Title
Discuss the Draft Concept Designs for the Estuary Adaptation Project and the Bay Farm Island Adaptation Project and a Status Update of the Subregional Adaptation Plan
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Planning Board
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 and the Bay Farm Island (BFI) Adaptation Project - and the Oakland-Alameda Subregional Adaptation Plan (Subregional Plan). These planning efforts include analyses of conditions and recommendations for consideration by OAAC and the City on the concept designs, funding, phasing and governance. The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the draft concept designs for the two projects and to provide a status update of the Subregional Plan. The grant funding for this early phase of sea level rise planning and preliminary design expires in 2025 and more funding will be required to fully design and construct the two projects and implement the Subregional Plan.
BACKGROUND
This adaptation agenda item is a culmination of several City Council actions over the years with key direction as follows and details provided in the below webpage links:
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, such as flooding on BFI that is hydraulically connected to the State Route 61 (SR-61)/Doolittle Drive Oakland Airport area and parts of the City of Oakland (Oakland).
In 2022, City Council adopted the Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Plan, and through a series of budget actions and grant authorizations, enabled funding to support OAAC’s work on the early concept phase of sea level rise planning and project development. Currently, OAAC is working on the following planning efforts:
• Estuary Adaptation Project: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationEstuary <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationEstuary>
• BFI Adaptation Project: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationBayFarmIsland <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationBayFarmIsland>
• Subregional Adaptation Plan: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationLongTermPlan <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationLongTermPlan>
In February 2024, City Council held a work session on adaptation and approved the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant submittal for the BFI/Doolittle Drive project. The City, acting as lead agency, applied for the grant with a total cost of $55.5 million to fund the next phases of the project. FEMA would cover 90 percent of the grant totaling $50 million, and the City, Port of Oakland and the City of Oakland all made financial commitments for the pro rata portions of the required non-federal grant match, which totals $5.5 million.
The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the request for City Council to endorse the concept designs for the Estuary and BFI projects and to provide a status update of the Subregional Plan (Exhibit 1).
DISCUSSION
The following section provides an update on the three planning efforts along with associated timelines, and important considerations including the request for City Council to endorse the concept designs for the Estuary and BFI projects. The request for City Council to endorse the concept designs is only for the Alameda side of the projects. The near-term concept designs recommend levees, seawalls or redevelopment at elevation 14 feet, which provides 2 feet of sea level rise protection and another 2 feet of freeboard to cover uncertainties. Long-term adaptation projects would build on the near-term projects and would protect to elevation 17 feet for 5 feet of sea level rise.
Estuary Project. This project consists of developing a design concept, which is equivalent to 10 percent design, to protect both Downtown Oakland/Jack London Square and the City’s northern shoreline near the Posey/Webster Tubes from sea level rise and flooding. Budget: $500,000 ($425,000 from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and $75,000 from the City). Webpage: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationEstuary <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationEstuary>
• Key Milestones: Began September 2023; Alternatives analysis in spring 2024; Draft concept design in fall 2024; Ongoing outreach led by paid Community Partners; and Concept design request for City Council approval (this agenda item). Grant funding expires February 28, 2025. OAAC and the City are taking initial steps to explore the potential for federal funding opportunities to continue this project beyond 2025, including requests for inclusion in the 2024 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) legislation totaling up to $30 million depending on the WRDA authorization. More funding will be needed to complete environmental clearance, permitting, design and construction.
• Important Considerations: The concept design includes both coastal and inland recommendations. The coastal recommendations include levees, seawalls and redevelopment along the estuary shoreline between Bohol Park at Alameda Landing and Shoreline Park at Marina Village. The inland concept includes green and grey detention basins to improve Alameda’s northside stormwater drainage for today’s volumes with added capacity for future precipitation increases. The City of Oakland is in the process of finalizing the Estuary Park concept design with approvals. The Port of Oakland has begun an adaptation study due to a recently awarded Caltrans grant, which includes further evaluation of the initial concepts on the Oakland side of the Estuary.
