People for Watershed Resilience - Greenbelt Alliance

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

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.

Climate Resilient Marin Initiative

Greenbelt Alliance is launching the Climate Resilient Marin Initiative to elevate, promote, and connect the local climate solutions and change makers necessary for a healthier climate future.

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.

Resilient Roots Climate Leaders Network

An education and leadership fellowship led by Greenbelt Alliance and local organizations in Solano and Oakland. Through hands-on learning, expert-led workshops, and place-based field experiences, fellows develop deep understanding of local climate challenges and the tools to lead community-driven solutions.

LEARN MORE

Hayward Eden Area Community Gathers to Advance Sea Level Rise Solutions

Lucy Park June 30, 2026

On Saturday, June 27th, Greenbelt Alliance and our partners through the Hayward Eden Area Resilience Collaborative hosted a workshop to learn about the latest sea level rise planning strategies, to explore nature-based solutions like horizontal levees, and to share community perspectives. Almost 100 attendees joined us to learn about the adaptation strategies informing multiple project

Waterfront Voices Workshops Shape the Port of Oakland’s Resilience Plan

Cailin Notch May 7, 2026

In early May, Greenbelt Alliance with its partners hosted two community workshops in support of the Port of Oakland’s Waterfront Resilience Plan. The workshops were hosted in partnership with the Port of Oakland, the City of Oakland, Hood Planning Group, Ninth Root, Civic Edge Consulting, the West Oakland Cultural Action Network (WOCAN), the West Oakland

Alamedans Show Strong Support for Adaptation Strategies that Protect the Environment

Cailin Notch February 5, 2026

As sea level rise increasingly affects daily life in Alameda, residents are clear about what they want to see along their shoreline: adaptation strategies that protect and work with the natural environment.

Adaptation That Our Flooded Communities Need

Greenbelt Alliance January 21, 2026

After heavy rainfall combined with higher King Tides flooded the Bay Area, our communities and ecosystems can’t afford to wait any longer for adaptation to sea level rise.

Marin’s King Tide Floods Are a Climate Wake-Up Call

Jessie Rountree January 12, 2026

Hundreds of homes and businesses across Marin County experienced historic-level flooding as King Tides combined with heavy rainfall.