beaches and beach-front properties from erosion, sea level rives, and coastal flooding.
NSP-1
Food resilience through community gardening: Increase production of food grown and donated from City-owned community gardens to local organizations to increase food resilience of vulnerable Santa Monica residents.
NSP-2
Education and
Awareness
Programs
Inclusive emergency communications: Conduct emergency response, mitigation, and preparedness outreach in multiple languages to better reach diverse Santa Monica communities, including international tourists.
EAP-1
School hazard mitigation education: Explore continuing or expanding SMMUSD’s Project Based learning program on natural hazards at public school venues.
EAP-2
Business and partner liaison program: Develop program/training for City emergency partners to serve as Emergency Operations Center liaisons or activate/organize a business operations center to address and communicate post-disaster needs.
EAP-3
City Readiness
Initiatives
Mitigation funding: Explore and identify sustainable ways to fund long-term City mitigation projects, including preventative maintenance programs.
CRI-1
Grant process improvement: Expand Citywide staffing resources and capacity to identify potential grant funding and
write/implement/monitor grant-funded projects.
CRI-2
Expand critical emergency management technologies: Expand City GIS mapping, staffing, training, and tools to better facilitate emergency planning and response activities, including use of public education/communications.
CRI-3
City department education: Implement regular education for City personnel on California Disaster Service Worker requirements and City department response plans.
CRI-4
Cyberterrorism assessment: Conduct assessment to determine vulnerabilities and risk cyberterrorism impacting City critical infrastructure.
CRI-5
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Following the workshop, the link to an online questionnaire including all identified potential actions was sent to all the members of the RPC. Each member was asked to rank the action items under each category based on perceived priority, with a value of one (1.0) indicating highest priority. The results of this effort were compiled, and the average priority value (and standard deviation from the average) for each action item was calculated. The results of this analysis are summarized in Table 4-4. The values used to classify the action items under each of the six categories as either high, medium or low priority are provided in Table 4-4, with the action items under each project type category with the lowest average values (closest to 1.0) were identified as top priorities. For the most part, all action items were identified as either high or medium priority. The relatively large standard deviations indicate that there were considerable differences in opinion among the RPC members as to which action items should be top priority, which is to say that all action items considered are deemed to have a high priority by a subset of the committee.
Table 4-4: Action Item Prioritization Results
Mitigation Action
Average
(Standard
Deviation)
Priority Ranking
Local Planning (High: 1.0-2.33; Medium: 2.34-3.63; Low: 3.64-5.0) Water deconfliction (LP-1) 1.61 (0.96) High
Cooling/heating centers (LP-2) 3.07 (1.27) Medium
Evacuation plans (LP-3) 2.11 (1.13) High
SMO space design (LP-4) 3.25 (1.29) Medium
SCD plan and outreach (LP-5) 3.28 (1.27) Medium
Local Assessment and Regulations (High: 1.0-2.66; Medium: 2.67-4.33; Low: 4.34-6.0) Resilient City facility (LAR-1) 2.11 (1.03) High
Targeted building code standards (LAR-2) 2.89 (1.42) High Wildfire assessment (LAR-3) 3.68 (1.70) Medium
Building heating/cooling requirements (LAR-4) 3.68 (1.67) Medium Evacuation route street standards (LAR-5) 3.04 (1.71) Medium Santa Monica bluff and I-10 slope mitigation (LAR-6) 2.11 (1.29) High Structure and Infrastructure (High: 1.0-2.0; Medium: 2.0-3.0; Low: 3.0-4.0) Back-up utilities (SI-1) 1.68 (0.82) High
Tsunami alarm system (SI-2) 2.71 (1.12) Medium
Water infrastructure assessment (SI-3) 1.39 (0.5) High
Traffic/street light improvements (SI-4) 2.68 (0.90) Medium Natural Systems Improvements (High: 1.0-1.3; Medium: 1.31-1.66; Low: 1.67-2.0) Natural dune restoration (NSP-1) 1.39 (0.5) Medium
Food resilience through community gardening (NSP-2) 1.71 (0.46) Low Education and Awareness Programs (High: 1.0-1.66; Medium: 1.67-2.33; Low: 2.34-3.0) Inclusive emergency communications (EAP-1) 1.46 (0.58) High School hazard mitigation education (EAP-2) 2.14 (0.76) Medium Business and partner liaison program (EAP-3) 1.93 (0.77) Medium City Readiness Initiatives (High: 1.0-2.33; Medium: 2.34-3.63; Low: 3.64-5.0) Mitigation funding (CRI-1) 1.92 (0.90) High
Grant process improvement (CRI-2) 3.14 (1.35) Medium
Expand emergency management technologies (CRI-3) 1.82 (1.02) High City department education (CRI-4) 3.0 (1.47) Medium
Cyberterrorism assessment (CRI-5) 2.54 (1.40) Medium
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2025 Goals and Mitigation Actions Page 4-13
Given these findings, generally those action items identified as top priorities under each category were selected as action items to be implemented in the next five (5)-year cycle, by 2030, and are included in the final list of action items in Table 4-5. In response to the Palisades fire and the new requirements from the State, some new action items not originally considered by the RPC that are specific to the management of wildfire hazards were added to the list also. 2025-2030 HAZARD MITIGATION ACTIONS
Table 4-5 lists the hazard mitigation actions that the City of Santa Monica has chosen to implement in the next five (5) years, through 2030. For each action item the City has identified the City division(s) responsible for implementation, and the main point of contact at that division. Potential funding sources are also identified, followed by the desired timeline for implementation. The last two columns in Table 4-5 identify which goals are being addressed by each specific action item, and the Safety Element policies that are being addressed, respectively. The following abbreviations, arranged in alphabetical order, are used to identify the City departments identified as responsible for implementation.
