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Over the past 200 years, many of the channels that drain to San Francisco Bay have been modified for flood risk management. Historically, creeks frequently transported watershed-derived sediment to the baylands but those connections have largely been lost. Many channels now trap sediment, often leading to long-term maintenance problems that are difficult to address due to permitting requirements and dredging costs. Sediment trapped in flood control channels is now being seen as a valuable commodity for baylands restoration, especially given accelerated sea level rise. The Flood Control 2.0 project is an ambitious regional effort which leverages local resources from several flood control agencies to reassess how ecological functions can be integrated into flood control design and management.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toolbox

  • Flood Control 2.0
  • Channel Analysis
  • Implementation Projects
  • Regulatory Analysis
  • Economic Analysis
  • SediMatch
  • Podcasts
Flood Control 2.0

Flood control managers and regulatory agencies are calling for a new overall approach for channel management with the recognition of environmental impacts associated with current flood risk management activities, the high cost of maintaining aging infrastructure, the challenges associated with maintaining flood conveyance in the face of a rising sea level, and the high value of dredged sediment.

Flood Control 2.0 is an innovative regional project that seeks to integrate habitat improvement and flood risk management at the Bay interface. The project focuses on helping flood control agencies and their partners create landscape designs that promote improved sediment transport through flood control channels, improved flood conveyance, and the restoration and creation of resilient bayland habitats. In addition, the project focuses on beneficial reuse options for dredged sediment from highly constrained flood control channels with limited restoration opportunities. Through a series of coordinated technical, economic, and regulatory analyses, Flood Control 2.0 addresses some of the major elements associated with multi-benefit channel design and management at the Bay interface and will provide critical information that can be used to develop long-term solutions that benefit people and habitats.

The project findings have been synthesized into this online “toolbox.” The toolbox includes channel classifications and relevant management concepts (e.g., creek-bayland connection, beneficial reuse of sediment), multi-benefit landscape “visions” at the Bay interface for selected channels, a “marketplace” for baylands restoration practitioners to find available dredged sediment (SediMatch), regulatory guidance documents with case studies for the regulatory issues associated with flood control project elements (e.g., impacts to existing wetlands), and benefit-cost analyses of current flood management measures and proposed multi-benefit measures. In combination with other regional plans (e.g., Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Science Update), this project provides information to flood control managers and the restoration community for planning sustainable, long-term, multi-benefit redesign projects given landscape, regulatory, and economic challenges.

Flood Control 2.0 was funded by the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund, EPA Region IX.

Channel Analysis

Developing multi-benefit approaches for flood control channel management around the Bay begins with an understanding of how the channels’ physical features and processes have changed since the onset of intensive development in the mid-19th century. The channel analysis conducted as part of Flood Control 2.0 focused on assessing changes to channel morphology and sediment delivery and deposition dynamics, and developing management concepts aimed at restoring historical processes and benefitting both habitat and flood management.   

 

Report: Changing Channels: Regional Information for Developing Multi-benefit Flood Control Channels at the Bay Interface 

This report presents detailed results from the F-T interface and sediment dynamics analyses and synthesizes the findings into high level management concepts for 33 major flood control channels. The concepts focus on opportunities for improving sediment delivery to bayland habitats (both natural and mechanical) within the context of improving flood risk management. The report concludes with recommendations for data collection efforts and quantitative analysis that would help with the development of multi-benefit management strategies.

 

 

Data: How Creeks Meet the Bay: Changing Interfaces  

San Francisco Bay’s connections to local creeks are integral to its health. The ways in which the fluvial-tidal (F-T) interface has changed over the past 150 years affect flooding dynamics, ecosystem functioning, and resilience to a changing climate. This map illustrates the historical and contemporary F-T interface types for 353 channels that drain to San Francisco Bay.

 

 

Data: How Creeks Meet the Bay: Current Sediment Dynamics 

Flood control channels that drain watersheds and empty to the Bay provide a variety of societal and environmental services but often require sediment removal to maintain flood conveyance capacity. This map provides key information on the supply of sediment to 33 major flood control channels around the Bay and the amount of sediment storage and removal over the past 50+ years. This information is intended to help clarify the amount of sediment trapped in flood control channels that could be used to restore baylands and support long-term bayland resilience as sea level continues to rise.

