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NOVATO FLOOD PROTECTION and WATERSHED PROGRAM JULY 2017 Deer Island and Novato baylands in February 2017 (photo by Ernie Ganas)

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Page 1: NOVATO FLOOD PROTECTION and€¦ · Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program Novato Watershed Program Overview Novato has a history of flooding. Winter storms in 2016-2017 closed

NOVATO FLOOD PROTECTION and

WATERSHED PROGRAM

JULY 2017

Deer Island and Novato baylands in February 2017 (photo by Ernie Ganas)

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July 2017 i

Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

The Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program is a collaborative

effort of the County of Marin, Marin County Flood Control and Water

Conservation District Zone No. 1 – Novato, City of Novato, North Marin

Water District, and Novato Sanitary District.

Its goal is to provide a framework to integrate flood protection and en-

vironmental restoration with public and private partners to protect and

enhance Marin’s watersheds.

Document production managed by: Laurie Williams, County of Marin

Contents copyright of the County of Marin, 2017. All rights reserved.

.

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July 2017 ii

Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Flooding affects our quality of life and livelihood: it threatens our

homes and our businesses, and can impact everything we do in our

normal day-to-day life, from getting our children to school to our access

to emergency services. And we face a new threat: sea level rise is a

growing concern and must be factored into any options we consider as

we move forward.

Solutions need to be integrative and work with our natural environ-

ment to ensure they protect the habitat and special species living in our

backyards, such as the steelhead trout and Ridgway’s rail. And because

water disregards boundaries of any sort, we must carefully craft solu-

tions that don’t cause harm to one neighborhood while protecting an-

other.

The complexity of these issues highlights our need to work together

through the watershed approach. There are no easy solutions, but this

Vision will help us start from a common point of understanding as we

work together to define solutions for the short-term as well as long-

range planning. .

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July 2017 iii

Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Contents

Novato Watershed Program Overview

Community Outreach

Watershed Characteristics

History of Floods and Flood Protection Activities

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Impacts in Novato

Examining and Evaluating Potential Strategies

Potential Project Concepts

Status of Funding

Conclusion

References

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July 2017 1

Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Novato Watershed Program Overview

Novato has a history of flooding. Winter storms in 2016-2017 closed Highway 37 for 27 days and flooded neighborhood streets. Adding to historic issues, the City now faces new threats of sea level rise and climate change. Flood Control Zone 1, charged with flood protection, has funding to maintain its current facilities but little for new capital projects. The goal of the Novato Watershed Program was to understand and evaluate options for the future.

The core of the Novato Watershed Program is its partnership with local agencies. The Program partnered

with Marin County, City of Novato, Novato Sanitary District, North Marin Water District, and the Flood Con-

trol Zone No. 1 (Zone 1) Advisory Board to jointly finance, scope, and review the Program’s work products. In

addition, work was supported by three stakeholder committees: Policy Advisory Committee (PAC), Technical

Work Group (TWG), and Operations and Finance Committee. These partnerships and committees were cru-

cial to the Program’s community focus.

The primary work product was a watershed-wide unified hydrology and hydraulic model. The 2016 Hydraulic

Study, which modeled hydrology and hydraulics of the entire Novato Creek watershed, was designed to pro-

vide a system-wide analysis of options to integrate flood protection goals and sediment management efforts

Novato creek watershed from Stafford lake to san Pablo bay (Photo by Sue Lattanzio)

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July 2017 2

Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

with creek and wetland restoration and habitat enhancement of Novato’s creeks and wetlands. The model was used to determine the most beneficial and feasible project types to construct to:

Improve flood protection to 50-yr storm event, by upgrading existing and constructing new facilities

Protect and enhance habitat for protected species, particularly steelhead trout and Ridgway’s rails

Reduce dredging costs and associated impacts

Utilize and support natural processes to improve sediment man-agement

Adapt to climate change and sea level rise.

The Novato Watershed Program’s partners funded the Hydraulic

Study and outreach, but project implementation is largely unfund-

ed. This document summarizes the process and the work products

to date and presents next steps.

Marin County Watershed Program

The Novato Flood Protection and Water-shed Program (Novato Watershed Pro-gram) is one of several initiatives under the County of Marin Department of Public Works’ Watershed Program, which was approved by the Marin County Board of Supervisors in May 2008. The goal of the Watershed Program is to develop a frame-work that integrates flood protection, creek and wetland restoration, fish pas-sage and water quality improvements with public and private partners to pro-tect and enhance Marin’s watersheds.