CDD Community Development Department
CMO City Manager’s Office
DOT Department of Transportation
ISD Information Services Department
OEM Office of Emergency Management
OSE Office of Sustainability & the Environment
PW Public Works
SMPD Santa Monica Police Department
SMFD Santa Monica Fire Department
Local Hazards Mitigation Plan Section 4
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2025 Goals and Mitigation Actions Page 4 - 14
Table 4-5: Hazard Mitigation Actions, City of Santa Monica Action Item Responsible Division and
Division Point of Contact
Potential Funding Source(s) and
Constraints Timeline Plan Goals Addressed
Complementary
Safety Element
Policies
Local Planning
Water Deconfliction Planning
Identify strategies for immediate and long-term local potable water services during disaster events, such as seismic events, wildfire or drought. Identify water deconfliction strategy to prioritize water usage during emergencies (i.e. recreational pools vs firefighting needs).
PW/ Water Resources
Sunny Wang
Water fund 2026
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Public awareness
Policy 1.1
Policy 1.3
Policy 1.9
Evacuation Planning
Assess Santa Monica’s transportation network and multi-modal citywide evacuation routes identified by the City’s revised Safety Element. Create a citywide evacuation plan to meet anticipated demand during emergency events, such as a tsunami, dam inundation or wildfire.
Plan to include evacuation considerations for persons with access and functional needs, including those without access to private transportation, and persons living in assisted living and high-rise buildings. Publicize to the community.
CMO / Office of Emergency
Management (OEM), DOT,
SMPD
Lindsay Call
General fund
Constrained by available staff capacity across
departments for planning and implementation
2026
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Public awareness
Partnerships and
implementation
Policy 6.1
Policy 6.3
Santa Monica Airport Space Design
In the planning of the Santa Monica Airport space, ensure that emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response features are included, such as the storage of disaster cache supplies and space for emergency operations (owned/operated and available for use by public safety departments).
PW / Architectural Services
Amber Richane
General fund; park impact fees;
future grant opportunities
Constraints include limited available space;
balancing community needs
2029
Emergency services
Public awareness
Partnerships and
implementation
Policy 6.2
(Action 6.2.9)
Local Assessment and Regulation Projects
Santa Monica Bluffs and I-10 Freeway Slope and Brush Fire Mitigation Continue to inspect and monitor Santa Monica bluffs and I-10 Freeway slope stability and brush overgrowth. Where necessary, implement actions needed to mitigate land instability, especially during rain and seismic events, and clear brush and other debris to mitigate brush fires.
PW/ Engineering,
SMFD / Fire Prevention
Alex Nazarchuk,
Joe Cavin
General fund; Local return
Constrained by available funding; available
staff capacity for implementation
2030
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Partnerships and
implementation
Natural systems
Policy 1.6
Red Flag Warning Restrictions
Implement policy that during any Red Flag Warning, restrictive measures will be implemented to reduce fire ignition opportunities and facilitate rapid first responder response activities.
Restrictions to be considered include, but are not limited to, parking restrictions in very high hazard zones and evacuation routes, leaf blower bans, and construction activity bans.
SMFD / Fire Prevention,
CMO / OEM
Joe Cavin,
Lindsay Call
Existing funds
Constrained by available staff capacity for
policy development; available staff capacity for
enforcement
2026
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Public awareness
Public participation
Partnerships and
Implementation
Policy 2.1
Policy 2.2
Policy 6.3
Resilient City Facility Design Standards
Implement and enhance a set of design standards for City-owned and/or City/tenant-operated facilities to make facilities more disaster-resilient, both to ensure their operability post-disaster and protect occupants. Prioritize seismic retrofits of public infrastructure and facilities to minimize potential damage, ensure protection of vulnerable populations, and continuity of government operations.
PW /Architectural Services
Amelia Feichtner
General Fund; future grant opportunities
Constrained by available funding; available
staff capacity for implementation
2028
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Public awareness
Partnerships and
Implementation
Policy 1.1
Policy 1.2
Policy 1.3
Policy 1.9
Policy 6.1
Policy 6.2
Structure and Infrastructure Projects
Water Infrastructure Seismic Assessment
Examine water system resistance to local seismic hazards, especially water infrastructure that crosses potential liquefaction zones and areas where traces or projections of the Santa Monica fault have been mapped. Consider retrofitting older water pipelines and other strategies to address identified seismic vulnerabilities.