 

 

 

Data: Current Sediment Dynamics Database 

This database provides detailed sediment information for 33 major flood control channels shown on the Current Sediment Dynamics map.

 

 

 

Implementation Projects

Flood Control 2.0 scientists worked with local flood control agencies to develop information for flood control channel redesign projects (or implementation projects) that can be used to incorporate habitat benefits into flood risk management. This effort focused on three flood control channels at the Bay interface: lower San Francisquito Creek (San Mateo County), lower Novato Creek (Marin County), and lower Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County). 

 

Report: Resilient Landscape Vision for Lower Walnut Creek: Baseline Information & Management Strategies 

This report provides a long-term landscape vision for lower Walnut Creek that incorporates habitat restoration actions into flood risk management. The vision, developed in coordination with a team of regional science experts, provides detailed information on landscape change over the past 150 years and highlights opportunities for restoring and sustaining tidal and freshwater wetland habitats around lower Walnut Creek while supporting a high level of flood protection under rising San Francisco Bay water levels. It provides Contra Costa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District and other local partners with several “nature-based” adaptation options that can benefit people and habitats.

 

Data: Walnut Creek Historical Ecology GIS Data

This dataset includes reconstructed habitat types and ecological characteristics of lower Walnut Creek and the surrounding landscape, representing average dry-season conditions prior to substantial Euro-American modification (~late 1700s-late 1800s).  

 

 

Report: Novato Creek Baylands Vision: Integrating Ecological Functions and Flood Protection within a Climate-Resilient Landscape 

This report provides a long-term landscape vision for lower Novato Creek that incorporates habitat restoration actions into flood risk management. The vision, developed in coordination with a team of regional science experts, highlights opportunities for restoring and sustaining vital tidal wetland habitats around lower Novato Creek while supporting a high level of flood protection under rising San Francisco Bay water levels. It provides Marin County Flood Control & Water Conservation District and other local partners with several “nature-based” adaptation options that can benefit people and habitats.

 

 

Report: Novato Creek Historical Ecology Study

This report provides a high level overview of the physical and ecological changes to lower Novato Creek and the surrounding baylands over the past 150 years through an analysis of changes in key landscape features (or landscape metrics). The results presented provide the baseline information used to develop the Novato Creek Baylands Vision and can be used in the future to help develop appropriate habitat restoration targets.

 

 

Data: Novato Creek Historical Ecology GIS Data

This dataset includes reconstructed habitat types and ecological characteristics of the Novato Creek Baylands, representing conditions prior to substantial Euro-American modification (~late 1700s-late 1800s).

 

 

 

Report: San Francisquito Creek Baylands Landscape Change Metrics Analysis 

This report provides a high level overview of the physical and ecological changes to lower San Francisquito Creek and the surrounding baylands over the past 150 years through an analysis of changes in key landscape features (or landscape metrics). The results from this study are intended to provide baseline information that can be used to help with developing restoration and flood control redesign alternatives and appropriate habitat restoration targets.

 

Regulatory Analysis

In working with flood protection managers, concerns were raised regarding the regulatory process that each project must undergo to receive permits. The permitting process in the San Francisco Bay region is complex, time consuming and involves multiple agencies. The BCDC team examined the permitting process using case studies of four flood protection projects in four different regions of the Bay; stages of permitting; project complexity and settings. Methods included interviews of staff; examination of the permit records; attending meetings and conferences on the subject; and reviewing planning documents, laws, policies and regulations.

 
Report: Regulatory Analysis Report 

This report describes the current flood protection system in the Bay Area in terms of its status and need for maintenance and repair. The report also discusses the need to reinvent the flood control system and the need promote species and habitat recovery and adapt to the dynamic changes associated with climate change. It gives an overview of the regulatory framework in the region and analyzes the challenges and issues inherent to flood protection projects in sensitive habitats. It concludes with recommendations aimed at improving flood protection projects and the permitting process. The report synthesizes the findings from four flood protection project case studies: Napa River’s Living River Project, Lower San Francisquito Creek’s realignment and restoration , Novato Creek’s future vision , and Lower Walnut Creek’s deauthorization from the federal flood protection program.