By bringing together program partners, and integrating needs and solutions, we can create well-designed, science-based, and community-supported programs that are well-received by grant funding and permitting agencies.

Novato Watershed Program partners on a tour of the water-shed: Left to right: Rick Fraites (North Marin Water Dis-trict), Eric Lucan (Novato City Council, behind Rick), Judy Ar-nold (Marin County Supervisor), Sandeep Karkal (Novato Sani-tary District), Die-trich Stroeh (Flood Control Zone 1 Advi-sory Board), and Russ Thompson (City of Novato).

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Community Outreach

Community support is crucial to the success of the Novato Watershed Program. The Program implemented a

multifaceted outreach program to support communication to the community at large and to receive feed-

back on its products. In addition, the Program has relied on its stakeholder committees and Partners to guide

the process and refine the work products.

The Novato Watershed Program’s outreach includes watershed newsletters, community meetings, presenta-tions, and utilization of the watershed program notification lists and website. The website is regularly updat-ed with notices about workshops, meetings, proposals and projects and is the repository for all Program re-ports and documents: http://www.marinwatersheds.org/novato.html.

The Program has held two community meetings to present study results and has made presentations to com-munity organizations. In addition, the Program has presented numerous times to the Flood Control Zone No. 1 Advisory Board. Advisory Board meetings are open to the public and noticed according to the Brown Act and are an ideal format for gaining input from the community.

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

The Program’s outreach activities have included:

Community Meeting #1 in April 2015 Community Meeting #2 in February 2016 4 e-newsletters 6 Technical Working Group meetings 6 Policy Advisory Committee meetings 5 Partner meetings 20+ Flood Control Zone 1 Advisory Board meetings 4 Meetings with Bel Marin Keys Community Service District Meetings with California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Cali-

fornia Coastal Commission, and Marin Audubon Society to pro-vide Program updates

Presentations to Rotary Club of Novato Sunrise, Rotary Club of Novato, Marin Conservation League North Unit, Black Point Im-provement Club, Novato Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee, and the Novato City Council

All Program documents and notices of meetings are posted to the Novato Watershed Program webpage:

http://www.marinwatersheds.org/novato.html

Both the Existing Conditions and Alternatives Analysis reports were released in draft format for public review and comments. Feedback and comments were cataloged and addressed as appropriate in the final draft documents.

Watershed Stakeholder Committees

The Novato Watershed Program formed three committees to scope and review work products and to provide policy guid-ance: Policy Advisory Committee, Opera-tions and Finance Committee, and Tech-nical Work Group.

Policy Advisory Committee (PAC)

The PAC is comprised of elected officials and includes the District County Supervi-sor, a representative from the Novato City Council, and two representatives from each of the Board of Directors of the Part-ner agencies. This committee provides policy input on program direction and community issues.

Operations and Finance Committee

This committee is comprised of District managers and/or city manager and the Marin County Public Works director. It meets to evaluate progress and prioritize funding strategies.

Technical Working Group (TWG)

The TWG includes technical experts and community members with science and technical backgrounds from local water-shed groups, homeowners’ associations, and conservation organizations, and staff of state, federal and local regulatory and participating agencies. The TWG is respon-sible for reviewing watershed products, and providing input on issues, needs, and watershed priorities.

Pascal Soumoy (San Francisco Bay Con-servation and Development Commis-sion) and coastal ecologist Peter Baye, Ph.D., discuss flood protection and hab-itat restoration options in the Novato baylands in November 2013.

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Watershed Characteristics

The Novato Creek watershed is the largest watershed in eastern Marin County, encompassing a 45 square mile drainage extending eastward from Big Rock Ridge, Stafford Lake, and Mt. Burdell across suburban valleys, and through an expansive leveed intertidal bay-land to San Pablo Bay. The watershed is approximately 17 miles long with elevations ranging from approximately 1900 ft. at ridge tops to sea level at San Pablo Bay. It is bordered by coastal hills to the west, the Petaluma River basin and San Pablo Bay to the north-east and east, and the Miller Creek watershed to the southeast. Stafford Lake, with a storage capacity of 4,450 acre ft., is a water supply reservoir operated by North Marin Water District, and it sep-arates the upper 8.3 square miles of headwaters (5 miles of creek) from the lower drainage. Ten tributaries join the main stem of No-vato Creek as it traverses the watershed below Stafford Dam.

