Title
Adoption of Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget to Increase Authorized Expenditures in the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Budget by Creating a New CIP Fund No. C71600 for South Shore Adaptation Project and Funding a Geomorphology and Ecology Study for South Shore by (1) Transferring $140,000 From Estuary CIP No. C71300 To C71600; (2) Transferring $60,000 From Available Operating Funds in Fund 10062032 - 52010 to C71600; and
Adoption of Resolution Authorizing the Interim City Manager to Execute All Necessary Documents with the Resilient Cities Catalyst to Accept $40,000 in Grant Funding for South Shore Geomorphology and Ecology Study and Increasing the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Revenue and Expenditure Budgets of Capital Improvement Fund (C71600) by $40,000.
This project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15262 (planning and feasibility studies). (Planning, Building and Transportation)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Adam Politzer, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consistent with City Council direction, the City of Alameda (City) has been leading the Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee (OAAC) to plan for sea level rise adaptation in the Oakland-Alameda subregion since 2021. OAAC has been working on two high-priority projects - the Estuary Adaptation Project (Estuary Project) and the Bay Farm Island Adaptation Project (BFI Project), and leading development of a Shoreline Adaptation Plan (Adaptation Plan). Alameda’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP) also identifies the South Shore area as a high priority and outlines an interagency collaborative approach to adapting the shoreline to sea level rise. The purpose of this agenda item is to request City Council to create and fund a new Capital Improvement Project (CIP) for the South Shore Adaptation Project and to authorize funding for a Geomorphology and Ecology Study.
BACKGROUND
Alameda’s South Shore Beach is East Bay Regional Park District’s (EBRPD) most visited beach. It is a regional source of economic, ecological and recreational benefits. The South Shore Beach is an engineered beach, designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) to protect the City. The City is the trustee owner of the South Shore Beach between Westline Drive and Broadway. EBRPD maintains the beach in partnership with the City since the establishment of a 1967 memorandum of understanding. This beach has no natural source of sand replenishment such as deposition from a creek or river. The current loss of sand due to storms, current and wave action as well as future erosion threatens to damage City infrastructure including the San Francisco Bay Trail (Bay Trail), Shoreline Drive and private property in the City. The City and EBRPD have collaboratively identified a need to replenish sand on Alameda’s South Shore Beach due to erosion. The last sand replenishment occurred in 2013 and was originally projected to last 20 years, but major storm events have significantly eroded the beach.
This adaptation agenda item is a culmination of the following actions:
In 2019, City Council adopted the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP), which outlines an interagency collaborative approach to prepare for sea level rise and address priority flooding locations, the South Shore area.
In 2021, staff initiated the Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee (OAAC) to plan for sea level rise adaptation in the Oakland-Alameda subregion.
In 2022 and 2023, City Council adopted the Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Plan, and through a series of budget, grant and contract authorizations, enabled OAAC’s work on the Subregional Adaptation Plan, which includes the South Shore Beach area.
Throughout 2025, City and EBRPD staff worked with the Army Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard on sand needs, coordinated with Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) on erosion permits, initiated the process for the beach to become a beneficial reuse site for sand nourishment, submitted a grant application for DBW’s Public Beach Restoration Program, completed emergency repairs, and submitted a Measure AA grant to develop a near-term design concept for adaptation of the shoreline.
In July 2025, City Council Authorized an amendment to the Conger Moss Guillard (CMG) agreement to conduct a Geomorphology and Ecology Study for the South Shore area.
In September 2025, Alameda was invited to join the California Coastal Accelerator inaugural cohort along with the cities of Oceanside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Fort Bragg. The cohort is facilitated by the Resilient Cities Catalyst and will support cities with project advancement, staff leadership development, accessing additional adaptation resources, and statewide learning and policy advocacy. New Cohort members will receive tailored support for project development, permitting, partnership-building, and implementation funding strategies, including up to $100,000 in direct grant dollars.
The purpose of this agenda item is to request the City Council to create and fund a new CIP for the South Shore Adaptation Project and to authorize additional funding for the Geomorphology and Ecology Study with existing resources and with a grant from the California Coastal Accelerator. This does not impact the General Fund.