PW / Water Resources
Sunny Wang
Water fund, future grant opportunities
Constrained by available funding 2029
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Public awareness
Policy 1.1
Policy 1.9
Local Hazards Mitigation Plan Section 4
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2025 Goals and Mitigation Actions Page 4 - 15
Action Item Responsible Division and
Division Point of Contact
Potential Funding Source(s) and
Constraints Timeline Plan Goals Addressed
Complementary
Safety Element
Policies
Back up Utilities
Identify and create program to implement critical, utility back-up systems at City facilities and essential/emergency community facilities, including but not limited to microgrids, solar + storage, and other back-up, sustainable utility resources PW / Architectural Services
Amelia Feichtner
Future grant opportunities
Constrained by lack of current funding 2030
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Partnerships and
implementation
Policy 1.9
Policy 4.1
Policy 6.2
Tsunami Alerting System
Implement overhead paging at Santa Monica Pier with ability to provide tsunami alerts and evacuation directions. Complete assessment of other communications tools, such as, but not limited to digital kiosks and siren systems, to widely distribute tsunami education and imminent threat alerts and warnings along Santa Monica’s coastal areas. Regularly test communications systems during earthquake/tsunami preparedness events, like the annual California ShakeOut Drill, California Tsunami Awareness Week, and World Tsunami Awareness Day.
OEM, SMPD, CDD
Lindsay Call
Future grant opportunities
Constrained by staff availability and capacity
for implementation; Coastal Commission and
neighboring jurisdictions participation;
available funding
2027
Protect life and property
Emergency services
Public awareness
Public participation
Partnerships and
implementation
Policy 6.2
Policy 6.3
Natural Systems Improvement Projects
Natural Dune Restoration Expansion
To protect beaches and beach-front properties from erosion, sea level rise, and coastal flooding, continue to expand and maintain the Natural Dune Beach Restoration projects. By the end of 2029, the goal would be to have at least 50 acres of established beach dunes.
PW / OSE
Shannon Parry
Grants awarded to partner agencies
(Bay Foundation)
Constrained by approvals from outside
organizations (Coastal Commission, U.S. Fish &
Wildlife); staff capacity for maintenance;
community education
2029
Protect life and property
Public awareness
Public participation
Partnerships and
implementation
Natural systems
Policy 4.1
(Action 4.1.7)
Food Resilience Through Community Gardening
Increase production of food grown and donated from City-owned community gardens to local organizations to increase food resilience of vulnerable Santa Monica residents through the expansion of additional community garden space.
PW / OSE
Shannon Parry
Grants, park impact fees, CDBG funds
Finding suitable land available for the
expansion of the Community Garden program;
the need for additional staffing to properly
manage the expanded program
2029
Public awareness
Public participation
Partnerships and
implementation
Natural systems
Education and Awareness Programs
Inclusive Emergency Communications
Conduct emergency response, mitigation, and preparedness outreach in multiple languages to better reach diverse Santa Monica communities, including international tourists and persons with access and functional needs. Create standards for emergency response messaging to ensure it meets standards in City’s Language Access Administrative Instruction.
CMO / OEM, Administration
Lindsay Call
Private and state grant funding
Available funding, grant instability, available
staff capacity for implementation
2027
Emergency services
Public awareness
Public participation
Policy 6.3
Local Wildfire Safety Education
Develop education campaign on mandatory wildfire safety practices, such as defensible space standards and wildland urban interface building codes, required for areas of Santa Monica within the 2025 State-identified Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
SMFD/ Fire Prevention
Joe Cavin
General fund, private/state grant funding
Available funding, grant instability 2027 Public awareness Public participation
Policy 2.1
Policy 6.2
Policy 6.3
City Readiness Initiatives
Expand Critical Emergency Management Technologies
Expand City GIS mapping, staffing, training, and tools to better facilitate emergency planning and response activities, including use of public education/communications. Expand on cloud infrastructure, data servers, and staffing to support the implementation, execution, and maintenance of critical technologies to support first responders. Continue adopting evacuation mapping technology to improve awareness of city evacuation zones, hazard areas, and assist with the prompt implementation of evacuation and shelter-in-place directions during emergencies.
ISD, CMO, SMFD, SMPD, PW
Lindsay Call.
Prasanna Joshi
General fund
Available funding, available staff capacity for
implementation
2028
Emergency Services
Public awareness
Public participation
Partnerships and
implementation
Policy 6.1
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES HELPFUL DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION
PROCESS
As the City begins to implement the action items selected, they can further evaluate the benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of a specific action using the FEMA-provided Project Evaluation Worksheet included at the end of this section (Table 4-6). This worksheet is based on the “STAPLEE” process, whereby the benefits of a given proposed action are weighed against the costs of implementing it (see Tables 4-1 and 4-2). The data on these worksheets can help the RPC determine the most cost-effective mitigation solutions for the community.
Depending on the source of the funding used to implement these actions, some projects may need a more detailed BCA, but this worksheet provides a first-screening methodology.
FEMA also requires local governments to analyze the benefits and costs of a range of mitigation actions that can reduce the effects of each hazard within their community. BCA is used in hazard mitigation to evaluate whether the benefits to life and property protected through mitigation efforts exceed the cost of the mitigation activity. Conducting a BCA for a mitigation activity can assist communities in determining whether a project is worth undertaking now, in order to avoid disaster-related losses later. The analysis is based on calculating the frequency and severity of a hazard, avoided future damage, and risk.