The watershed includes the City of Novato, with approximately 52,000 residents. About 60% of Novato residents have moved to the City since 2000, with half between 2000-2009; and 10% since 2010.

The City has a number of schools, shopping centers, clinics and hospital facilities, libraries, and other suburban amenities. Highways 101 and 37 provide regional access to and from the city. Job sectors in the City include bio-technology, entertainment, retail, financial, healthcare, and government.

Novato Watershed Program Supports City Planning and Sustainability Efforts

Novato residents take pride in the City’s small-town atmosphere and natural envi-ronment.

The City’s current draft General Plan states that residents “wish to preserve and enhance the open space, hillsides, ridgelines, creeks, wetlands and other nat-ural features that give our City its scenic beauty and defines its borders.”

Novato’s Strategic Plan also incorporates residents’ desires to “preserve and protect Novato’s unique environment.”

Elements of the Novato Watershed Pro-gram support the General and Strategic Plans' focus on Novato and regional wa-tershed efforts and implementation of the City’s Climate Action Plan.

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

History of Floods and Flood Protection Activities

Novato is prone to flooding due to its topography and development patterns. In some locations in the upper

watershed, Novato Creek is severely constrained by bedrock and the steep slopes of knolls and hillsides. Dur-

ing high flow events, the creek overflows and sends stormwater down local streets. Farther down the water-

shed, the land flattens. The creeks here tend to flow more slowly and deposit sediment, which can impede

flow during winter storms.

In the past 90 years, Novato has experienced 12 major floods, averaging over one per decade. Floods in 1940,

1955, 1982, 1998, and 2006 were particularly destructive. The impacts of flooding affect residents, business-

es, property owners, emergency response, transportation networks, and the overall economic vitality of the

community. Levees were breached intentionally in 2006, 2008, and 2014 to protect downtown and residen-

tial neighborhoods. Highway 37 was closed for 27 days in winter 2017 due to flooding.

However, the Novato community also has a legacy of progressive leadership in proposing and implementing

solutions. The County, the City of Novato, and the Zone 1 Advisory Board have a long history of implementing

successful flood protection projects.

Flooding on South Novato Blvd near Center Rd in 1973 (photo from City of Novato public Works)

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

In 1972, the Flood Control District acquired 1200 acres in the lower baylands (the area behind Vintage Oaks

Shopping Center). These lands had been slated for the development of 6500 homes in the floodplain; now,

these lands are used for flood storage and are available for flood protection, tidal marsh restoration, sea lev-

el rise adaptation projects, and water re-use.

Following the severe flooding in 1982, Novato residents passed a $20 million benefit assessment, which in-

cluded a 4-yr assessment for capital project construction and a modest operations and maintenance assess-

ment that continues to this day. The capital projects were encapsulated into the Novato Flood Control Pro-

ject, which comprised eight phases of work focused on maximizing flood conveyance and stabilizing eroding

banks in Novato and Warner Creeks between Grant Ave. and Diablo Ave. It also included raising Stafford Dam

to increase storage and the installation of a high flow diversion structure at Arroyo Avichi. Construction of

the eight phases took place from 1985-2006.

Zone 1 owns and maintains 5 miles of levees and four stormwater pump stations. Every four years, Zone 1 removes accumulated sediment from 1.5 miles of Arroyo Avichi and Novato and Warner Creeks between Dia-blo Ave. and the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Bridge to maintain flow conveyance through this low-lying reach. In addition, annual channel maintenance in Novato Creek and its tributaries includes trim-ming of downed trees and vegetation and trash removal, and as-needed stabilization of failing banks on Zone-owned parcels along 15 miles of creeks.

The 2016 Hydraulic Study considered these flood reduction efforts in light of current and future needs, and

evaluated opportunities in the baylands and in the upper watershed to further improve the level of flood

protection and begin adaptation to climate change and sea level rise.

DEER ISLAND AND DEER ISLAND BASIN

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Impacts in Novato

Our climate is changing. Average global temperatures have increased by 1.4° F over the past 100 years. Much of this heat is absorbed by the world’s oceans. As global average temperatures rise, the water in the ocean warms, expands, and elevates sea levels. In San Francisco Bay, sea levels have risen seven inches over the past century. These rising sea levels:

increase the upstream extent of tidal flooding worsen creek flooding due to backwater effects of elevated high tides create larger, stronger waves that erode the shoreline and destroy sensitive marshes

Climate change is also likely to increase the magnitude and frequency of winter storms, further worsening flooding problems.

