Sea Level Rise — An Island City's Existential Challenge

active• alameda

Alameda is surrounded by water on all sides — and rising seas pose a threat unlike that faced by any other city in Alameda County. With one foot of sea level rise projected between 2040 and 2060, over 190 homes could be impacted — and by 2070 to 2100, with three feet of sea level rise, over 390 homes could flood, requiring expanded shoreline defenses, marina adaptations, and large-scale stormwater management. The city's most urgent near-term project is the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Project: focused on near-term planning for the two shorelines adjacent to the entries and exits of the Posey and Webster Street Tubes, as well as inland drainage areas — with solutions including raising elevations to 14 feet with a combination of levees, seawalls, and raised pathways and controlling storm drainage. A devastating financial blow came in 2026 when the city lost a FEMA BRIC grant worth about $54 million to address sea level rise and flooding because the BRIC program was eliminated by the Trump administration — money the city was counting on for critical shoreline infrastructure.

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