West County Wastewater outlines "living levee" plan to protect North Richmond shoreline and treatment plant

At a meeting of the Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Commission operations committee, West County Wastewater officials outlined a nature‑based "living levee" design intended to protect the district’s North Richmond wastewater treatment plant from coastal flooding while restoring tidal wetlands.

Andrew Clough, general manager at West County Wastewater, told commissioners the district serves about 34,000 residences and 900 businesses and has invested in an $83,000,000 infrastructure and energy modernization program that will use cogeneration and solar to meet nearly all of the plant’s electricity needs. "We're taking poop and turn it into power and powering our plant," Clough said, describing plans to use methane from digesters and solar generation to dry biosolids on site and dramatically cut greenhouse‑gas emissions from prior sludge ponds.

The presentation, led by West County Wastewater staff and consultants, described a phased shoreline effort that aims first to construct a roughly 0.66‑mile pilot living levee on West County Wastewater parcels between San Pablo Creek and Wildcat Creek. The levee concept pairs a compact levee core with a long, gentle ecotone slope to allow marsh habitat to migrate upslope as sea level rises while still offering physical protection to the district's infrastructure.

Consultant Tim (Methune) and district staff walked commissioners through vulnerability mapping that used state guidance (cited as Ocean Protection Council guidance) showing about 3.5 feet of sea‑level rise combined with a 100‑year storm could overtop the facility and drown marsh habitat in Wildcat and San Pablo marshes. Presenters said the current funding — including Measure AA awards from the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority — supports design to between 35% and 65% depending on phase; they emphasized additional federal dollars will be needed for construction.

The presenters described property and permitting constraints: the pilot site largely lies on West County Wastewater parcels, but building a continuous five‑mile protection corridor would require access agreements or contributions from multiple landowners, including the City of Richmond, East Bay Regional Park District, Chevron and Republic Services. Clough said the district expects cooperative negotiations with some private owners and will coordinate with county and city sea‑level rise planning and regional regulators, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which holds a Water Resources Development Act authorization of up to $45 million tied to the North Richmond shoreline but has not yet designated the project as an active Corps work plan item.

Presenters discussed construction materials and sediment sourcing; Wildcat Creek sediment and on‑site lagoons are being evaluated for geotechnical suitability as local fill. Tim said local sediment will help but will not be sufficient and that creative partnerships and grant funding will be necessary. The district also described workforce development opportunities tied to long‑term operations and maintenance and invited collaboration with county workforce and training programs.

Commissioners and county sustainability staff raised follow‑up items: Jody London, the county sustainability coordinator, offered to coordinate the district with county resilience and workforce initiatives and recommended revisiting a pre‑pandemic commodity‑flow study of hazardous waterfront facilities. Board member Cheryl (West County Wastewater) emphasized the project's long community history and invited commissioners to tour the site.

Clough and Joe Nugabara said West County Wastewater would welcome a letter of support from the full Hazardous Materials Commission for future grant applications and noted staff would return for more technical briefings as design advances. The presentation concluded with an agreement to keep the stakeholder group and community forum active as the project pursues additional funding and access agreements.