The BCA review must be comprehensive to the extent that it can evaluate the monetary and non-monetary benefits and costs associated with each action. Thus, the BCA should at least consider the following questions:
1. How many people will benefit from the action?
2. How large is the area that would be impacted?
3. How critical are the facilities that benefit from the action?
4. Are there any environmental constraints associated with the action, and if so, is the overall benefit to the community greater than the environmental costs? Additional information regarding the BCA methodology and resources is provided in Appendix C.
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Table 4-6: Project Evaluation Worksheet
Jurisdiction: Contact:
Project Title Phone:
Agency: E-mail:
Hazard(s):
Flood Zone: Base Flood
Elevation:
Erosion Rate:
Critical Facility/Population At Risk:
Environmental Impact: Historic Preservation Impact:
High Medium Low High Medium Low
Importance to Protection of Life/Property and
Disaster Recovery
Risk of Hazard Impact:
High Medium Low High Medium Low
Estimated Cost: Project Duration:
Value of Facility: Value of Contents:
Source(s) of Financing:
Project Objectives:
Project Description:
Proposal Date:
Evaluation Category Considerations Comments
Social
Community Acceptance
Adversely Affects Segments of the
Population
Technical
Technical Feasibility
Long Term Solution
Secondary Impacts
Administrative
Staffing
Funding Allocated
Maintenance / Operations
Political
Political Support
Plan Proponent
Public Support
Legal Authority
Action Subject to Legal Challenge
Economic
Benefit
Cost of Action
Contributes to Economic Goals
Outside Funding Required
Environmental
Affects Land / Water Bodies
Affects Endangered Species
Affects Hazardous Materials and Waste
Sites
Consistent with Community
Environmental Goals
Consistent with Federal Laws
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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SECTION 5: PLAN MAINTENANCE
The plan maintenance section of this document details the formal process that will ensure that this Hazard Mitigation Plan remains an active and relevant document. The plan maintenance process includes the following:
1. a schedule for monitoring and evaluating the Plan annually and producing a Plan revision every five years,
2. a description of how the City of Santa Monica will integrate public participation throughout the plan maintenance process, and
3. an explanation of how the City of Santa Monica intends to incorporate the mitigation strategies outlined in this Plan into existing planning mechanisms such as the City’s General Plan, Capital Improvement Plans, and Building and Safety Codes.
MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN
Plan Adoption
City Council is responsible for adopting Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (Plan). This governing body has the authority to promote sound public policy regarding hazard mitigation.
Once the Plan is adopted, the City’s Chief Resilience Officer from the Office of Emergency Management will be responsible for submitting the Plan to the State Hazard Mitigation Officer at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services will then submit the Plan to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review. This review will address the federal criteria outlined in FEMA Interim Final Rule 44 CFR Part 201. Upon acceptance by FEMA, Santa Monica will gain eligibility for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds.
Coordinating Body
The Santa Monica Resilience Planning Committee will be responsible for coordinating implementation of the Plan’s action items and undertaking the formal review process. The City Manager, or designee, will assign representatives from City agencies, including, but not limited to, the current Resilience Planning Committee members. At this time, the Resilience Planning Committee consists of representatives from the following departments:
City of Santa Monica Manager’s Office, Office of Emergency Management City of Santa Monica Fire Department, Fire Prevention City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Administration City of Santa Monica Public Works, Engineering and Street Services City of Santa Monica Community Development Department, City Planning City of Santa Monica Information Services Department, GIS The Resilience Planning Committee is supported by a larger body of advisors representing several other City departments, agencies and local community organizations that have a vested interest in managing or reducing the natural and human-made hazards in the city of Santa Monica. This larger body, referred to as the Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee (Advisory Committee), has responsibility for reviewing the Plan and providing input on the action items proposed and their prioritization. The current Advisory Committee includes representatives from many local agencies Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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and organizations in an effort to make this group as diverse as possible, bringing together people with differing skills, experiences, perspectives, and ideas. This diversity hopefully translates into thoughtful and comprehensive action items and policies. The agencies and organizations that are part of the Advisory Committee are listed below:
City of Santa Monica Departments
City of Santa Monica Attorney’s Office
City of Santa Monica Manager’s Office, Office of Emergency Management City of Santa Monica Community Development Department, Building and Safety City of Santa Monica Community Development Department, City Planning City of Santa Monica Department of Transportation
City of Santa Monica Finance Department
Santa Monica Fire Department, Fire Administration
Santa Monica Fire Department, Fire Prevention
City of Santa Monica Housing and Human Services Department City of Santa Monica Information Services Department
City of Santa Monica Police Department
City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Administrative Services City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Engineering & Street Services City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Office of Sustainability and the Environment
City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, Santa Monica Airport City of Santa Monica Rent Control Department
Regional Government Partners
City of Los Angeles, Emergency Management Department
County of Los Angeles, Office of Emergency Management Local Educational Institutions
Santa Monica College (SMC)
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD)
Local Hospitals
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health/Santa Monica Medical Center Providence Saint John’s Health Center
Local Non-Profits
American Red Cross
Westside Food Bank
Local Business Organizations
Downtown Santa Monica Business Improvement District
Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce
Santa Monica Travel and Tourism
The Resilience Planning Committee will meet no less than bi-annually. Meeting dates will be scheduled once the final Plan has been adopted by City Council and approved by the appropriate Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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FEMA office. These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss the progress of the action items and maintain the partnerships that are essential for the sustainability of the Plan.
