City of Alameda - File #: 2025-5554

• File #: 2025-5554
• Type: Regular Agenda Item
• Body: City Council
• On agenda: 12/2/2025
• Title: Workshop to Discuss Alameda's Infrastructure Needs Regarding Shoreline Flood Protection, Sea Level and Groundwater Rise, and Disaster Mitigation. (City Manager 10021030)

Title

Workshop to Discuss Alameda’s Infrastructure Needs Regarding Shoreline Flood Protection, Sea Level and Groundwater Rise, and Disaster Mitigation. (City Manager 10021030)

Body

To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The City of Alameda (City) faces an urgent $800 million backlog in deferred maintenance and facility upgrades, driven significantly by the need to address climate change impacts. This final public workshop in the series focuses on the City’s pressing vulnerabilities for shoreline flood protection, sea level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation.

Staff will present a comprehensive update to the City Council and community, covering:

•                     Existing infrastructure needs

•                     Ongoing and planned adaptation projects (Bay Farm Island, Estuary, South Shore, Alameda Point) and the current funding gap

•                     Key next steps for funding strategies (potential infrastructure bond) and community engagement

BACKGROUND

Deferred Maintenance Needs and Projects to Prepare Alameda for the Future

Over many years, the City has accumulated a backlog of maintenance and facility upgrades essential to meet current standards and the City’s future projected needs. These collective needs have been discussed at a series of public City Council workshops with the final discussion occurring on December 2:

•                     Streets and Traffic Safety (September 2)

•                     City Facilities and Public Safety (October 7)

•                     Libraries, Recreation and Parks (November 4)

•                     Shoreline Flood Protection, Sea Level and Groundwater Rise, and Disaster Mitigation (December 2)

The City’s Strategic Plan identifies Building Resilience to Climate Change and Water Level Rise as one of five strategic priorities. Key Strategic Plan projects are critical to achieving this goal, including:

•                     

CC2: Expand EV charging availability across the City

•                     CC4: Complete De-Pave Park design and seek construction funding

•                     CC6: Develop long-term adaptation plan and short-term adaptation projects

•                     CC6a: Design adaptation project for the Veterans Court area and develop a vision for Bay Farm Island’s northern waterfront

•                     CC6b: Oakland-Alameda Estuary Adaptation Project (includes flood protection for the Webster-Posey

•                     CC7: Integrate Green Infrastructure into the City’s stormwater systems to slow and clean runoff before it enters the Bay

•                     CC8: Design and implement upgrades for stormwater infrastructure to reduce local flooding, including the cleaning of storm drains and increasing pump station capacity

Under the strategic priority Practicing Fiscally Responsible, Equitable & Inclusive Governance, project GOV15b is to explore a potential infrastructure bond that could be used as one possible funding source.

Public Opinion Polling Highlights

Recent public opinion surveys underscore the community’s growing awareness of the City’s infrastructure needs.

In a June 2024 survey (95% confidence level), 64% of Alameda voters expressed a need for additional infrastructure funding, an increase from 54% in 2023. Initial support for an infrastructure bond ballot measure was 68%.

When presented with a list of ways that additional funding could be spent, investing in projects that prepare for disasters and flooding were extremely or very important to respondents:

•                     Upgrading bridges to withstand major earthquakes: 79%

•                     Protecting natural areas along shorelines to help prevent flooding: 78%

•                     Preventing flooding in the tubes: 76%

•                     Addressing climate change impacts, including sea-level rise: 70%

•                     Keeping pollution out of the Bay: 70%

Additionally, the percentage of Alameda residents identifying sea level rise as an extremely or very serious problem increased from 42% in 2017 to 56% in 2023. Likewise, Alameda residents identifying the risk of disasters such as floods or earthquakes as an extremely or very serious problem increased from 40% in 2020 to 49% in 2023, while climate change generally increased from 49% in 2017 to 59% in 2023.

Alameda’s Vulnerability to Shoreline Flooding, Sea Level Rise and Groundwater Rise

The City of Alameda is highly vulnerable to climate hazards. Sea levels and groundwater tables are rising, and storms are increasing in intensity.