 

 

Report: Regulatory Guidance Report 

Using the lessons learned from the project case studies and the regulatory analysis report, this document makes recommendations for both regulatory and resource agencies and flood protection managers on how to improve the current regulatory situation. Recommendations include short and long term actions that can be undertaken by those wanting to improve the process.

 

Economic Analysis

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) contracted with Integrative Economics to conduct an economic analysis of Flood Control 2.0 strategies. The analysis compared benefits and costs of “traditional” flood management approaches to a suite of new approaches that incorporate tidal ecosystem restoration to achieve multiple benefits, in addition to flood protection. The analysis focused on lower Novato Creek and lower Walnut Creek, highlighting the benefits, costs, and long-term resilience of current flood management approaches (e.g., levee improvements, channel dredging,) and Flood Control 2.0 strategies, and quantifying the multiple economic values provided by the landscape. Integrative Economics then produced a Benefit-Cost Analysis Spreadsheet Model and Guidebook to enable users to conduct similar analyses for other channels around San Francisco Bay and beyond.

 

Report: Lower Novato Creek Benefit-Cost Assessment 

This report provides a comparison of the benefits and costs of “traditional” flood control approaches to a suite of new approaches that incorporate tidal ecosystem restoration to achieve multiple benefits in addition to flood protection. The traditional approaches include upgrading levees and detention basins to address rising sea levels and a predicted increase in storm severity. In contrast, the Flood Control 2.0 approach employs a suite of activities intended to increase tidal marsh habitat and provide additional environmental benefits, including wastewater assimilation, recreation, and aesthetic values by reconnecting the creek with its historical floodplain.

 

 

Report: Lower Walnut Creek Benefit-Cost Assessment 

This report provides a comparison of the benefits and costs of “traditional” flood control approaches to a suite of new approaches that incorporate tidal ecosystem restoration to achieve multiple benefits in addition to flood protection. The traditional approaches include channel dredging and upgrading levees to address rising sea levels and a predicted increase in storm severity. In contrast, the Flood Control 2.0 approach employs a suite of activities intended to increase tidal and freshwater marsh habitat and provide additional environmental benefits, including wastewater, recreation, and aesthetic values by reconnecting the creek with its historical floodplain.

 

 

Report: Benefit-Cost Assessment Guidebook 

This report provides: 1) guidelines for conducting benefit-cost analyses on channel redesign and restoration projects based on general principles of economic analysis for water resources projects and the analyses conducted on lower Novato Creek and lower Walnut Creek; and 2) a user guide for a spreadsheet model that valuates benefits and costs for different landscape management scenarios. 

 

 

 

Tool: Benefit-Cost Assessment Spreadsheet Model 

A spreadsheet model developed by Integrative Economics that valuates benefits and costs for different landscape management scenarios based on user-defined values for a variety of variables. This tool was used to compare the benefits and costs of traditional flood control approaches to the Flood Control 2.0 vision concepts for lower Novato Creek and lower Walnut Creek.

 

 

SediMatch

SediMatch is a collaborative program of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV), the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), and others to bring together the wetland habitat restoration, flood control, and dredging communities to discuss challenges and find mutually beneficial strategies to increase reuse of dredged sediment at habitat restoration sites. Sedimatch aims to: 1) create healthy habitats while maximizing beneficial reuse of sediment; 2) develop an easily accessible database where sediment needs can be matched with surplus sediment; and 3) provide opportunities for collaboration. These three goals combined will help our region keep up with sea level rise and create resilient shorelines.

 

Tool: SediMatch

As part of the SediMatch program, the SFBJV, SFEI and BCDC have developed an online tool (database and web interface) to match available sediment from channel dredging efforts with restoration projects and opportunities for beneficial re-use. This new tool will be populated with information provided by SFBJV partners, including restoration project managers, flood protection managers and navigation dredging projects from the Dredged Material Management Office database. The database and tool will eventually be housed on the existing SFBJV and Delta Conservancy Habitat Project Tracking System within EcoAtlas (Project Tracking System).

 

Podcasts

These podcasts provide personal perspectives on the historical ecology, concepts, and projects of Flood Control 2.0. Robin Grossinger of SFEI introduces listeners to how flood control channels can be redesigned to more realistically mimic natural stream processes and ways that sediment can move through the flood control channels and stream systems to help build marshes as these channels enter San Francisco Bay. Flood Control 2.0 facilitated the visioning of the future of 3 flood control channels - San Francisquito Creek, Novato Creek, and Walnut Creek. Listeners will hear from each of the project managers about their future visions and lessons learned.

 

What is Flood Control 2.0? (Robin Grossinger, Senior Scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute

 

 

 

 

What is the Role Sediment Plays in Our Environment? (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)

 

 

 

 

Where Has All the Sediment Gone? (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)

 

 

 

 

Lower Novato Creek Redesign Project (Liz Lewis, Principal Planner with the Marin County Department of Public Works)

 
 
 
 
 
Flood Control 2.0 Implementation Project: Lower Walnut Creek (Paul Detjens, Senior Civil Engineer with the Contra Costa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Flood Control 2.0 Implementation Project: Lower San Francisquito Creek (Len Materman, Executive Director of the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority)
 
 
 
 

 
Take Aways on Flood Control 2.0 Regulatory Studies: Ideas for Improving Multi-Benefit Flood Control Projects Planning Process (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SediMatch: A Flood Control 2.0 Tool for Linking Available Sediment with Projects in Need of Sediment (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)
 
 
 
 
 

Who We Are

 

Project Leads

  • San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP)
  • San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI)
  • San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC)
  • San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV)

Project Partners

  • San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority (SFCJPA)
  • Marin County Department of Public Works (MCDPW)
  • Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (CCCFCWCD)
  • US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
  • Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association (BAFPAA) 
 

Regional Science Advisory Team

  • Peter Baye - Independent consultant, coastal ecology and botany
  • Letitia Grenier - SFEI, wildlife ecology and conservation biology
  • Jeff Haltiner - ESA, Senior Hydrologist and Technical Advisor, hydrology
  • Robert Leidy - US EPA, fisheries biology and stream ecology
  • Jeremy Lowe - SFEI (formerly with ESA), coastal geomorphology and climate adaptation
  • Barry Hecht - Balance Hydrologics, geomorphology, hydrology
  • Leonard Sklar - San Francisco State University, geomorphology, hydrology

National Science Advisory Team

  • Pinar Balci - Director, Bureau of Environmental Planning and Analysis, NYC Department of Environmental Protection
  • F. Douglas Shields, Jr. - Senior Civil Engineer, CBEC
  • Derek Booth - Adjunct Professor, UCSB
  • Charles “Si” Simenstad - Research Professor, University of Washington
 
 
  • Flood Control 2.0
  • Channel Analysis
  • Implementation Projects
  • Regulatory Analysis
  • Economic Analysis
  • SediMatch
  • Podcasts

Flood control managers and regulatory agencies are calling for a new overall approach for channel management with the recognition of environmental impacts associated with current flood risk management activities, the high cost of maintaining aging infrastructure, the challenges associated with maintaining flood conveyance in the face of a rising sea level, and the high value of dredged sediment.

Flood Control 2.0 is an innovative regional project that seeks to integrate habitat improvement and flood risk management at the Bay interface. The project focuses on helping flood control agencies and their partners create landscape designs that promote improved sediment transport through flood control channels, improved flood conveyance, and the restoration and creation of resilient bayland habitats. In addition, the project focuses on beneficial reuse options for dredged sediment from highly constrained flood control channels with limited restoration opportunities. Through a series of coordinated technical, economic, and regulatory analyses, Flood Control 2.0 addresses some of the major elements associated with multi-benefit channel design and management at the Bay interface and will provide critical information that can be used to develop long-term solutions that benefit people and habitats.

The project findings have been synthesized into this online “toolbox.” The toolbox includes channel classifications and relevant management concepts (e.g., creek-bayland connection, beneficial reuse of sediment), multi-benefit landscape “visions” at the Bay interface for selected channels, a “marketplace” for baylands restoration practitioners to find available dredged sediment (SediMatch), regulatory guidance documents with case studies for the regulatory issues associated with flood control project elements (e.g., impacts to existing wetlands), and benefit-cost analyses of current flood management measures and proposed multi-benefit measures. In combination with other regional plans (e.g., Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Science Update), this project provides information to flood control managers and the restoration community for planning sustainable, long-term, multi-benefit redesign projects given landscape, regulatory, and economic challenges.

Flood Control 2.0 was funded by the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund, EPA Region IX.

Developing multi-benefit approaches for flood control channel management around the Bay begins with an understanding of how the channels’ physical features and processes have changed since the onset of intensive development in the mid-19th century. The channel analysis conducted as part of Flood Control 2.0 focused on assessing changes to channel morphology and sediment delivery and deposition dynamics, and developing management concepts aimed at restoring historical processes and benefitting both habitat and flood management.   

 

Report: Changing Channels: Regional Information for Developing Multi-benefit Flood Control Channels at the Bay Interface 

This report presents detailed results from the F-T interface and sediment dynamics analyses and synthesizes the findings into high level management concepts for 33 major flood control channels. The concepts focus on opportunities for improving sediment delivery to bayland habitats (both natural and mechanical) within the context of improving flood risk management. The report concludes with recommendations for data collection efforts and quantitative analysis that would help with the development of multi-benefit management strategies.

 

 

Data: How Creeks Meet the Bay: Changing Interfaces  

San Francisco Bay’s connections to local creeks are integral to its health. The ways in which the fluvial-tidal (F-T) interface has changed over the past 150 years affect flooding dynamics, ecosystem functioning, and resilience to a changing climate. This map illustrates the historical and contemporary F-T interface types for 353 channels that drain to San Francisco Bay.

 

 

Data: How Creeks Meet the Bay: Current Sediment Dynamics 

Flood control channels that drain watersheds and empty to the Bay provide a variety of societal and environmental services but often require sediment removal to maintain flood conveyance capacity. This map provides key information on the supply of sediment to 33 major flood control channels around the Bay and the amount of sediment storage and removal over the past 50+ years. This information is intended to help clarify the amount of sediment trapped in flood control channels that could be used to restore baylands and support long-term bayland resilience as sea level continues to rise.

 

 

 

Data: Current Sediment Dynamics Database 

This database provides detailed sediment information for 33 major flood control channels shown on the Current Sediment Dynamics map.

 

 

 

Flood Control 2.0 scientists worked with local flood control agencies to develop information for flood control channel redesign projects (or implementation projects) that can be used to incorporate habitat benefits into flood risk management. This effort focused on three flood control channels at the Bay interface: lower San Francisquito Creek (San Mateo County), lower Novato Creek (Marin County), and lower Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County). 

 

Report: Resilient Landscape Vision for Lower Walnut Creek: Baseline Information & Management Strategies 

This report provides a long-term landscape vision for lower Walnut Creek that incorporates habitat restoration actions into flood risk management. The vision, developed in coordination with a team of regional science experts, provides detailed information on landscape change over the past 150 years and highlights opportunities for restoring and sustaining tidal and freshwater wetland habitats around lower Walnut Creek while supporting a high level of flood protection under rising San Francisco Bay water levels. It provides Contra Costa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District and other local partners with several “nature-based” adaptation options that can benefit people and habitats.

 

Data: Walnut Creek Historical Ecology GIS Data

This dataset includes reconstructed habitat types and ecological characteristics of lower Walnut Creek and the surrounding landscape, representing average dry-season conditions prior to substantial Euro-American modification (~late 1700s-late 1800s).  

 

 

Report: Novato Creek Baylands Vision: Integrating Ecological Functions and Flood Protection within a Climate-Resilient Landscape 

This report provides a long-term landscape vision for lower Novato Creek that incorporates habitat restoration actions into flood risk management. The vision, developed in coordination with a team of regional science experts, highlights opportunities for restoring and sustaining vital tidal wetland habitats around lower Novato Creek while supporting a high level of flood protection under rising San Francisco Bay water levels. It provides Marin County Flood Control & Water Conservation District and other local partners with several “nature-based” adaptation options that can benefit people and habitats.

 

 

Report: Novato Creek Historical Ecology Study

This report provides a high level overview of the physical and ecological changes to lower Novato Creek and the surrounding baylands over the past 150 years through an analysis of changes in key landscape features (or landscape metrics). The results presented provide the baseline information used to develop the Novato Creek Baylands Vision and can be used in the future to help develop appropriate habitat restoration targets.

 

 

Data: Novato Creek Historical Ecology GIS Data

This dataset includes reconstructed habitat types and ecological characteristics of the Novato Creek Baylands, representing conditions prior to substantial Euro-American modification (~late 1700s-late 1800s).

 

 

 

Report: San Francisquito Creek Baylands Landscape Change Metrics Analysis 

This report provides a high level overview of the physical and ecological changes to lower San Francisquito Creek and the surrounding baylands over the past 150 years through an analysis of changes in key landscape features (or landscape metrics). The results from this study are intended to provide baseline information that can be used to help with developing restoration and flood control redesign alternatives and appropriate habitat restoration targets.

 

In working with flood protection managers, concerns were raised regarding the regulatory process that each project must undergo to receive permits. The permitting process in the San Francisco Bay region is complex, time consuming and involves multiple agencies. The BCDC team examined the permitting process using case studies of four flood protection projects in four different regions of the Bay; stages of permitting; project complexity and settings. Methods included interviews of staff; examination of the permit records; attending meetings and conferences on the subject; and reviewing planning documents, laws, policies and regulations.

 
Report: Regulatory Analysis Report 

This report describes the current flood protection system in the Bay Area in terms of its status and need for maintenance and repair. The report also discusses the need to reinvent the flood control system and the need promote species and habitat recovery and adapt to the dynamic changes associated with climate change. It gives an overview of the regulatory framework in the region and analyzes the challenges and issues inherent to flood protection projects in sensitive habitats. It concludes with recommendations aimed at improving flood protection projects and the permitting process. The report synthesizes the findings from four flood protection project case studies: Napa River’s Living River Project, Lower San Francisquito Creek’s realignment and restoration , Novato Creek’s future vision , and Lower Walnut Creek’s deauthorization from the federal flood protection program.

 

 

Report: Regulatory Guidance Report 

Using the lessons learned from the project case studies and the regulatory analysis report, this document makes recommendations for both regulatory and resource agencies and flood protection managers on how to improve the current regulatory situation. Recommendations include short and long term actions that can be undertaken by those wanting to improve the process.

 

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) contracted with Integrative Economics to conduct an economic analysis of Flood Control 2.0 strategies. The analysis compared benefits and costs of “traditional” flood management approaches to a suite of new approaches that incorporate tidal ecosystem restoration to achieve multiple benefits, in addition to flood protection. The analysis focused on lower Novato Creek and lower Walnut Creek, highlighting the benefits, costs, and long-term resilience of current flood management approaches (e.g., levee improvements, channel dredging,) and Flood Control 2.0 strategies, and quantifying the multiple economic values provided by the landscape. Integrative Economics then produced a Benefit-Cost Analysis Spreadsheet Model and Guidebook to enable users to conduct similar analyses for other channels around San Francisco Bay and beyond.

 

Report: Lower Novato Creek Benefit-Cost Assessment 

This report provides a comparison of the benefits and costs of “traditional” flood control approaches to a suite of new approaches that incorporate tidal ecosystem restoration to achieve multiple benefits in addition to flood protection. The traditional approaches include upgrading levees and detention basins to address rising sea levels and a predicted increase in storm severity. In contrast, the Flood Control 2.0 approach employs a suite of activities intended to increase tidal marsh habitat and provide additional environmental benefits, including wastewater assimilation, recreation, and aesthetic values by reconnecting the creek with its historical floodplain.

 

 

Report: Lower Walnut Creek Benefit-Cost Assessment 

This report provides a comparison of the benefits and costs of “traditional” flood control approaches to a suite of new approaches that incorporate tidal ecosystem restoration to achieve multiple benefits in addition to flood protection. The traditional approaches include channel dredging and upgrading levees to address rising sea levels and a predicted increase in storm severity. In contrast, the Flood Control 2.0 approach employs a suite of activities intended to increase tidal and freshwater marsh habitat and provide additional environmental benefits, including wastewater, recreation, and aesthetic values by reconnecting the creek with its historical floodplain.

 

 

Report: Benefit-Cost Assessment Guidebook 

This report provides: 1) guidelines for conducting benefit-cost analyses on channel redesign and restoration projects based on general principles of economic analysis for water resources projects and the analyses conducted on lower Novato Creek and lower Walnut Creek; and 2) a user guide for a spreadsheet model that valuates benefits and costs for different landscape management scenarios. 

 

 

 

Tool: Benefit-Cost Assessment Spreadsheet Model 

A spreadsheet model developed by Integrative Economics that valuates benefits and costs for different landscape management scenarios based on user-defined values for a variety of variables. This tool was used to compare the benefits and costs of traditional flood control approaches to the Flood Control 2.0 vision concepts for lower Novato Creek and lower Walnut Creek.

 

 

SediMatch is a collaborative program of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV), the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), and others to bring together the wetland habitat restoration, flood control, and dredging communities to discuss challenges and find mutually beneficial strategies to increase reuse of dredged sediment at habitat restoration sites. Sedimatch aims to: 1) create healthy habitats while maximizing beneficial reuse of sediment; 2) develop an easily accessible database where sediment needs can be matched with surplus sediment; and 3) provide opportunities for collaboration. These three goals combined will help our region keep up with sea level rise and create resilient shorelines.

 

Tool: SediMatch

As part of the SediMatch program, the SFBJV, SFEI and BCDC have developed an online tool (database and web interface) to match available sediment from channel dredging efforts with restoration projects and opportunities for beneficial re-use. This new tool will be populated with information provided by SFBJV partners, including restoration project managers, flood protection managers and navigation dredging projects from the Dredged Material Management Office database. The database and tool will eventually be housed on the existing SFBJV and Delta Conservancy Habitat Project Tracking System within EcoAtlas (Project Tracking System).

 

These podcasts provide personal perspectives on the historical ecology, concepts, and projects of Flood Control 2.0. Robin Grossinger of SFEI introduces listeners to how flood control channels can be redesigned to more realistically mimic natural stream processes and ways that sediment can move through the flood control channels and stream systems to help build marshes as these channels enter San Francisco Bay. Flood Control 2.0 facilitated the visioning of the future of 3 flood control channels - San Francisquito Creek, Novato Creek, and Walnut Creek. Listeners will hear from each of the project managers about their future visions and lessons learned.

 

What is Flood Control 2.0? (Robin Grossinger, Senior Scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute

 

 

 

 

What is the Role Sediment Plays in Our Environment? (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)

 

 

 

 

Where Has All the Sediment Gone? (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)

 

 

 

 

Lower Novato Creek Redesign Project (Liz Lewis, Principal Planner with the Marin County Department of Public Works)

 
 
 
 
 
Flood Control 2.0 Implementation Project: Lower Walnut Creek (Paul Detjens, Senior Civil Engineer with the Contra Costa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Flood Control 2.0 Implementation Project: Lower San Francisquito Creek (Len Materman, Executive Director of the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority)
 
 
 
 

 
Take Aways on Flood Control 2.0 Regulatory Studies: Ideas for Improving Multi-Benefit Flood Control Projects Planning Process (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SediMatch: A Flood Control 2.0 Tool for Linking Available Sediment with Projects in Need of Sediment (Brenda Goeden, Sediment Program Manager at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)
 
 
 
 
 

Related Projects, News, and Events:

Sediment for Survival (Project)

This project analyzes current data and climate projections to determine how much sediment may be available for tidal marshes and mudflats and how much sediment may be needed under different future scenarios. By combining these forecasts with scientific knowledge of natural physical and biological processes, we offer a strategy for sediment delivery that will allow these wetlands to survive a changing climate and provide benefits to people and nature for many decades to come.

Healthy Watersheds Resilient Baylands (Project)

Through the EPA-funded Healthy Watersheds Resilient Baylands project, SFEI and sixteen partner organizations are developing multi-benefit tools to enhance climate change resilience in San Francisco Bay. Healthy Watersheds Resilient Baylands has two major components: Multi-benefit Urban Greening and Tidal Wetlands Restoration. Through both components, we have developed strategies that inform  policy, planning, and design of innovative implementation projects.

Preparing for the Storm (Project)

Catalyzed by the extensive damages caused by the Winter 2016-2017 storms and the opportunity to align flood response with major habitat improvement, Preparing for the Storm is an innovative public-private partnership to improve watershed health and resilience in the Alameda Creek watershed.

