San Mateo County GIS

San Mateo County GIS
Name	San Mateo County GIS
Caption	San Mateo County geographic information systems operations
Jurisdiction	San Mateo County, California

Contents

San Mateo County GIS San Mateo County GIS provides spatial data, mapping, and geospatial analysis services for San Mateo County, California and interacts with agencies such as County of San Mateo, City of Redwood City, City of San Mateo, City of Daly City, and regional entities including the Association of Bay Area Governments. The program supports planning, public safety, environmental management, and infrastructure projects involving partners like the San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, Peninsula Clean Energy, and utility providers such as Pacific Gas and Electric Company. It aligns with statewide initiatives including the California Geological Survey and federal programs from the United States Geological Survey and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Overview

San Mateo County GIS maintains parcel data, topography, orthophotos, and thematic layers used by the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, San Mateo County Planning and Building Department, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, and transit agencies like SamTrans and Caltrain. Its datasets inform projects coordinated with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Bay Area Rapid Transit, and environmental organizations including the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and San Francisco Estuary Partnership. The program's outputs support landmark efforts by San Mateo County Harbor District, SFO Airport, and regional parks authorities such as the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

GIS activities in the county trace roots to cadastral mapping and surveying practices of the San Mateo County Surveyor and early planning efforts associated with cities like Half Moon Bay and Burlingame. Adoption accelerated with partnerships involving the California Spatial Reference Center and federal grants administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Collaborations with academic institutions, including Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and University of California, Berkeley helped advance remote sensing, LiDAR acquisition, and sea-level rise modeling used by entities such as the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services.

The GIS team curates parcel boundaries, zoning maps, utility networks, hydrology, and habitat datasets consumed by the San Mateo County Planning Commission, San Mateo County Health System, and conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy. Imagery products include orthophotography acquired in coordination with the California Department of Water Resources and elevation models derived from LiDAR used by agencies including the United States Army Corps of Engineers for coastal studies. Services range from geocoding and spatial analysis for San Mateo County Elections to interactive web maps for San Mateo County Libraries and permit workflows with the California Environmental Protection Agency-affiliated programs.

Notable projects include floodplain mapping for partners such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, transportation modeling for California Department of Transportation District 4, and habitat restoration planning with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. GIS supported wildfire risk assessments for coordination with Cal Fire and evacuation planning with the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services and regional mutual aid associations. Other applications involve collaboration with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, water resource planning with the San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission, and community resilience initiatives tied to programs from the California Coastal Commission.

The technical stack integrates enterprise solutions from vendors such as Esri alongside open-source platforms used by partners like OpenStreetMap communities and academic labs at Stanford University. Data storage, cloud computing, and services coordinate with Amazon Web Services and state-hosted resources like the California GIS Exchange. Remote sensing acquisitions involve contractors certified by the Federal Geographic Data Committee standards and leverage tools from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the United States Geological Survey for satellite-derived products. Cybersecurity and data governance align with standards from the California Department of Technology and federal guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Governance includes policy oversight by county bodies such as the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and technical advisory committees drawing membership from cities including San Carlos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and special districts like the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District. Funding streams combine county budgets, state grants from the California Coastal Conservancy, federal assistance via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and regional contributions coordinated by the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Partnerships extend to nonprofit organizations including Save the Bay and research collaborations with California State University, East Bay.

Public-facing tools include interactive web maps, open data portals, and downloadable shapefiles used by journalists at outlets like San Francisco Chronicle and community groups in neighborhoods such as East Palo Alto, South San Francisco, Foster City, and La Honda. Outreach activities involve workshops with the San Mateo County Office of Education, civic technology meetups with groups like DataKind, and cooperative projects with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Transparency and open-data commitments reference national practices exemplified by the Open Data Institute and standards promoted by the Federal Geographic Data Committee.