In Novato, we can expect water surface elevations in the baylands to increase from 1-3 feet within the next 50 years. The higher tides will put additional pressure on creek discharge to the bay and are likely to increase flood durations. Floodwaters may need several tide cycles to recede. Transportation networks are especially vulnerable, including Highways 101 and 37 and Redwood Blvd. and Rowland Blvd. which are important com-mercial areas that contribute to tax base of the City.

BAYWave’s Marin shoreline sea level rise vulnerability assessment was released in April 2017. It quantifies novato’s vulnerability to six sea level rise scenarios.

Potential impacts of sea level rise in Novato could include:

Increased daily high tides from 4-6 ft. today to 8-10 ft. Longer duration of floods in Novato Creek and Warner Creek areas Increased sedimentation in the dredge reach and around low lying channels and outfalls, necessitating

elevation of or increased maintenance for low lying outfalls Increased need for upstream stormwater storage during high tides Reduced movement of sediment through the baylands during both typical and large storm events Increased daily tide range and peak flood water surface elevations downstream of Highway 37 Daily high tides may increase to near or above current Q50 peak flood levels

BayWAVE is a focused vulnerability assessment of the eastern Marin shoreline from the Golden Gate Bridge to the northern end of Novato. BayWAVE evaluates the extent of impacted assets, assesses the sensitivity and adaptability of selected assets and work with the local cities and towns to plan implementation of adaptation strategies. The fundamental goal of the BayWAVE pro-ject is to increase awareness and preparation for future SLR impacts by using this coordinated, multi-jurisdictional assessment.

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Examining and Evaluating Potential

Strategies

In order to understand the current system and potential strategies to improve current conditions, the Novato Watershed Program pro-duced the 2016 Hydraulic Study, which constructed a unified, wa-tershed-wide hydrology and hydraulic model of Novato Creek and limited major tributaries. It provided a computerized model repre-senting the rainfall and stormwater runoff patterns under current conditions and under potential future scenarios. In addition, the Program gained insight into historical processes and future possibil-ities via Flood Control 2.0, an innovative regional effort to create a new generation of flood channel design and management.

Hydrology and Hydraulic Modeling

Novato Watershed Program contracted with Kamman Hydrology & Engineering, Inc. (KHE) to produce the 2016 Hydraulic Study. KHE teamed with WRECO Consultants and Dynamic Solutions Interna-tional to produce the numerical hydraulic models covering Stafford Dam to San Pablo Bay.

The first goal of the modeling was to develop an “existing condi-tions” model which is calibrated to known storm events. The ex-isting conditions model should represent actual conditions in the watershed as accurately as possible.

Once the existing condition model was complete, the model can run different scenarios to determine the effects of potential pro-jects on flood protection. These potential projects are called “alternatives”. General concepts of potential projects arose out of the existing conditions modeling. As part of the subsequent alterna-tives analysis process, these general concepts were further devel-oped into discrete alternative projects. The Program Partners and TWG assessed and ranked a total of 18 potential projects in four categories: flood control, ecological benefit, implementation feasi-bility, and cost. These potential projects included numerous oppor-tunities to improve watershed function via:

Addition of floodplain conveyance

Addition of flood storage

Modification to stormwater drainage

Engineered sediment management

Creek and wetland enhancement

Terminology

Hydrologic modeling of the Novato Creek watershed incorporated measurements from rainfall and stream gages to provide information about the amount of rainfall over the watershed and the distribution of stormwater run-off through the major tributaries, giving us an understanding of how much water comes into and how it moves through the watershed.

The hydraulic model incorporated the hy-drology model results, along with survey data including creek cross-sections, stream gage, and topography data. It used information about the size and shape of creek channels to show how storm-water moves down the watershed, and how and where water might come out of the creek channel and cause flooding.

Development of the existing conditions model is fully described in the Hydraulic Assessment of Existing Conditions, and the development and analysis of alternative projects is described in the Novato Creek Hydraulic Study Analysis of Alternatives.

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Flood Control 2.0 - Nature-based Solutions to Reduce Flooding

As the modeling work progressed, the lower Novato Creek baylands was chosen as one of three focus areas, along with San Francisquito Creek near Palo Alto and lower Walnut Creek, for Flood Control 2.0, an ambitious regional effort funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund and undertaken by scientists from the San Francisco Estuary Institute.