Today, much of Alameda’s shoreline is vulnerable to flooding from both shoreline overtopping during coastal storms and from rainfall within the City. In the near term, both are likely to be temporary in nature, depending on high tide cycles and intensity of events, with flooding likely shallow - on the order of two feet or less in depth. However, as climate change increases the intensity of storm events, sea levels, and groundwater levels, the depth and extent of flooding is expected to increase and may become more frequent or permanent. Much of Alameda’s shoreline is built on bay fill over former tidal marshland, leaving it especially exposed to coastal flooding and shoreline erosion.

Today’s 100-year floodplain is approximately equivalent to three feet of sea level rise, encompassing over $1.7 billion in land value and $1.4 billion in building value. Rising groundwater and stormwater inundation increase risks to utilities, roadways, and storm drain systems, particularly in Alameda’s low-lying interior areas. Recent storms, including the December 2024 storms that coincided with King Tides, are impacting Alameda’s shoreline today, as shown in the photos below.

DISCUSSION

Regional Coordination and Leadership

The City is working to address the significant risks from flooding and sea level and groundwater rise and has engaged in significant coordination with other agencies and jurisdictions to advance potential strategies that mitigate this risk.

Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee (OAAC)

Since 2021, Alameda has led OAAC, a multi-jurisdictional partnership with the City of Oakland, the Port of Oakland, Caltrans, and the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). The OAAC identifies regional priorities and coordinates local sea level rise adaptation planning.

OAAC has been recognized as a regional leader in coordinated and community led sea level rise adaptation planning and was recognized with a Beacon Award from the Institute for Local Government for cross-agency collaboration, leadership, and innovation.

Additionally, Alameda was selected by the Resilient Cities Catalyst to participate in the inaugural California Coastal Accelerator to drive coastal leadership and resilience project implementation in five cities across California, which also includes the cities of Oceanside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Fort Bragg. Participation in the cohort is supported with grant funding to advance the City’s shoreline resilience goals.

OAAC has been successful in attracting funding for priority adaptation projects, but this funding is very uncertain moving forward.

Strategies for Location-Based Priority Flooding

The City’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan <https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/local_hazard_mitigation_plan_2025.pdf> (LHMP) identifies strategies to address risks from coastal flooding, groundwater rise, and precipitation-based flooding. These strategies are shown below and organized by implementation timeline.

Staff are focusing on immediate and near-term projects that should be implemented in the next 10 years to address current flooding and up to two feet of sea level rise (which could occur between 2060-2080). Where feasible and cost effective, these strategies will be adaptable to higher rates of sea level rise, providing the foundation for future mid-term or long-term strategies.

Bay Farm Island Adaptation Project

The Bay Farm Island Adaptation Project is a near-term sea level rise adaptation project to address compound flooding and up to two feet of sea level rise and long-term planning coordination. The project addresses shoreline overtopping at Veterans Court and the Lagoon Outfall as well as shoreline erosion along the northern waterfront.

The City Council endorsed the design concept in January 2025. The staff/consultant team completed 30 percent design with Congressionally directed community project funding and is now seeking additional funds for project completion. This project was included in a City led - on behalf of OAAC - $56 million Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant to FEMA to complete the design and construct the near-term project. In July 2024, the City received the good news that FEMA recommended the project for further review, however in April 2025, FEMA discontinued the BRIC program including the Bay Farm Island Adaptation Project.

The estimated cost to complete design, permitting and construction is $75 million. On November 18, 2025, City staff learned that the California Coastal Conservancy staff are recommending funding the Bay Farm Island Adaptation Project for $2.64 million from CA Prop 4, which would cover up to 60% design, environmental documentation and permitting progress. City staff will continue to seek additional funds to complete the near-term project.

Estuary Adaptation Project

The Estuary Adaptation Project is a near-term sea level rise adaptation concept to address increased coastal, stormwater, and groundwater flooding for up to two feet of sea level rise over the coming decades. The concept includes both coastal and inland recommendations.

The coastal recommendations include levees, seawalls, and redevelopment at higher elevations between Bohol Circle Immigrant 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 as precipitation increases. In January 2025, City Council endorsed the design concept for the Alameda side of the estuary.

The estimated cost to complete design, permitting and construction is $120 million.

