Title
Adoption of Resolution to Endorse the Bay Adapt Joint Platform, a Regional Strategy for a Rising Bay (City Manager 10021032)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
By endorsing Bay Adapt, the City of Alameda (City) would join many neighbors across the region in endorsing a consensus-driven strategy to protect people and the built and natural environments from a rising Bay.
BACKGROUND
Coastal adaptation to rising sea level is a state priority to avoid devastating impacts to people, the economy, and natural habitats. Despite having only one-third of the state’s coastline, two-thirds of California’s economic losses due to rising sea level are forecast to occur in the nine-county Bay Area, absent adaptation actions. The San Francisco Bay is a state-protected resource that is the largest estuary on the West Coast of North and South America, a key part of the Pacific Flyway for migrating waterfowl, and a critical economic driver of the State’s economy.
Alameda is at the forefront of sea level rise planning. The City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP) identifies 12 priority flooding locations where assets or areas are exposed to flooding risk soonest and with greatest consequence. Locations with significant flooding at a total water level of 24 or 36 inches (above today’s high tide) were identified as at risk of sea level rise flooding “soon.” Since the CARP adoption in 2019, Alameda has developed a deeper understanding of the implications of sea level rise for our island community, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase at alarming rates, and the federal government has not provided the financial and technical support that we need to meet our greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation goals. Furthermore, the City conducted a study in 2020 on emergent groundwater issues that showed sea level rise as elevating the water table, which is expected to cause more flooding, liquefaction and soil contamination issues in every neighborhood in Alameda. With six to seven feet of sea level rise expected in 80 years, 25 miles of shoreline to improve at a cost of $10 to $20 million per mile, and needed conveyance and storm drain pump station upgrades, the City must immediately focus on short-term strategies to delay the most severe impacts of sea level rise and buy time to improve our community’s understanding and capabilities to implement local and regional long term solutions for the next generation of Alamedans.
In June 2021, recognizing that adapting to sea level rise requires a holistic effort that crosses jurisdictional boundaries, necessitating collaboration among agencies and communities, staff convened the San Leandro Bay/Oakland-Alameda Estuary Adaptation Working Group to coordinate flood and adaptation projects to protect and restore water quality, habitat, and community resilience. The Working Group is organized around the San Leandro Operational Landscape Unit (OLU), which stretches from the Bay Bridge touchdown to Oyster Bay, and includes more than 25 jurisdictions, agencies and CBOs that have an interest in the shoreline within the OLU, as well as regional and state collaborators (see: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationWorkingGroup <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationWorkingGroup>). The San Leandro OLU is one of 30 OLUs along the Bay shoreline identified by SFEI as sharing common physical characteristics that would benefit from being managed as individual units. While OLUs cross jurisdictional boundaries, they adhere to natural and physical boundaries of tides, waves, watershed, and sediment movement. The Working Group is actively seeking resources to co-create with stakeholders an equitable planning and capacity building process to help individual jurisdictions, agencies and community organizations join forces at a sub-regional, ecosystem level and speak with one voice in creating an inclusive, transformative, and equitable climate-ready community in the San Leandro OLU and fulfill several key goals of Bay Adapt.
Development of Bay Adapt was led by the San Francisco Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC). BCDC is a pioneer in the realm of sea level rise planning, both within the Bay Area and nationally. Over the past decade, the Commission’s rising sea level emphasis has expanded from being primarily regulatory in nature to also leading and collaborating with diverse stakeholders to provide more direct adaptation services to communities, local governments, and the region. Major milestones and accomplishments related to adapting to rising sea level include:
• In 2008, SB 2094 authorized BCDC to develop Bay Area regional strategies to address the impacts of rising sea level and other impacts of global climate change on the Bay and affected shoreline areas, in coordination with local governments, regional councils of governments, and other agencies and interested parties.
• In 2011, BCDC adopted the nation’s first Climate Change policies into the San Francisco Bay Plan. These policies guide BCDC permitting, and also require BCDC to “formulate a regional sea level rise adaptation strategy for protecting critical developed shoreline areas and natural ecosystems, enhancing the resilience of Bay and shoreline systems and increasing their adaptive capacity” in collaboration with local, regional, and state agencies and the public.
• Concurrently, BCDC launched its award-winning Adapting to Rising Tides Program that continues to work with local jurisdictions around the Bay to develop multi-sector, cross-jurisdictional projects to understand what is at risk and assess adaption responses.
• In 2016, following a series of public workshops on rising sea level, the Commission adopted a set of sea level rise policy recommendations, including the need to develop a regional sea level rise adaptation plan (the genesis of Bay Adapt), to modify a series of other BCDC policies, and to create several public-facing Commissioner Working Groups on various rising sea level issues.
• In 2019, following robust public and Commissioner engagement, the Commission adopted two groundbreaking Bay Plan policy changes that (1) enable larger amounts of Bay fill to be placed in the Bay to protect and enhance natural habitat and (2) create policies to promote and enforce environmental justice and social equity. Others are planned over the next few years.