Flood Control 2.0 seeks to re-direct flood protection strategies from more traditional hard engineering solu-tions to those that work with natural processes. The project aims to increase flood protection while restoring stream and wetland habitats, improving water quality, and adapting to sea level rise around San Francisco Bay. Through an interdisciplinary team linking regional science expertise with on-the-ground flood control agencies, the project advances channel redesign to restore wetland habitat, water quality, and shoreline re-silience through demonstration projects.

Concepts from Flood Control 2.0 work products, including the Novato Creek Baylands Historical Ecology Study and Novato Creek Baylands Vision, have been incorporated into the development of potential projects. Participation in Flood Control 2.0 has also provided information about the Novato Watershed Program to a regional audience of scientists and grant funding agencies.

Project partners in Flood Control 2.0 are: San Francisco Estuary Institute, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture,

Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the

Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.

Flood Control 2.0 schematic showing how lower Novato Creek baylands could look in the future (source: San Francisco Estu-ary Institute).

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Potential Project Concepts With modeling complete and broad strategies identified, the Novato Watershed Program began crafting a

suite of potential project concepts that would achieve its goals to improve flood protection and enhance hab-

itat. The Program focused on the short-term projects identified through the 2016 Hydraulic Study. However,

the list of potential project concepts has evolved for a variety of reasons:

New Information. Newly discovered constraints meant some short-term projects were not feasible in the projected timeframe.

New projects were added. Some projects not initially modeled were identified as beneficial and their addi-tion addresses other watershed needs for a more balanced program.

Cost. The Novato Watershed Program wanted to create a package of projects that would substantially im-

prove flood protection with a cost that would not exceed $20 million.

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

The hydraulic study showed that smaller projects in the upper watershed failed to sufficiently reduce flood-

ing downstream due to the immense drainage area to Novato Creek. The many improvements constructed

through the prior work of the Novato Flood Control Project maximized channel capacity and conveyance of

storm flows. Therefore, the project concepts focus on opening up the Baylands owned by the Marin County

Flood Control District and the State of California, down-

stream of the Highway 101 crossing of Novato Creek. This

is the area behind the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center and

downstream of Highway 37 near the community of Bel

Marin Keys.

A keystone project concept is the Deer Island Basin Tidal

Marsh restoration. This concept embodies all of the main

Novato Watershed Program themes: restoration of 100

acres of diked baylands to tidal marsh, flood reduction

from lowered water surface elevations, utilizing natural

processes to move sediment downstream, adaptation to

sea level rise with horizontal levees, local sediment re-

use, and enhanced recreation via a new levee trail.

Potential project concepts and estimated costs. Estimated costs represent order of magnitude costs that will be subject to revision following completion of engineering design and environmental review.

NORTH DEER ISLAND BASIN (SOUTH OF SLADE PARK)

Project Concept Est. Cost Actions and Benefits

Stormwater Drainage Improvements $5 M Reduce flood risk to downtown businesses and residences; focus on areas identified in City's Storm Drain Master Plan, Rush Creek and Railroad Ditch.

Novato Creek Levee and Pump Storm Damage Repair

$2 M Repair 2017 storm-damaged levees and pumps that protect downtown No-vato and surrounding areas from flooding.

Deer Island Basin Tidal Marsh Restora-tion

$13 M

Setback levees along Novato Creek next to Deer Island Open Space Preserve to reduce flood risk upstream and on State Route 37; adapt to sea level rise; restore 100 acres of tidal wetlands; construct new levee trail.

Novato Creek Corridor Expansion $4 M Widen Novato Creek in baylands (behind Costco) to improve stormwater flow out of downtown; reduce water levels; restore habitat.

Simmons Slough Water Management System

$4 M

Replace pump system and improve flood protection of Atherton/Olive Ave-nues; reduce operational costs; stabilize water levels in nearby restored wetlands.

Pacheco Pond Water Quality Improve-ments

$3 M Increase flood storage, improve water circulation and air quality, and en-hance wetland habitat.

Total Costs $31 M In 2017 dollars

Parcel Tax Revenue $20 M

Grant Revenues (Target) $11 M Leverage parcel tax revenues for grants from state and federal agencies.

Total Revenues $31 M

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Status of Funding

Neither local agencies nor Program partners have sufficient funding to complete the identified potential pro-jects. Therefore, a funding measure of some type would be required to raise revenue to fund projects and to leverage State and Federal grant funds. The Novato Watershed Program is investigating a potential revenue measure in 2017 or later.

