... a new way to reduce flood risk in coastal cities
Today we are sending postcards to three of many individuals from three agencies who worked to create an exciting new horizontal levee to protect coastlines. Although it is not fully operational, it is already having a positive impact on the Palo Alto Baylands.
Located on the shore of Harbor Marsh in the Palo Alto Baylands, the Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project is the first horizontal levee to be built in the San Francisco Bay that beneficially reuses treated wastewater for irrigation. Construction began in Sept 2025.
Most levees look like steep, barren embankments or riprap-clad seawalls, designed to prevent flooding by adding extra feet of height. But this project, though it shares a name, is a different type of infrastructure altogether. Seeded with over 35 species of native plants, the site is a pilot for what’s known as a horizontal levee, or living levee, blending into the estuary’s natural scenery as it spreads its feet of added height over a longer area.
"When you look at levees that are along the bay front, a lot of times they’ve got really steep faces and big, huge rocks in front of them to protect them from wind waves,” explained Mark Lindley, lead engineer on the Palo Alto living levee. “By having this flat, gradual slope with really dense vegetation on it instead of having rock, the waves break on that slope like they do on a beach.”
Over the next five years, researchers from the United States Geological Survey, universities, and local nonprofits will monitor qualitative benefits, such as recreational use, and quantitative benefits, like impacts on biodiversity and water quality. The results could help justify the higher costs often associated with green infrastructure projects like the horizontal levee.
Article: https://tinyurl.com/3uypmh6t
Article with Video: https://abc7news.com/post/palo-altos-horizontal-levee-passes-test-reduces-flooding-during-storms/18479152/
San Francisco Estuary Partnership: https://www.sfestuary.org/
Lindley Bio: https://esassoc.com/employee/mark-lindley-pe/
Nutters Bio: https://www.sfestuary.org/heidi-nutters/
Senior Engineer
Environmental Science Associates (ESA)
550 Kearny Street, Suite 800
Environmental Science Associates (ESA)
550 Kearny Street, Suite 800
City, State, Zip: San Francisco, CA 94108
San Francisco Estuary Partnership
375 Beale Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94105
Senior Engineer/Watershed Protection
City of Palo Alto
2501 Embarcadero Way
Palo Alto, CA 94303
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