People for Watershed Resilience

The challenge: The Bay Area’s shoreline cities are being inundated with water, causing damage to homes and critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, towns further inland are grappling with repetitive flooding. And maybe the biggest challenge of all is that the people at highest risk of these climate impacts aren’t being heard.

The solution: Greenbelt Alliance is accelerating community awareness and participation in climate adaptation planning. We are forging relationships between local governments, climate-based organizations, and community members to overcome obstacles and catalyze effective and equitable flood adaptation efforts. Our work will support the jurisdictions at the highest risk of flooding to implement feasible plans that build resilience to inundation. Here’s how…

OUR STRATEGY

Educate

Greenbelt Alliance is working with vulnerable communities to share best practices and innovative resilience models that build natural resilience to floods.  Through educational opportunities, we’re helping raise awareness around flood risks as well as offering creative mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Engaging with communities in this way breaks down barriers that often prevent learning and information sharing. This in turn, improves safety planning efforts and strengthens support for the protection of natural resources.

Advocate

Greenbelt Alliance is working with vulnerable communities to develop creative advocacy campaigns that activate residents who are being impacted the most by flooding events.

By offering a platform that allows people from all walks of life the opportunity to speak and be heard, climate-resilient, equitable policies will prevail.

Collaborate

Greenbelt Alliance is working with public agencies to increase community participation in shoreline protection and adaptation efforts. We are also working with climate-based organizations to identify funding resources for nature-based solutions that bolster flood resilience. And we are connecting local and regional groups to work together to address watershed resilience.

Fostering this type of collaboration will lead to more equitable outcomes with a focus on nature and people.

OUR PROJECTS

Bay Adapt & The Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan

Marin Regional Climate Collaborative

Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee

Resilience Roots Climate Leaders Network

Newark Shoreline Adaptation

Bay Adapt & The Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan

We are working with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission to implement a much-needed regional strategy for comprehensively addressing sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Marin Regional Climate Collaborative

We are part of the Marin Climate Justice Collaborative working on climate adaptation plans for the City of Marin and unincorporated Marin County as well as the Canal District in San Rafael.

Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee

OAAC is a coalition of shoreline communities and stakeholders working to co-create a coordinated and inclusive plan to accelerate sea level rise adaptation, protect and restore water quality, recreation and habitat, and promote community resilience.

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Resilient Roots: Climate Leaders Network

Our team is working in Suisun and Fairfield to lead a Climate Learning Exchange and Training cohort that will establish educational opportunities on the ground through a series of flood walks, workshops, and events. 

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Newark Shoreline Adaptation

We are working with residents in Newark to ensure they are aware of flood risk across the city as well as how to advocate for resilient strategies.

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LEARN MORE

Community in Hayward Area Comes Together to Protect the Shoreline From Sea Level Rise

Cailin Notch November 19, 2025

On November 18th, Greenbelt Alliance in partnership with the Hayward Area Shoreline Resilience Collaborative hosted a workshop where neighbors and community members gathered at the Cherryland Community Center to explore and weigh in on plans to protect the Hayward Area Shoreline from sea level rise through three projects using nature-based solutions. Over 140 attendees joined

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BCDC’s Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is Unanimously Approved

Zoe Siegel December 6, 2024

We’re thrilled to share that the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) unanimously voted to adopt the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) Bay Plan Amendment on December 5, 2024! As sea levels continue to rise in the near and long-term, the need for a coordinated approach for sea level rise adaptation initiatives along the Bay

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Groundwater is on the Rise: A Case Study in East Palo Alto

Zoe Ivatt July 25, 2024

A new report from SPUR and Nuestra proposes ways in which rising groundwater can be addressed through a comprehensive solution designed for structural, health, and equity concerns. In May 2024, SPUR partnered with the community based organization Nuestra Casa to publish the case study “Look out Below,” which focuses on rising groundwater levels and mitigation

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Suisun City by Karl Nielsen/Greenbelt Alliance

Water Resources Remain Uncertain In California Forever

Daniela Ades November 30, 2023

Since the news of a huge sprawl development proposal in Solano County became public last August, one of the main questions around the “California Forever” project has been: where are they going to get water from? This question is top of mind for the local community who is already living in a climate-stressed region. Eastern

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Drought-Resilient Models to Manage Water Resources

Malek Jelassi September 14, 2022

In August 2022, the US Drought Monitor reported that almost 30% of the country remains in severe drought conditions. California and the San Francisco Bay Area have been burdened by a multiple-year drought and intense heat waves and wildfires. In order to sustain our growing needs, we need to employ smart water management models. Conserving

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