Convener
City Council will adopt Santa Monica’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, and the Resilience Planning Committee will take responsibility for Plan implementation. The City Manager, or designee, will serve as a convener to facilitate the meetings of the Resilience Planning and Advisory committees, and will assign tasks such as updating and presenting the Plan to the members of the committees.
Plan implementation and evaluation will be a shared responsibility among all of the Resilience Planning Committee members. Future updates of the Plan will require participation of the Advisory Committee.
Implementation through Existing Programs
The City of Santa Monica addresses statewide planning goals and legislative requirements through its General Plan, Capital Improvement Plans, and City Building and Fire Codes. The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan provides a series of recommendations, many of which are closely related to the goals and objectives of existing planning programs. The City of Santa Monica will have the opportunity to implement recommended mitigation action items through existing programs and procedures.
The City of Santa Monica Building and Safety Department, the City of Santa Monica Fire Department, the City of Santa Monica Public Works Department, and the City of Santa Monica Police Department are responsible for administering the Building and Fire Safety Codes, and other regulations designed to improve safety of the community, such as the policies in the Safety Element of the General Plan. In addition, the Resilience Planning Committee will work with other agencies at the state level to review, develop and implement Building and Fire Safety Codes that are adequate to mitigate or reduce the damage posed by natural and human-made hazards, with an emphasis on life-safety criteria for new construction and re-development of existing construction.
The goals and action items in Section 4 of the Plan may be achieved through activities recommended in the City's Capital Improvement Plans (CIP). Various City departments develop CIP plans and review them on an annual basis. Upon annual review of the CIPs, the Resilience Planning Committee will work with City departments to identify the action items that are consistent with CIP planning goals and integrate them where appropriate.
Within six months of formal adoption of the Plan, the recommendations listed above will be incorporated into the process of existing planning mechanisms at the City level. The meetings of the Resilience Planning and Advisory Committees will provide an opportunity for committee members to report back on the progress made on the integration of mitigation planning elements into City planning documents and procedures.
Economic Analysis of Mitigation Projects
FEMA's approaches to identify the costs and benefits associated with natural hazard mitigation strategies, measures, or projects, fall into two general categories: benefit/cost analysis and costeffectiveness analysis. Conducting a benefit/cost analysis for a mitigation activity can assist communities in determining whether a project is worth undertaking now, in order to avoid Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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disaster-related damages later. Cost-effectiveness analysis evaluates how best to spend a given amount of money to achieve a specific goal. Determining the economic feasibility of mitigating natural hazards can provide decision-makers with an understanding of the potential benefits and costs of an activity, as well as a basis upon which to compare alternative projects.
Given federal funding, the Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee will emphasize the use of a FEMA-approved benefit/cost analysis approach to identify and prioritize mitigation action items. A copy of a Project Evaluation Worksheet modeled after the STAPPLE cost benefit analysis process preferred by FEMA is included at the end of Chapter 4, and additional information regarding the economic analysis of mitigation action items is provided in Appendix C of the Plan. For other projects and funding sources, the Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee may use other approaches to understand the costs and benefits of each action item and develop a prioritized list.
Of particular concern is that the action items implemented by the City result in the equitable allocation of resources that consider the socially vulnerable members of the community. The impact of the hazards identified on priority populations at the census-tract level was qualitatively addressed in several sections of this document, but quantitative modeling tools that will allow for a better characterization of hazard outcomes among differing social and economic groups are expected to become more common. Future updates of this Plan should consider the use of these modeling tools as they become mainstream, following rigorous peer-review.
EVALUATING AND UPDATING THE PLAN
Formal Review Process
The City of Santa Monica Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will be evaluated on an annual basis to determine the effectiveness of the programs and action items, and to identify changes in land development or programs that may affect mitigation priorities. The evaluation process includes a firm schedule and time line, and identifies the local agencies and organizations participating in the evaluation of the Plan. The City’s Chief Resilience Officer will be responsible for contacting the Resilience Planning Committee members and organizing the annual meeting. Committee members will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the mitigation strategies in the Plan.
The Committee will review the goals and action items to determine their relevance to changing situations in the City, as well as changes in State or Federal policy, and to ensure they are addressing current and expected conditions. The Committee will also review the risk assessment portion of the Plan to determine if this information should be updated or modified given new available data. The coordinating organizations responsible for the various action items will report on the status of their projects, the success of various implementation processes, difficulties encountered, success of coordination efforts, and which strategies should be revised. These annual reviews will also allow the City and individual departments and organizations to assess whether a given action item needs to be updated or modified, or whether the implementation of a given action should be extended or postponed to the next Plan update.
The convener will assign the duty of updating the Plan to one or more of the Resilience Planning Committee members. The designated committee members will have three months to make appropriate changes to the Plan before submitting it to the Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee members, and presenting it to City Council. The Resilience Planning Committee will also notify all Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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holders of the Plan when changes have been made. Every five years the updated Plan will be submitted to the State Hazard Mitigation Officer and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for review.