• BCDC is also a founding member of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Regulatory Integration Team (BRRIT), a multi-agency permitting team that collaborates to reduce permitting times for nature-based projects and advances the California Natural Resources Agency’s Cutting Green Tape initiative within the Bay Area region.
• In 2020, the Adapting to Rising Tides Program, with MTC/ABAG and BARC, released Adapting to Rising Tides Bay Area <https://cabcdc.sharepoint.com/sites/FiscalServices/Shared%20Documents/General/Budget/BCP/FY22.23/Bay%20Adapt%20BCP/Bay%20Adapt_DF-46_Cover_Sheet_2-25-2020.docx> - the first major comprehensive analysis of the risks and consequences facing the Bay Area‘s transportation network, people, built environment, and natural areas due to projected sea level rise.
With the assistance and influence of BCDC, significant progress has been made in the Bay Area by cities and counties to plan for a changing shoreline and establish shoreline ecosystem restoration and other flood protection projects. Yet many of the adaptation plans and projects already occurring within the Bay Area are disconnected and disjointed. Absent regional collaboration and a shared vision, we risk disproportionate impacts to less affluent, disadvantaged communities; a patchwork of protective actions with varying levels of protection; inconsistent interpretation and application of the best statewide science; competition, not collaboration, for limited funding; near-term loss of wetlands; and, no way to measure collective progress.
To protect people, property, and habitat and prevent this “tragedy of the commons,” BCDC created and has dedicated the last two years to leading Bay Adapt - a voluntary, diverse, and collaborative regional initiative to develop a consensus-driven strategy to protect people and the built and natural environments from a rising Bay. The Bay Adapt Joint Platform (see Exhibit 1) lays out guiding principles, nine priority actions, and 21 tasks whose implementation will enable the region to adapt faster, better, and more equitably to a rising Bay. A Leadership Advisory Group (LAG) of 35 executive-level leaders from the Bay Area’s public, private, and non-profit sectors met on ten occasions and guided the effort. Hundreds of local and regional leaders, community members, and technical experts were instrumental in shaping the Joint Platform via working groups, focus groups, and outreach presentations around the region. Two Public Forums were held on April 16, 2020 and August 25, 2021 with nearly 200 attendees at each event. Over 130 survey responses and individual comments were collected during a public feedback period between August 25 and September 24, 2021.
Together, fulfilling the Joint Platform will:
• Reduce flood risks for communities, businesses, infrastructure, and habitats.
• Protect natural areas and wildlife.
• Integrate adaptation into community-focused local plans.
• Recognize and equitably support low-income communities.
• Accelerate permitting and project construction.
• Increase technical assistance for local governments.
• Develop and implement a funding strategy to help pay for what is necessary.
On September 16, 2021, the Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC) Governing Board - comprised of representatives from MTC, ABAG, BCDC and the Air Quality Management District - unanimously approved two Joint Resolutions. The first, on Climate Change, committed its member agencies, with BARC staff, to develop a Shared Work Plan to advance a far more coordinated implementation schedule of the agencies’ highest-priority actions related to climate change. The second endorsed the Bay Adapt Joint Platform, per se, and included its implementation through the Shared Work Plan. Bay Adapt was adopted by the BCDC Commission on October 21, 2021.
DISCUSSION
Implementing Bay Adapt will require the work of many agencies and groups - it is larger than any single agency. BCDC will serve as the “backbone agency” to support, guide, and implement the incredibly wide variety of organizations and individuals that will be involved with implementing the Joint Platform. Additionally, BCDC will take on a leadership role for many tasks outlined in the Joint Platform, along with participating and advising on others.
ALTERNATIVES
• Adopt the resolution endorsing the Bay Adapt Joint Platform.
• Direct staff to revise the resolution.
• Request staff to bring back additional information for further consideration.
• Do not adopt the resolution.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There would be no immediate impact on the City’s General Fund since implementation of the Platform would be accomplished with existing staff. However, efforts to adapt to rising sea and groundwater levels in Alameda will require significant investments of funds, including General Funds.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is categorically exempt under CEQA Guidelines section 15308, Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment. Adoption of the Bay Adapt Joint Platform would renew Alameda’s commitment to addressing sea level rise and would result in increased collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions to implement a regional strategy.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
Endorsing Bay Adapt will help implement the City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan and the adaptation projects identified in the plan.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution endorsing the Bay Adapt Joint Platform, a regional strategy for a rising Bay, including the guiding principles, actions, and tasks contained within; and champion and support the implementation of Bay Adapt to ensure that it serves Alameda and the Bay Area as a whole in achieving resilient and equitable adaptation to sea level rise.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
City Manager recommends adoption of resolution.
Respectfully submitted,
Danielle Mieler, Sustainability and Resilience Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Joint Platform
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager