This effort is intended to provide planning-level regional guidance for placement of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in Livermore-Amador Valley. This work, presented in the report “Green Stormwater Infrastructure Planning-level Analysis for Livermore-Amador Valley”, identifies potential GSI locations and quantifies contaminant load and stormwater runoff volume reduction benefits through the application of GreenPlan-IT, a planning tool developed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and regional partners. Addressing regional challenges to address water quality and flooding concerns requires common sources of information for identifying opportunities for high-priority, multi-benefit stormwater projects. Achieving the goals and requirements of the San Francisco Bay Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit through GSI implementation by cities can also serve stream management goals for flood protection, adequate water supply, and healthy habitats. An intended outcome of this work is to enhance communication and coordination between Zone 7 and the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton.

Uses of the results from this application of GreenPlan-IT include: 1) identifying priority subcatchments and suitable locations for GSI at a multi-jurisdictional scale; 2) supporting Zone 7 and city communication and collaboration to leverage funding for multibenefit projects; and 3) informing future planning efforts, including GSI plans and the Zone 7 Flood Master Plan. Ultimately, the urban greening analysis by the Preparing for the Storm partnership is intended to help enhance stream and watershed resilience, reduce peak flows, and improve water quality.

Resources

View and download the report

Download analysis results maps and tables

Learn more about GreenPlan-IT and download the toolkit

For more information and to request input data files to re-run the analysis, contact [email protected]

Historical and current regional management of watersheds and channels for water supply and flood control across the San Francisco Bay Area has cut off much of the coarse sediment that was historically delivered to the Bay. Future projections indicate that sediment supply will not meet the demand from extant and restored tidal marshes to keep up with sea level rise.

As part of the Preparing for the Storm grant, SFEI, the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, and Zone 7 Water Agency have led an effort to support the development of a successful regional coarse sediment reuse strategy. Development of such a strategy requires understanding of logistical and regulatory hurdles and identification of key strategies for breaking down barriers. One potential solution for meeting the sediment demand along the Bay margin is to utilize coarse sediment that is removed from flood control channels by public agencies. To-date, very little of this sediment that is removed is beneficially reused for restoration along the Bay shoreline. The current economic and regulatory framework around sediment removal presents many challenges, barriers and lack of incentives for agencies to reuse their sediment. Breaking down challenges and barriers to coarse sediment reuse will require cooperation and involvement from the entire community of stakeholders, as well as the utilization of a range of strategies.

This work represents a step forward towards beneficially reusing coarse sediment removed from flood control channels by outlining reuse challenges, and identifying incentives for participation and potential solutions. It comprises the following primary components: 1) a virtual workshop convened to engage a large and diverse set of stakeholders from the region to gain knowledge and feedback from their experience in removing, transporting, reusing, and permitting coarse sediment, 2) a strategy memo, “Towards a Coarse Sediment Strategy for the Bay Area”, 3) support of the SediMatch Program (see factsheet here), including an update and expansion of the SediMatch webtool to better address coarse sediment, and 4) a case study analysis, “Translating Sediment Science Into Action: Documenting Beneficial Sediment Reuse”, of four existing or potential examples of beneficial sediment reuse in East Bay watersheds.

Breaking down challenges and barriers to coarse sediment reuse will require cooperation and involvement from the entire community of stakeholders, as well as the utilization of a range of strategies.

View and download the strategy memo, “Towards a Coarse Sediment Strategy for the Bay Area”

View and download the case study analysis, “Translating Sediment Science Into Action: Documenting Beneficial Sediment Reuse.”

Meeting human and ecological needs within San Francisco Bay’s watersheds is increasingly challenged by flooding, water quality degradation, and habitat loss, exacerbated by intensified urbanization and climate change. Addressing these challenges requires implementing multi-benefit strategies through new partnerships and increased coordination across the region’s diverse landscapes. Actions to improve water quality and enhance habitat for biodiversity in our highly developed and managed landscapes can help the region as a whole to build resilience to withstand current pressures and future change.

As part of the Preparing for the Storm grant, the analysis and technical report, “Wildlife Habitat and Water Quality Enhancement Opportunities at Castlewood Country Club,” presents a synthesis of water quality and habitat improvement opportunities for a golf course of Castlewood Country Club (“Castlewood”). These opportunities at Castlewood stand to contribute to improved resilience within the region. Castlewood borders the Arroyo de la Laguna, the major creek and riparian corridor draining Livermore Valley, which is experiencing substantial changes to its channel morphology (incision and widening, leading to bank erosion and bank failures). Likely further development upstream and climate change amplify the importance of enhancing conditions at Castlewood.

In recent years, Castlewood has worked on sustainability measures and there is interest in continuing these efforts and achieving recognition as environmental stewards. The identified opportunities from this effort are intended to support informed management decisions that will improve the ability of Castlewood’s Valley Course to protect water quality and enhance habitat for native wildlife.