While the Novato Watershed Program is well-positioned to aggressively pursue grant funds for project imple-mentation, it is important to note that grants typically require the grantee to “match” the grant amounts. For any given project, a grantor may contribute anywhere from 25-50% of costs. Therefore, in order to leverage grants, the grantee must have available local funds for the unmatched amounts.

Grant Funding

Leveraging state and federal grant funding is key to constructing the projects identified by the Novato Water-

shed Program. The Program has been successful in attracting attention from regional and national planners,

engineers and scientists, which has contributed to the Program’s success in securing grant awards. The Pro-

gram has been awarded over $2.2 million in grants for flood protection projects in the Novato watershed

since the Watershed Program was initiated. To date, Zone 1 and the Novato Watershed Program have been

able to provide the needed match funding for these grants. However, additional Zone 1 funds will be needed

to match future grants.

The project concepts align very well with the priorities of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (SFBRA), which was funded by the passage of Measure AA, the San Francisco Bay Clean Water, Pollution Pre-vention, and Habitat Restoration Measure, in June 2016. SFBRA grants will focus on projects that protect San Francisco Bay for future generations by:

Protecting communities from floods Restoring habitat for fish, birds and wildlife Reducing trash, pollution and harmful toxins Improving water quality

Initial grant applications will be due in fall of 2017, with the first grants being awarded in early 2018.

Grant Agency Amount Purpose

CA DWR Integrated Water Resources Management Program

$1,500,000 Improve water management and drainage in Simmons Slough

CA DWR Local Levee Evaluation $403,331 Evaluate levees and potential improvements

CA DWR Flood Emergency Response $30,000 Purchase and install new stream and rain gages

US Environmental Protection Agency: Flood Control 2.0

$275,000 Produce historical ecology report; 30% design for Deer Island Basin Tidal Marsh Restoration

Total $2,208,331

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

Conclusion

A watershed is a living, breathing ecosystem. Watersheds not only support wildlife and habitat, but they are critical to our own health, well-being, and way of life. No matter where we live, we are all part of a water-shed.

The Novato Watershed Program brought its agency partners together to identify conceptual projects that integrate flood protection improvements, increase efficiencies in facilities operation and maintenance, im-prove water quality, restore and enhance habitat, and adapt to climate change and sea level rise.

The Program’s partners are committed to the watershed process and the resulting findings. They have con-tributed significant funding for the hydraulic analyses and many hours to the scoping and review of program products and this Vision to guide us on the path to move ahead.

This strong desire for action comes from dealing with the effects of past flooding, and looking ahead to the challenges of adapting to sea level rise.

The need now is to understand public support for these projects. Please visit our website (www.Marinwatersheds.org/novato.html) for more information and to sign up for our notification list. Let us know what you think by attending and participating in Flood Control Zone 1 meetings.

This Vision is a living document. It will continue to be updated as plans are more fully developed with feed-

back from the community.

Novato Creek baylands , looking toward the west (Photo by Sue Lattanzio)

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Novato Flood Protection and Watershed Program

References

City of Novato. 2015. General Plan 2035 Policy White Paper: Sea Level Rise and Adap-tation. (http://www.marincounty.org/~/media/files/departments/cd/planning/slr/more-information/novato_slr_adaptation_white_paper_march_2015.pdf?la=en)

City of Novato. 2015. Strategic Plan July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2018. (http://novato.org/home/showdocument?id=14356)

County of Marin. 2017. Marin Shoreline Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment. Marin County Department of Public Works, San Rafael, CA. (http://www.marincounty.org/main/marin-sea-level-rise).

Fehr and Peers. 2015. Novato Community-based Transportation Plan. Prepared for: Transportation Authority of Marin, San Rafael, CA. (http://www.tam.ca.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8982)

Kamman Hydrology & Engineering, Inc. 2016. Novato Creek Hydraulic Study Analysis of Alternatives. Novato Watershed Program, Marin County Department of Public Works, San Rafael, CA. (http://www.marinwatersheds.org/pubs_reports_novato.html)

Kamman Hydrology & Engineering, Inc. 2014. Hydraulic Assessment of Existing Condi-tions Novato Creek Watershed Project. Novato Watershed Program, Marin County Department of Public Works, San Rafael, CA. (http://www.marinwatersheds.org/pubs_reports_novato.html)

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