Transforming Urban Water Initiative

From Gray to Green Shorelines

Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Project

About Transforming Shorelines

Funded by EPA Region 9 Water Quality Improvement Fund, the Transforming Shorelines Project is supporting collaborative engagement on nature-based solutions.

Transforming Shorelines will:

  • Build regional capacity for nature-based solutions through technical support and analyses;
  • Advance a suite of NBS projects through design, permitting and implementation, and;
  • Advance state of the art water quality improvement approaches at the Oro Loma Horizontal Levee site.

News and Updates

Transforming Shorelines Collaborative Webinar: Regulatory Pathways for Nature-Based Solutions for Shoreline Resilience

August 28, 2024

The San Francisco Bay Area must continue to bolster coastal resilience to avoid inundation of vital habitat and prevent hundreds of billions of dollars of damage to property and infrastructure. To address this critical challenge, the pathways through regulatory permitting of nature-based climate adaptation projects must be improved through coordination, technical support, and regulatory advancement. 

This webinar featured a presentation on the regulatory challenges and opportunities for implementing nature-based solutions for shoreline resilience, as well as a panel of project implementers and regulators (from the First Mile Project, the Palo Alto Horizontal Levee, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the San Francisco Bay Water Board) to discuss how to effectively advance regulatory pathways for nature-based solutions.   

Watch Recording

Transforming Shorelines Collaborative

The Transforming Shorelines Collaborative (TSC) comprises practitioners and experts on nature-based solutions, wastewater treatment, resiliency and nutrient management including regulators, landowners and stakeholders, individual wastewater treatment facilities, regional entities and practitioners/experts involved in habitat restoration, treatment wetlands, or shoreline resilience. The TSC will meet bi-annually.

Who We Are

The TSC is convened by a Core Team of project participants representing a broad range of partners from across the Estuary. Our leadership team is listed below:

  • Carlos Diaz, Engineer (formerly with ESA and designer of the Oro Loma Horizontal Levee)
  • Dr. David Sedlak, UC Berkeley
  • Anthony DeSalvo, UC Berkeley
  • Jonathan Uhler, UC Berkeley
  • Jackie Zipkin, East Bay Dischargers Authority
  • Jeremy Lowe, San Francisco Estuary Institute
  • Alex Thomsen, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
  • Heidi Nutters, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
  • Liz Juvera, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
  • Diana Fu, San Francisco Estuary Partnership
  • Luisa Valiela, EPA Region 9
  • Medi Sinaki, Valley Water
  • Nasi Basiri, Valley Water
  • Evyan Sloane, State Coastal Conservancy
  • Lorien Fono, Bay Area Clean Waters Agencies

Get Engaged

To sign up for updates or to learn about a future TSC meeting, click on the “Subscribe” tab.