View and download the report

Sycamore alluvial woodland (SAW) is a rare and important habitat type, not only for riparian wildlife species, but because it is uniquely adapted to California’s intermittent rivers and streams. In addition, it is recognized to be resilient to climate change because of its relative tolerance of droughts and floods.  Within the Livermore-Amador Valley in Alameda County, Arroyo Mocho and Arroyo del Valle historically supported wide braided channels occupied by western sycamore (Platanus racemosa) trees, and understanding the potential for SAW restoration and enhancement in this region is important for the recovery of this important habitat type.

As part of Preparing for the Storm, the “Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Restoration and Enhancement Suitability Study” addresses distribution and regeneration patterns and restoration strategies of SAW, focused on upstream and rural valley reaches of Arroyo Mocho and Arroyo del Valle. The report describes the current distribution and health of western sycamores along Arroyo Mocho and Arroyo del Valle, using field-based surveys at several locations, and explores the relationship of SAW to physical processes. As a suitability analysis, it explores potential restoration strategies along a process-based to planting-based restoration spectrum. This information will assist Zone 7, park districts and other landowners (such as local vineyards) by providing guidance for SAW restoration and enhancement activities. Outreach for this effort included a poster for the 2019 Contra Costa Watershed symposium and a virtual presentation to the 2021 Alameda Creek Watershed Forum (see below).

To pilot a planting-based approach for sycamore enhancement, restoration implementation was conducted in 2023 and 2024 at two sites along Arroyo Mocho, at Medeiros Parkway and Robertson Park. The effort involved installing 30 container-grown California sycamores and 198 live stakes.  Volunteers with Living Arroyos watershed stewardship program joined in the restoration and maintenance of the plantings as part of a participatory outreach effort of the project. The “Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Pilot Study Implementation Guidelines”, led by H. T. Harvey & Associates, was developed to support these restoration activities by providing site-level revegetation techniques for installing, maintaining and monitoring California sycamore plantings. In April 2024, a small Unoccupied Aerial System (sUAS) survey was conducted for both Robertson Park and Medeiros Parkway, which produced high-resolution orthoimagery and elevation data. These products are intended to serve as baseline post-implementation documentation to support monitoring the pilot restoration project into the future. This is documented in the memo: “Robertson Park and Medeiros Parkway sUAS Surveys for the Sycamore Pilot Implementation Project.”

sUAS survey results

• sUAS Orthoimagery: Robertson Park; Medeiros Parkway
• sUAS Elevation Data:
  • DSM Robertson Park; Medeiros Parkway
  • DTM (estimated) Robertson Park; Medeiros Parkway

This effort also supported the convening of the California sycamore and sycamore alluvial woodland restoration community. On May 21, 2024, over 50 scientists, managers, and other interested parties joined for a virtual “Sycamore Summit”, with the goal of bringing together experts to share knowledge and insights on California sycamore ecology and Sycamore Alluvial Woodland conservation and restoration currently, and into the future. A “California Sycamore Community” listserv has since been created for the continued sharing of information and future Sycamore Summits are expected in the future. For those interested in joining the listserv, please email [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]. 

Resources

• View and download “Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Restoration and Enhancement Suitability Study”
• View and download “Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Pilot Study Implementation Guidelines”

Alameda Creek Watershed Forum

• View and download associated presentation
• View and download poster for Contra Costa Watershed Symposium, December 2019

The Livermore-Amador Valley is drained by the Arroyo de la Laguna (ADLL), that integrates and responds to the collective changes in land and water management that influence water and sediment delivery to the network of channels in the Valley. The reach of ADLL between the Arroyo Del Valle confluence and Verona Road is currently experiencing significant changes to its channel morphology, namely incision and widening, leading to bank erosion and bank failures. It is important to note that this reach has mixed ownership, with a small portion owned by the Zone 7 Water Agency, but the majority owned by multiple private landowners. The complex history of this reach makes it difficult to determine the current and future condition and functioning. In an effort to understand the ADLL geomorphic processes and channel evolutionary pathway, Zone 7 has partnered with SFEI to create this reach-based geomorphic evaluation report that will serve as a reference for the historical, current and likely future condition of the reach, and will provide broader context to inform decisions about potential restoration projects.

As part of the Preparing for the Storm grant, the technical report “Arroyo de la Laguna Geomorphic Evaluation” presents an understanding of the channel history, process-based channel response, current channel evolutionary phase, and likely future response, reach by reach. This understanding is based upon limited field observations (Fall 2018) and more extensive previous work in the study area.

Resources

• View and download the report “Arroyo de la Laguna Geomorphic Evaluation”

Stream restoration and “soft” bank stabilization construction occurred along the Arroyo de la Laguna at the Verona Reach in late 2017, conducted by Zone 7 Water Agency. The site was revegetated following construction and was completed in January 2018.