Continued Public Involvement
The City of Santa Monica is dedicated and committed to involving the public directly in review and updates of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The public will be encouraged to and provided with the opportunity to give feedback on the Plan. Copies of the Plan will be kept at the front desk of City Hall, and at City libraries. The Plan will also be placed on the City’s website for review by the public, or alternatively, the existence and location of copies of the Plan will be publicized on the City’s website and newsletters. In addition, information on how to obtain copies of the Plan and any proposed changes will be posted on the City’s website. This site will list an e-mail address and phone number to which people can direct their comments and concerns.
A public meeting will also be held after each annual evaluation or when deemed necessary by the Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee. The meetings will provide the public with a forum at which they can express their concerns, opinions, or ideas about the Plan. The City’s Public Information Officer will be responsible for using City resources to publicize the annual public meetings and maintain public involvement through the City’s public access channel, web page, and newspapers or newsletters.
PROGRESS MADE SINCE ADOPTION OF THE 2016 PLAN
The Santa Monica is and has been committed to reducing the impact that natural and humanmade hazards can have on its residents, businesses, infrastructure, and critical and essential facilities. With adoption of the City’s 2016 Disaster Mitigation Plan, several goals and action items were identified and targeted for implementation. Those action items that were implemented and completed during the 2016-2024 timeframe, or that are currently being implemented are listed in Table 5-1 below. New item actions that were identified as part of this 2025 Plan Update are discussed and listed in Section 4.
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ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
Action 1 Identify and pursue potential
projects and funding sources to
develop and implement local and
county mitigation activities.
The City of Santa Monica has applied for and received several grants to improve hazard mitigation since 2016. Highlights include:
• Santa Monica Retrofit Funding: Santa Monica was awarded a $6.7 million federal grant from FEMA to assist multi-family residential soft-story building owners with a portion of financial funding for seismic retrofit design and construction costs. santamonica.gov - Seismic Retrofit Program
• Zero Emission Backup Generators: Santa Monica obtained funding for emergency backup generators for City facilities that have been identified as having a critical community-facing emergency response purpose, such as public shelters or family assistance centers. Cal OES Clean Power Resiliency grant funding provided $291,611 to this project. FY20 Community Power Resiliency Legislative Report • Pier Bridge Replacement Project: After several years, Santa Monica obtained grant funding to complete the retrofit of the Santa Monica Pier Bridge, the primary transportation access to Santa Monica Pier. The original bridge was built in 1939, and when structurally assessed, received an 8.2 out of 100 on a seismic sufficiency scale. As a result, renovation of this bridge is a major retrofit priority for the City. The City obtained over $25 million in federal Highway Bridge Program funding to complete renovations. The retrofit project is expected to commence in the fall of 2025. santamonica.gov - Pier Bridge Replacement Project
• Public Works Microgrid Feasibility Study: Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) funding allowed for the Santa Monica Public Works Department to conduct a City Yards microgrid feasibility study. This study laid the foundation to determine the benefits of a microgrid to reduce energy demand and improve disaster resiliency during a power event. Final Project Report, Santa Monica City Yards Advanced Energy District • Drought-Resiliency Water System Improvements: The City obtained $10 million through Prop 1 Water Desalination Grant Program to upgrade the City’s Arcadia Water Treatment Plant and construct a new Olympic Advanced Water Treatment Facility.
These facilities will expand groundwater production and allow the City to continue to work towards self-sufficiency. santamonica.gov - New Water Project Takes Landmark Step Toward Water Self-Sufficiency
Action 2 Integrate the Local Hazard
Mitigation Plan (LHMP) into existing
programs, ordinances, building
codes. Integrate the goals and action
Hazards identified in the 2016 LHMP have been addressed through city programs and ordinances to reduce hazard vulnerability in Santa Monica.
Some key projects and plans include:
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ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
items from the LHMP into existing
regulatory documents and
programs, including local
ordinances and building codes,
where appropriate.
• Seismic Retrofit Ordinance: Adopted in 2017 to implement a Seismic Retrofit Program for the City of Santa Monica. The program identified over 2,000 commercial and multifamily residential structures that were potentially seismically vulnerable and potentially requiring structural improvement. As of June 2025, 65% of all identified buildings had completed their retrofit or demonstrated compliance, with 67% of soft-story multifamily residential structures completed. santamonica.gov - Seismic Retrofit Program Building Type Qty.
Noticed
Number
Closed
Number
Remaining
Open
Retrofit
Completion
Due Date
Cases
Sent to Code
Enforcement
Tilt-Up 42 24 (57%) 18 Aug. 2020 14
URM 93 77 (83%) 16 Aug. 2019 17
Soft-Story 1,688 1127 (67%) 561 Sep. 2025 –
July 2026 0
Non-Ductile
Concrete 66 39 (59%) 27 Oct. 2027 17
Steel Moment
Frame 80 15 (19%) 65 Oct. 2037 0
TOTALS 1,969 1,282 (65%) 687 48
• Eco-Friendly Public Building Design & Implementation:
o Santa Monica’s new City Hall East building was completed in 2020. This is one of the greenest buildings in the world and the first municipal building to receive Living Building Challenge Certification from the International Living Future Institute, which means this building is Net Zero Water, Net Zero Energy Building, Net Zero Waste, and takes out 20 worst-in-class chemicals prevalent in the business industry. The building features robust solar panels, composting toilets, passive survivability design concepts and is the first building in California to convert rain-to potable water on site. Through the City’s design and use of this building, Santa Monica hopes to set an environmentally responsible example for local architects and municipalities.
