Strategy to Advance Flood protection, Ecosystems and Recreation

Len Materman, Executive Director San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority

SAFER

San Francisquito Creek

Palo Alto

East Palo Alto

SF Bay

Menlo Park

Stanford

Woodside

Portola Valley

San Mateo County (San Mateo County Flood Control District)

Santa Clara County (Santa Clara Valley Water District)

50 square miles; six towns; local, state, and national parks sites; major rail and highways, a regional airport and Postal Service facility, and major research university

Atherton

Watershed

Floodplain

Presenter

Presentation Notes

My colleagues on the panel talk about one major entity (SFO), a city (San Mateo) or the state. I can describe actions of a group of jurisdictions that chose to invest in success rather than pay for failure

2012 East Palo Alto

1998 Palo Alto

East Palo Alto

Palo Alto

1 mile

S.F. Bay

Redwood City

= creek floodplain only (3,500 parcels) = Bay floodplain only (2,700 parcels) = overlap of creek and Bay floodplains (2,200 parcels)

Menlo Park

Approximate number of parcels in the 100-year floodplains

100-year Floodplains in Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and Palo Alto

Menlo Park

East Palo Alto

N

U.S. FWS Ravenswood

Ponds

Creek 100-year floodplain overlapped with Bay floodplain

Palo Alto

Potential horizontal levees with habitat transition zones

30” of SLR with a 100-year Bay tide

Strategy to Advance Flood protection, Ecosystems and Recreation along the Bay

SAFER Bay

Funders California Dept. of Water Resources California Coastal Conservancy Cities of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park Facebook, Inc. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

U.S. FWS

Open Space Preserve

U.S. FWS

SFPUC

SAFER Bay Flood Protection Objective 100 year tide with Sea Level Rise and FEMA freeboard

• Assess flood control feature opportunities and constraints (habitat, real estate, utilities, etc.) in relation to SLR

• Design would allow flood objective for FEMA to be constructed immediately, while accommodating future SLR

• Designing now for future SLR could include horizontal levees, real estate/easements, widened levee crowns, relocated utilities/infrastructure

• Phased approach reduced upfront costs and risk of overbuilding, but complicates permitting and requires two funding streams

SAFER Bay Project Reaches