First Mile Horizontal Levee

East Bay Dischargers Authority is part of a team led by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) focused on facilitating multi-benefit projects along the San Francisco Bay shoreline that provide resilience to sea level rise, improve water quality, and restore and protect habitat. As a sub-grantee to SFEP, EBDA has received several grants from the Environmental Protection Agency’s San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund to advance these efforts. More information on related projects around the Bay can be found at SFEP’s Transforming Urban Water Initiative website.

EBDA is leading the First Mile Horizontal Levee Project. A Horizontal Levee is a multi-benefit feature that uses a nature-based approach to provide sea level rise resilience, enhance habitat, and improve water quality. The concept was first demonstrated at Oro Loma Sanitary District, and the goal of the First Mile project is to implement a full-scale Horizontal Levee in the EBDA service area at Oro Loma Marsh. See NBC Bay Area OpenRoad’s episode on the project here. You can also find a presentation on the project and its regional context here.

The First Mile project is part of an overall vision for adapting the Hayward Shoreline to sea level rise conceptualized in the Hayward Regional Shoreline Adaptation Master Plan, developed in 2021 by Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency (HASPA). HASPA and its partners are now working on an Implementation Plan for shoreline adaptation, and engaging the community to envision future resilience through the Hayward Eden Area Resilience Collaborative. Join the mailing list to be notified about future public events by emailing Cailin Notch. For other project inquiries, reach out to Jackie Zipkin.