BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Update on the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the District Board and Sunnyvale City Council receive information on the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project.
Body
SUMMARY:
The overall goal of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project (Shoreline Project) is to safeguard hundreds of homes, schools, and businesses along Santa Clara County’s 18 miles of shoreline from the risk of coastal flooding. The Shoreline Project will also restore tidal marsh and related habitat that was lost due to former salt production activities, provide opportunities for recreational and public access along the bay shoreline, and takes into consideration safeguarding against sea level rise over a 50-year period (through Year-2067).
The Shoreline Project is being undertaken by the Santa Clara Valley Water District (District) in partnership with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy). Congressional authorization to conduct the Shoreline Project was granted by the Water Resources Development Act in 1976. The District and Conservancy are the non-federal sponsors, also referred to as “local project sponsors.” The Shoreline Project efforts began in 2005 for all of Santa Clara County, which was divided into 11 areas, called Economic Impact Areas (EIA). In September 2010, the District requested that USACE re-evaluate the project scope and conduct the project in phases beginning with the area among the highest potential for flood damages and economic impacts. The District’s Board endorsed this new scope in March 2011, and the project was thereafter refocused to the EIA 11 area located in north San Jose between the Alviso Slough and Coyote Creek. The first phase of the Shoreline Project in north San Jose has been progressing on schedule and received authorization for design and construction in December 2015, followed by receipt of $177.2 million for design and construction in July 2018.
In 2015, while the District and Conservancy were working with the USACE on the Shoreline Project in north San Jose, the District hired a consultant to prepare a Preliminary Feasibility Study for the shoreline areas located between San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto to Guadalupe River in San Jose. This area is 14 miles long and known as EIAs 1-10. EIAs 1-10 includes the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, San Jose, as well as NASA Moffett Field and the Alviso Complex Ponds A1 to A8. The intent of the Preliminary Feasibility Study was to assess a preliminary coastal flood risk management alignment along with related benefits and costs to safeguard against a 1-percent coastal flood including protection for sea level rise. The preliminary study findings will be used to determine the Shoreline Project’s next study phase and to identify potential study partners.
The cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and San Jose, as well as NASA Moffett Field, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Conservancy and Mid-Peninsula Open Space Authority were all consulted in the identification of the preliminary alignment. The Preliminary Feasibility Study for EIAs 1-10 was completed in March 2017. The study’s report was finalized after receipt and consideration of comments from all consulted agencies noted above.
In November 2018, the USACE has received $500,000 in the FY 2019 work plan to continue the Shoreline Feasibility Study efforts for the next study phase. The District and USACE will begin discussing next steps to move forward in early 2019. In addition, in January 2019, the District will be meeting with City of Sunnyvale staff to discuss Shoreline Project collaboration for EIAs 7, 8, and 9 that are in City of Sunnyvale.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with this item.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: PowerPoint
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Ngoc Nguyen, District Deputy Operating Officer, 408-630-2632