Resilience Atlas (Project)

The Resilience Atlas is a compilation of cutting-edge science, creative visions and relevant spatial data to support planners, designers, policy-makers, and residents in the creation of the healthy cities, shorelines and surrounding landscapes of the future. The main goal of the Resilience Atlas is to make the science of resilience more accessible to help communities successfully adapt and thrive in the face of climate change and other challenges.

Lower Walnut Creek Historical Ecology Study (Project)

During the mid-19th century, the lower Walnut Creek watershed was a landscape dominated by extensive wetlands, meandering creeks, and grassy plains. The marshes, sloughs, and meadows provided habitat and food for a huge number of wildlife species ranging from grizzly bears and elk to clapper rails and steelhead. Over the past 150 years, urban development, diking and filling of wetlands, and channelization of streams has resulted in dramatic changes to the watershed, and much of the historical habitat has been lost.

Flood Control 2.0 Wins an Outstanding Environmental Project Award! (News)

The Flood Control 2.0 project team was presented with an Outstanding Environmental Project Award at the 13th Biennial State of the Estuary Conference in Oakland, CA. The award is given by the Friends of the San Francisco Estuary to projects that benefit the San Francisco-Bay Delta Estuary and its watersheds.

Flood Control 2.0 Completed! (News)

SFEI and several agency partners recently completed a multi-year, EPA funded project called Flood Control 2.0. The goal of the project was to develop information that is useful for integrating habitat restoration into flood management at the Bay edge. Project outputs are now available at floodcontrol.sfei.org.

Lower Walnut Creek Vision Just Released! (News)

SFEI recently released a resilient landscape vision for lower Walnut Creek that incorporates habitat restoration actions into flood risk management. The vision, developed in coordination with a team of regional science experts, highlights opportunities for restoring and sustaining vital tidal wetland habitats around lower Walnut Creek while supporting a high level of flood protection under rising San Francisco Bay water levels.

How Creeks Meet the Bay: Current Sediment Dynamics (News)

The transition zones between our watersheds and the Bay are often occupied by flood control channels that provide a variety of societal and environmental services but can require sediment removal to maintain flood conveyance capacity. The causes of sedimentation problems in these channels are often complex, driven in large part by a combination of high watershed sediment yield and excess tidal sediment accumulation due to decreased tidal scour.

San Francisquito Creek Baylands Landscape Change Analysis (News)

SFEI recently completed a landscape change analysis of lower San Francisquito Creek in the South Bay. The study was conducted as part of the larger Flood Control 2.0 project to increase regional flood protection will improving ecological diversity.  This particular project   illustrated the change in creek and bayland habitat conditions over the past 150 years.

Historical Ecology for Lower Walnut Creek promises to deliver insights at an upcoming event (News)

SFEI scientists Sean Baumgarten and Scott Dusterhoff will present findings from the Lower Walnut Creek Historical Ecology Study at the Quadrennial Contra Costa County Creek and Watershed Symposium, to be held on December 3, 2015, at the Pleasant Hill Community Center.

Lower Novato Creek Vision Just Released! (News)

SFEI recently released a resilient landscape vision for lower Novato Creek that incorporates habitat restoration actions into flood risk management. The vision, developed in coordination with a team of regional science experts, highlights opportunities for restoring and sustaining vital tidal wetland habitats around lower Novato Creek while supporting a high level of flood protection under rising San Francisco Bay water levels.

National science experts gather to discuss Flood Control 2.0 (News)

A panel of nationally and internationally renowned scientists gathered in the Bay Area at the beginning of June 2015 to provide feedback on the EPA-funded Flood Control 2.0 project. SFEI hosted a two-day meeting with the panel that included a focused technical discussion with the project team and a broader discussion about future flood control and ecosystem management challenges at the Bay interface with invited guests from Bay Area flood control districts and natural resources agencies.

Flood Control 2.0 in Bay Nature (News)

The April 2015 issue of Bay Nature features an article about Flood Control 2.0, an ambitious project being co-led by SFEI to develop a framework for designing resilient, multi-benefit flood control channels at the interface with the San Francisco Bay shoreline.

Novato Creek Baylands Historical Ecology Study report now available (News)

SFEI recently completed an historical ecology study of lower Novato Creek in Marin County. The study was conducted as part of the larger Flood Control 2.0 project and was aimed at illustrating the change in creek and bayland habitat conditions over the past 120 years following the installation of flood control levees.

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