BFI Project. This project consists of developing a long-term adaptation plan for the entire BFI as well as developing up to 30 percent designs in the northern shoreline area of BFI for a near-term project. Budget: $2 million ($1.5 million FEMA and $530,000 City of Alameda). Webpage: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationBayFarmIsland <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationBayFarmIsland>
• Key Milestones: Began September 2023; Alternatives analysis in spring 2024; Draft concept design in fall 2024; Ongoing outreach led by paid Community Partners; Concept design request for City Council approval (this agenda item); and Up to 30 percent design on the northern shoreline of BFI by fall 2025. Grant funding expires September 29, 2025. The City submitted a FEMA BRIC grant on behalf of OAAC to complete the environmental clearance, permitting, design and construction.
• Important Considerations: The near-term concept design is for the northern shoreline area of BFI, and includes a levee to reduce coastal flooding, Bay Trail enhancements, nature-based solutions to reduce erosion and to improve the marshes and beach habitat, tide gate and pump station replacements and storm drain modifications. The concept will shorten Veterans Court and still will allow for 20-25 parking spaces. The wooden bicycle/pedestrian bridge is not part of the near-term concept and will be analyzed as a transportation project for potential replacement or as an underpass of Doolittle Drive by Veterans Park.
Subregional Plan. This project consists of developing a plan to protect the Oakland-Alameda subregion from near- and long-term sea level rise and associated shoreline hazards. Budget: $840,000 ($300,000 from San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) and $540,000 from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)). Webpage: www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationLongTermPlan <http://www.alamedaca.gov/AdaptationLongTermPlan>
• Key Milestones: Began in September 2023; Feasibility assessment in spring 2024, Governance White Paper in fall 2024; Ongoing outreach led by paid Community Partners; and Request for City Council approval is anticipated in fall 2025. Grant funding expires October 31, 2025.
• Important Considerations:
o Governance: While a formal governance structure has not been established, potential funding from FEMA BRIC for the BFI/Doolittle project or from WRDA for the Estuary project has prompted the OAAC project partners to initiate project-specific memorandums of understanding (MOU) negotiations per the Governance White Paper recommended next step. Currently, the City is working with members of OAAC under a common mission statement and guiding principles - the OAAC Charter - that is not legally binding. Staff recognizes it is not sustainable for the City alone to continue serving in a leadership role for the subregional partnership. The governance options that are outlined in the Governance White Paper include project-specific MOUs with partner agencies for the near term and the formation of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) or a hybrid/special district as potential approaches for longer term phases of collaboration.
o Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) Guidelines: The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) is finalizing guidelines for local jurisdictions to follow when developing subregional adaptation plans per Senate Bill 272 (Laird 2023). The City, Oakland and the Port of Oakland submitted comments to BCDC in October as part of the public hearing process. BCDC expects to approve the guidelines in December. The current version requires extensive detail and substantial resources for local jurisdictions, which will necessitate further funding to complete. The Port of Oakland will be contributing additional effort towards RSAP compliance due to a recently awarded Caltrans grant of $3 million. Furthermore, City staff are writing grants to meet more of the RSAP guidelines, and will show how the RSAP guidelines will be fully met by the required 2034 deadline with the Port’s supplemental work and with future Subregional Plan updates, which are required every five years.
Outreach Summary
The OAAC Project Partners - including the paid Community Partners - engaged community members as follows:
• Facilitated 10 monthly committee meetings for both the BFI and Estuary projects and 6 Alameda beaches committee meetings;
• Participated in 25 events with tabling and information materials;
• Held 7 steering committee meetings and 4 full OAAC meetings;
• Conducted 40 focus group meetings with key stakeholders including adjacent property owners and community members;
• Lead 3 rounds of workshops in May, August and December 2024;
• Created frequently asked questions (FAQ) (Exhibit 2);
• Distributed materials via email lists, social media, in-person, local print publications and paid advertisements; and
• Presented at Transportation Commission (November 2024), Planning Board (Dec 2024) and City Council (February 2024 and January 2025).
Overall, community members and key stakeholders have expressed appreciation of the adaptation efforts and concern about how to fund the implementation of it. Ongoing community engagement will occur as the projects progress with more detailed designs.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
These actions do not constitute a “project” as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required. Further environmental review will be conducted for the individual resilience projects upon completion of infrastructure design work.
RECOMMENDATION
Discuss the draft concept designs for the Estuary Project and the BFI Project and a status update of the Subregional Plan.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Payne, Project Manager
Danielle Mieler, Sustainability and Resilience Manager
Exhibits:
1. Adaptation Presentation
2. Adaptation FAQs