Design strategies were developed to a conceptual level with funding from Caltrans Sustainable Communities grant and Measure BB. Refinement, continued stakeholder review, environmental documentation, permitting, design, and construction will be done with future funding. Grant funders have indicated they are prioritizing projects with nature-based solutions, which is challenging to do in the Estuary and Northern Shoreline where there is little space and existing sea walls. Local sources of funds would help ensure that these projects can be implemented.

South Shore Adaptation Project

The South Shore Adaptation Project is a multi-benefit project to strengthen Alameda’s South Shore beach areas, the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary tidal marsh, and offshore mudflats using nature-based solutions while enhancing the Bay Trail and Water Trail and improving drainage and water quality with stormwater management upgrades. The first step is a Geomorphology and Ecological Study that will help understand sand movement along the shoreline to determine the placement of additional marsh, mudflat, beach, and eelgrass protections for the project.

The project will raise the shoreline and enhance wildlife habitat, including eel grass, optimizing it for wintering waterfowl, migratory shorebirds, and Pacific herring. Strategies to consider include marsh or mudflat expansion into the beach area, additional groins or similar structures, beach nourishment, eelgrass bed restoration, and different renourishment locations.

The area is a popular day-trip destination for residents and visitors throughout the region as it is the Bay Area’s longest swimming beach and is one of the few accessible bird sanctuaries in the Bay Area. Increasingly, major storms cause beach erosion, reduced public access, and flooding on the beach, the San Francisco Bay Trail (Bay Trail), and Shoreline Drive. EBRPD manages the beaches for the State and the City.

The estimated cost to complete design, permitting and construction is $75 million.

Staff submitted a Measure AA grant for $1.6 million to develop design strategies to a conceptual level. The Measure AA grant has not yet been awarded.

Alameda Point Adaptation Project

Implementation of the City’s Master Infrastructure Plan (MIP) is necessary to redevelop Alameda Point for housing and jobs. As part of the MIP for Alameda Point, the City Council approved the construction of stormwater infrastructure to improve drainage and reduce flooding in the Main Street Neighborhood redevelopment area, consistent with the Main Street Neighborhood Specific Plan. A key consideration in the planning and future development of the Main Street Neighborhood is the impact of current and future flooding along the northern shoreline -- between the Main Street Ferry Terminal parking lot and the former Naval Air Station (NAS) runways. This proposed project will stabilize the northern shoreline, construct two new stormwater outfalls to the Inner Harbor, and build a levee for flood resilience.

The City was authorized in the 2024 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) $15 million with 25% local match for environmental improvements in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary. In 2025, the City requested that the project be appropriated with $1.7 million included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 work plan to develop 30% design for the project.

The estimated cost for the limited scope of work to protect the Main Street neighborhood is $20 million.

Shoreline Adaptation Plan

In accordance with Senate Bill (SB) 272 (Laird), Alameda must prepare a comprehensive Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan for approval by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) by 2034. Completion of the plan is a prerequisite for the City to continue receiving certain state funding and regulatory approvals in the future.

Alameda was awarded an SB 1 grant to build on work started with previous grant funding and develop a Shoreline Adaptation Plan for the City, which will:

•                     Develop community-supported shoreline adaptation strategies in priority areas;

•                     Recommend land use and policy updates;

•                     Identify funding and implementation pathways; and

•                     Be approved by the City Council and submitted to BCDC for final approval.

The plan will include two rounds of public engagement and is anticipated to take two years to complete. The planning effort is fully funded.

Adaptation Project Summary and Estimated Costs

These four major planning and construction projects represent a current investment of $295 million to protect essential City assets.

Project	Estimated Total Cost	Current or Pending Funding
Bay Farm Island Adaptation	$75 million	$5.4 million
Estuary Adaptation	$120 million	$810,000
South Shore Adaptation	$75 million	$240,000
Alameda Point Adaptation	$20 million	$20 million
TOTAL	$290 million	$26.45 million

As noted, implementing these projects now will help prevent damage to over $1.7 billion in land value and $1.4 billion in building value. It is recognized that the longer the City waits to implement these projects, the more costs will increase over time.

A 2023 BCDC study estimates $110 billion is needed to adapt the Bay Area shoreline to 2050 ($22 billion in Alameda County alone) yet only $5 billion in public funding is currently committed across the region. Without a clear strategy to secure sustained investment, prioritize projects, and keep community voices centered, progress may stall, particularly for frontline communities already burdened by historic disinvestment and environmental inequities.

