Public Sediment for Alameda Creek

Originally developed as the SCAPE team’s proposal for the Resilient By Design: Bay Area Challenge, Public Sediment for Alameda Creek is a watershed-scale climate adaptation and open space vision that addresses sea-level rise, drowning bayland ecosystems and sediment scarcity along the edges of Fremont, Union City and Newark, California. In 2019, the project received $31.4 million in implementation funding from the State of California.

Public Sediment proposes “unlocking” Alameda Creek to re-connect upstream sediment to downstream baylands, sustaining protective marshes and mudflats along the San Francisco Bay. By broadening focus to include the entire Alameda Creek watershed (the largest tributary feeding the Bay) rather than just the coastal edge, Public Sediment engages climate issues at an ecosystem scale — reconnecting migratory fish to their historic spawning grounds; introducing a linear landscape along the restored and floodable creek corridor; and building regional awareness and stewardship around ecosystem and sediment resources. The team also proposed a monitoring and adaptive management of Alameda Creek to address changing environmental conditions over time.

Following the Resilient By Design competition, Public Sediment has gone on to influence a suite of related SCAPE projects in the Bay Area, including the Hayward Regional Shoreline Adaptation Master Plan and a pilot gravel beach restoration project at Eden Landing Ecological Preserve.

Learn more:

• Visit the project website.
• Read the final report.
• Watch the final presentation.