o The City Yards Modernization Project, which occurred mostly between 2019 and Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
2022, realizes the feasibility study conducted using grant funding. The project embeds sustainability, hazard mitigation, and operational resilience into public works infrastructure required to support daily City operations. The redesigned site includes a 609kW rooftop solar array integrated with two 803kW Tesla Megapack batteries forming a microgrid that provides energy back-up power to all new buildings, including the City’s Fire Training facility. Portions of the site are built on a former landfill; as a result, extensive soil stabilization and methane mitigation measures were taken. Long-term foundation issues were addressed by supporting the roadways and buildings with concrete piles driven into bedrock beneath the landfill. Additionally, the new buildings take advantage of Santa Monica’s purple pipe system, using reclaimed and treated water for toilet flushing, fleet vehicle washing, and irrigation to reduce potable water use. • Coastal Bluffs Monitoring & Removal Work: In 2023 and 2024, extensive geotechnical and monitoring activities were carried out along the Santa Monica Bluffs. The City’s geotechnical consultant completed a detailed field mapping survey and conducted updated topographic and aerial photography surveys using unmanned aerial vehicles to document bluff features and compare them with past conditions. These efforts resulted in an updated geotechnical study and a comprehensive maintenance and monitoring report.
o The geotechnical study focused on evaluating the overall surface conditions of the bluffs and developing a priority list and action plan for future maintenance. This work included reviewing historical reports, aerial imagery, and geologic data; conducting oblique aerial photography surveys; performing visual inspections of bluff features; and summarizing the condition of drains and monitoring wells, as well as analyzing slope instability mechanisms.
o The maintenance report assessed the current condition of horizontal drains and monitoring wells, provided monitoring recommendations, and outlined maintenance procedures for both existing and future drains. o Based on monitoring of the condition of the Santa Monica bluffs, a stabilization project was undertaken in July 2023 to remove an unstable portion of the bluffs just above Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) between the California Incline and northbound on-ramp to Moomat Ahiko Way. The cracked block of sediment, which likely formed due to the intense rains that had occurred in December 2022-January 2023, was at risk of separating. Removal action was taken to ensure Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
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ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
vehicle traffic and safety on PCH.
• Climate Change Actions: The City adopted several plans that further define its goals towards resiliency and sustainability, and of mitigating disaster impacts. These plans include:
o 2017 City’s Water Neutrality Ordinance that caps water use for new developments to the historical five-year average for the site. o 2019 Climate Action Plan that sets a goal for the city to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2030. The plan enhances resilience to climate change by building a climate-ready community that aims to be water self-sufficient, prepared for coastal flooding, and focuses on low carbon food systems and ecosystems. o 2020 Urban Water Management Plan that incorporates a water shortage contingency plan for multi-year drought conditions.
• Drought Mitigation & Water Sustainability: In 2022-2023, Santa Monica implemented its Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project that provides a drought-resistant water supply for the city. The project produces up to 1,680 acre-feet per year of advanced treated recycled water for approximately 10% of the city’s water supply. santamonica.gov - Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) • Climate Change Prevention: In 2024, Santa Monica passed a Low Carbon Concrete Ordinance (#2778) that reduces emissions from concrete poured in new buildings, spas, and swimming pools to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the construction project. Compliance with the ordinance is achieved by demonstrating that the concrete used meets the cement limit or the global warming potential limit. santamonica.gov - Low-Carbon Concrete Requirements
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
City of Santa Monica, California
Table 5-1: Status of Action Items Completed or Ongoing Since 2016 2025 Plan Maintenance Page 5 - 10
ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
• Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Seismic Upgrades: The City’s Water Resources Division has been incorporating seismic upgrades to its water and wastewater infrastructure through its annual replacement programs. The annual water and wastewater main replacement program replaces, on average, 1-2 miles of pipelines each year. Restraint joints are included where necessary to enhance seismic resiliency and earthquake-resistant pipes are considered in areas where the pipeline may cross fault lines. The new Olympic Transmission Main uses earthquake resistant pipes over areas where it crosses fault lines to deliver groundwater to the Olympic Advanced Water Treatment Facility that is co-located at the Arcadia Water Treatment Plant. In addition, the Water Resources Division updates its water and wastewater master plans every 5 years where it updates/calibrates its hydraulic model and identifies vulnerable areas that may be impacted by seismic events.
• 4th Street Overpass Seismic Upgrades: Analysis of water and wastewater pipeline on 4th Street at the I-10 Freeway overpass determined the section of pipe in question would not cause service interruptions if it were to fail. Should the pipe along the overpass alignment fail, the City would be able to isolate it and continue to provide water and wastewater service, including max day and fire flow conditions, to its customers on either side of the overpass without any issues.
Action 3 Design and implement a protection
program for the critical information
systems infrastructure, including
telephones, computers, radio, 911
services, information systems and
backup systems.