Community Engagement Highlights

The City has led a comprehensive and inclusive community engagement process for OAAC to better understand the needs and priorities of the community and inform the development of adaptation plans and projects. The OAAC project partner team includes paid Community Partners to lead this community engagement process, including community meetings, shoreline walks and kayak trips, tabling, developing engagement materials and a project website, convening stakeholder meetings, and providing presentations at Board and Commission meetings and meetings of the Alameda City Council.

Most recently, in September 2025, the OAAC Project Partners held the first-ever Alameda Sea Level Rise Planning Fair at REAP Climate Center to explore sea level rise concepts for the development of the Alameda Shoreline Adaptation Plan and seek community input to inform the next phase of the Shoreline Adaptation Plan. The fair brought together residents, community-based organizations, agency staff, scientists, and elected leaders to learn, share input, and co-design near-term priorities for adaptation. More than 150 participants engaged with interactive stations and hands-on mapping activities. For community members who were not able to attend the Planning Fair, all of the materials are available on the City’s webpage at www.alamedaca.gov/ShorelineAdaptationPlan <http://www.alamedaca.gov/ShorelineAdaptationPlan> and a public survey is currently being distributed to learn community ideas, concerns, and hopes for the future of the waterfront. The survey is available at forms.oaacadapt.org <https://forms.oaacadapt.org/>. Key takeaways from this event and survey to date are:

§                     Protect critical community assets first

§                     Start building as soon as possible, while planning continues

§                     Nature-based solutions resonate

§                     Equity must be explicit

§                     Clear communication matters

Community Update and Next Steps

The City is committed to engaging the community and exploring potential funding solutions when it comes to the City’s infrastructure needs regarding flood protection, sea level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation. The timeline below details next steps:

August-December 2025

Stronger Together Webpage: On the City’s website, www.alamedaca.gov/strongertogether <http://www.alamedaca.gov/strongertogether>, staff will  continue to share information about the City’s infrastructure needs, the series of four City Council workshops  convened (culminating with this last workshop), and the opportunity for Alameda residents and businesses to share feedback directly with staff that will be compiled and shared with the City Council.

Social Media and Nextdoor Posts: In addition to sharing regular and timely information about flood prevention, using sandbags, and preparing for storm season, the City has been providing additional information about the City’s significant infrastructure needs and the four City Council work sessions.

Alameda Community Survey: A statistically significant community poll at the 95% confidence level (conducted by FM3 Research and Team CivX) will gauge views on life in Alameda and Alameda’s City government, identify top issues and problems facing the City, and lift up the need for additional funding compared to past data.

January-April 2026

Staff will conduct in-person and online community engagement, using online surveys, social media posts, email bulletins, community conversations, and direct mail to gather more detailed resident input on project proposals. Based on this comprehensive outreach and the feedback received, the City Council will be better positioned to determine whether 2026 is the right time to proceed with a revenue measure that could address some of the pressing infrastructure and facility needs that have been identified.

ALTERNATIVES

•                     Discuss Alameda’s infrastructure and facility needs regarding shoreline flood protection, sea level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation.

•                     Ask staff to return with more information at a future date.

FINANCIAL IMPACT

There is no financial impact to the City in discussing Alameda’s infrastructure and facility needs regarding shoreline flood protection, sea level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation. However, the projects listed above, and additional projects included in City plans, may require financial contributions from the City that would be subject to future City Council approval.

MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE

The City’s Strategic Plan includes strategic priorities and projects that would improve Alameda’s infrastructure and facility needs regarding shoreline flood protection, sea level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

Discussion of this item does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.

CLIMATE IMPACT

There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report. However, the projects listed above that are subject to future City Council approval would have a significant impact.

RECOMMENDATION

Discuss infrastructure and facility needs regarding shoreline flood protection, sea level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation.

Respectfully submitted,

Sarah Henry, Communications and Legislative Affairs Director

Danielle Mieler, Sustainability and Resilience Manager

Financial Impact section reviewed,

Ross McCarthy, Finance Director

cc:                     Allen Tai, Planning, Building and Transportation Director

Erin Smith, Public Works Director

Abby Thorn-Lyman, Base Reuse and Economic Development Director