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County shoreline district outlines RSAP plan, ties to Safer Bay project and seeks city participation
Summary
San Mateo County Flood & Sea Level Rise Resiliency District (1Shoreline) presented regional shoreline adaptation planning (RSAP), Safer Bay connections, creek debris permit work and asked East Palo Alto to contribute modest staff time and participate in a multi-city RSAP grant application to access state funding.
Len Matterman, director of the San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District (1Shoreline), told the council that the district was created by state law in 2019 to coordinate multi-jurisdictional resilience efforts and to help jurisdictions compete for state funding by completing regional shoreline adaptation plans (RSAPs).
Matterman described existing projects — including the Safer Bay project and the Bayfront Canal construction — and noted 1Shoreline's early construction proof-of-concept and technical studies. He said the district had stretched an initial three-year funding commitment to cover operations through 2028 and was preparing a grant application (anticipated submission at the end of June) to cover a five-city RSAP process that would include East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, Belmont and San Carlos.
"The RSAP puts jurisdictions farther up the queue for state funding," Matterman said, referencing recent guidance from the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and Senate Bill 272. He described a countywide creek-debris permit being pursued (five-year permits covering four creeks) and said such permitting, while expensive (he estimated a roughly $200,000 permitting process), enables proactive maintenance to reduce storm impacts.
Council members asked about local impacts, including potential reductions in flood-insurance premiums from completed projects and the estimated scale and timeline for the Safer Bay and levy work. Matterman said anecdotal evidence shows localized reductions in flood insurance in some neighborhoods after projects, and he estimated RSAP work for five cities could cost $1.5–2 million; the Brisbane-only grant he cited is about $750,000. He emphasized that East Palo Alto's commitment would likely be staff time, not direct funding, but noted a separate city-budgeted request of $40,000 per year over three years had been included in the proposed budget for 1Shoreline contributions.
Matterman said 1Shoreline will share a draft RSAP application with city staff for review before submission and that the planning exercise — if funded — would likely begin late in the year and take roughly two years. He also urged coordination between RSAP and ongoing Safer Bay technical work so cities can align proposals to the state's climate bond funding timeline.