• Consolidated Public Safety Communications Center: In 2015, Santa Monica launched a consolidated 911 dispatch center that handles all local Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services emergency call answering and radio dispatch services for Santa Monica. Multi-departmental incidents are managed by dispatchers who are crosstrained in multiple public safety dispatching skillsets. The Public Safety Communications Center is a part of the City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), ensuring prompt notification of emergency managers during escalating incidents and the integration of dispatch leadership into the City’s Emergency Operations Center. • Dispatch Technology Improvements: Since 2016, Santa Monica has adopted several public safety technology improvements. In 2017, Los Angeles County and the City of Santa Monica implemented “Text to 911” where mobile users can report emergencies and communicate with dispatchers using text messages. In 2024, Santa Monica OEM, Police and Fire implemented a new cloud-based computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system to improve emergency response operations and situational awareness. During the launch of CAD, Santa Monica launched technology to automatically update callers with Police service requests via text message.
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
City of Santa Monica, California
Table 5-1: Status of Action Items Completed or Ongoing Since 2016 2025 Plan Maintenance Page 5 - 11
ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
• Workplace and Emergency Response Flexibility: In 2020, Santa Monica augmented its remote-based technology, allowing more employees to work from home or off-site locations. The City deployed laptops to personnel across the organization and implemented web-based collaboration and document storage tools. The shift to remotebased workspaces has greatly improved the ability for emergency response functions to occur in non-traditional or back-up locations.
• GIS Disaster Management Activities: During the COVID-19 pandemic and Los Angeles Marathon, GIS surveying tools and dashboards were utilized heavily to collect field reports, create situational analysis tools for the Emergency Operations Center and leadership, and share data and resources with the general community. Community hazard and tsunami evacuation maps are created in ArcGIS and available for the public.
• Improved Map-Based Assessment Tools: In 2023, Santa Monica implemented webbased software to collect and map damage and safety assessment data. This tool was tested during a 2024 full-scale disaster exercise with Cal OES Safety Assessment Program. The City of Santa Monica maintains a web-based incident management tool to maintain its disaster inventory and collect incident documentation. • Future Technology Adoption Plans: As of 2025, the City is in the early stages of fully adopting evacuation mapping technology, in alignment with LA County and other regional municipalities. The launch of this technology, in alignment with the adoption of a citywide evacuation plan, will improve awareness of city evacuation zones, hazard areas, and assist with prompt implementation of evacuation and shelter-in-place directions during emergencies.
Action 4 Design and implement a
comprehensive campaign of public
awareness and preparedness of local
natural hazards, using media, print,
radio, and the internet.
Household Disaster Kit Education: In 2016, the City launched a large public-education campaign on general disaster preparedness called “I’ve Got 7,” in partnership with the local American Red Cross chapter. The campaign educated the community on the types of hazards that could impact Santa Monica and emphasized that the community needs sevendays of supplies in seven categories. After several years, the campaign concluded and updated disaster kit information is distributed at community events. • OEM Public Education: Santa Monica OEM continues to make the public aware of local hazards and preparedness needs. Santa Monica launched a new website with several emergency preparedness and hazard information webpages. OEM regularly shares preparedness and mitigation information using social media and in-person learning opportunities. In 2023, Santa Monica maintained its designation of a TsunamiReady® community, meeting public education requirements.
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 5
City of Santa Monica, California
Table 5-1: Status of Action Items Completed or Ongoing Since 2016 2025 Plan Maintenance Page 5 - 12
ACTION # IN
2016 PLAN ACTION ITEM STATUS
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training: The City’s OEM has offered CERT training courses to local residents and business employees. CERT is a national, research-validated training program that trains participants in basic disaster response skills like fire safety, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. Since 2016, over 550 community members have received CERT training, with the City typically offering the course twice a year for 25 people.
Action 5 Continue to strengthen and develop
evacuation plans, policies, and
procedures for City facilities located
throughout Santa Monica.
• City Facility Evacuation Plans: The City of Santa Monica has Emergency Action Plans for every employee worksite, with the most recently updated plans dating from 2022.
The Emergency Action Plans include detailed facility evacuation plans and hazardspecific response procedures, such as those for earthquakes, tsunamis, and hazardous materials spills. Plans include directions for those with access and functional needs, such as those with visual or mobility disabilities. Evacuation drills are held regularly, overseen by the City’s Safety Officer.
• Pier Emergency Plan: In 2019, OEM worked with SMPD, SMFD, and Santa Monica City departments and Pier stakeholders to create the Pier Emergency Response Plan. The plan details emergency evacuation, repopulation, and crisis communications activities.
The plan also provides checklists to Pier businesses to respond to emergency scenarios including thunderstorms, tsunami, and large-scale criminal incidents.
Action 6 Enhance capability of alert system of
a public alert and notification system
for disasters.
• Non-Traditional Disaster Response Communications: During the COVID-19 emergency, Santa Monica utilized non-conventional communication means to share information with the public, including postcards sent to every household and flyers distributed in grocery bags.
• Local Alert & Warning: Santa Monica’s mass notification system, SMAlerts, is a robust alerting platform that has the capability of alerting the community of emergency information. The system was upgraded in 2022 to include three levels of emergency alerting:
1. General public safety messages to users who enrolled via santamonica.gov/alerts
2. Emergency messages to residents and businesses within a geographic area using E911 data
3. Wireless Emergency Alerting (WEA) to all individuals within a geographic area • City Crisis Communications Plan: The City has also implemented a crisis communications plan that identifies other forms of emergency communications systems that can be used during a disaster, including multiple social media platforms, digital kiosk message boards, the City’s website, and a disaster hotline.