DISCUSSION
South Shore and Crown beaches are artificially constructed features requiring ongoing annual sand management. Sand movement along Crown Beach, South Shore Beach, Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, and within the San Leandro Bay Estuary is a key uncertainty for the implementation of nature-based strategies in these areas. Understanding the natural movement of sand in this area will help inform potential natural-based pilot studies that may improve sand management and help address future sea level rise and coastal erosion. A Geomorphology and Ecology Study (Study) will leverage existing resources, including EBRPD sand management records, and include new data collection and modeling to better understand how actions such as mudflat augmentation and eelgrass restoration may reduce sediment loss and enhance sand management activities. The study will also inform the designs along northern Bay Farm Island and will provide sediment transport and hydrodynamic insights that may inform nature-based strategies along the San Leandro Bay shoreline.
To develop the study, staff recommends establishing a South Shore Adaptation Capital Project and funding the study by:
• Transferring $60,000 from available operating funds in Fund 10062032 - 52010
• Transferring $140,000 from Estuary CIP C71300
• Accepting and appropriating an initial amount of $40,000 in grant funding from the Resilient Cities Catalyst.
The total amount of $240,000 will fund the study for the South Shore Area.
ALTERNATIVES
City Council may consider a range of alternatives:
• Authorize the establishment of the South Shore Adaptation Capital Project and funding a study with the sources outlined above, including accepting grant funding from the Resilient Cities Catalyst.
• Direct staff to pursue a different approach to funding the Study
• Provide input to staff on the project scope.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Staff is requesting to establish a new Capital Improvement Project (C71600) for the South Shore Adaptation Project, to accept a new grant award and transfer between funds that will result in an increase in the budget for C71600 of $240,000.
|
Budget Request |
Revenue/ Expenditure |
Fund Number |
Fund Description |
Project Number |
Project Name |
Budget Amount |
|
New Grant Award |
Increase Revenue Budget |
220 |
Grant Fund |
|
|
$40,000 |
|
|
Increase Expenditure Budget |
310 |
Capital Fund |
C71600 |
South Shore Adaptation Project |
$40,000 |
|
Transfer Between Funds Request |
Decrease Expenditure Budget |
310 |
Capital Fund |
C71300 |
Estuary Adaptation Project |
$140,000 |
|
|
Increase Expenditure Budget |
310 |
Capital Fund |
C71600 |
South Shore Adaptation Project |
$140,000 |
|
Transfer Between Funds Request |
Decrease Expenditure Budget |
100 |
General Fund |
62032-52010 |
Operating Budget - Professional Services |
$60,000 |
|
|
Increase Expenditure Budget |
310 |
Capital Fund |
C71600 |
South Shore Adaptation Project |
$60,000 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The proposed actions described in this report are consistent with CARP (2019), the Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Plan (2022), the Alameda 2040 General Plan (2022) and the Strategic Plan Priority to Build Resiliency to Climate Change and Water Level Rise (2023). This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is a geomorphology and ecology study for the South Shore area, where the specific project scope and actions are yet to be defined and approved, and thus this action is exempt from CEQA review under CEQA Guidelines section 15262 - Feasibility and Planning Studies. Further environmental review will be conducted for the project upon development of the design work.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Successful completion of the adaptation project will improve the community’s resiliency to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution amending the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget to increase authorized expenditures in the Capital Improvement Budget by creating a new CIP Fund No. C71600 for South Shore Adaptation Project and funding a Geomorphology and Ecology Study for South Shore by (1) Transferring $140,000 from Estuary CIP No. C71300 to C71600; (2) transferring $60,000 from available operating funds in Fund 10062032 - 52010 to C71600; and Adoption of resolution authorizing the Interim City Manager to execute all necessary documents with the Resilient Cities Catalyst to accept $40,000 in Grant Funding for South Shore Geomorphology and Ecology Study and increasing the fiscal year 2025-26 Revenue and Expenditure Budgets of Capital Improvement Fund (C71600) by $40,000.
Respectfully submitted,
Allen Tai, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
By,
Danielle Mieler, Sustainability and Resilience Manager
Gail Payne, Project Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Local Hazard Mitigation Plan: South Shore Project Sheets
2. Resilient Cities Catalyst Grant Agreement