Public invited to give input on how Hayward should respond to rising sea levels

HAYWARD, Calif., March 22, 2019—The City of Hayward and partner agencies East Bay Regional Park District and Hayward Area Recreation and Park District are seeking public input on how best to respond to rising sea level and the threat it poses to shoreline habitat and infrastructure.

Under current projections, the areas of Hayward shoreline vulnerable to flooding and inundation are vast, and home to wastewater treatment and energy plants, the eastern approach to the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, business parks and residential neighborhoods.

Threatened also are natural and recreational features, including marshlands, the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center and San Francisco Bay Trail.

What to do about it is the subject of a new Hayward Regional Shoreline Master Plan being developed by the Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency, a joint powers agency consisting of the City, East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPRD) and Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD).

Decisions on which strategies ultimately are to be pursued and how to pay for them will require public engagement and participation.

To begin the discussion, the Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency, or HASPA, is conducting an online survey, which will be followed by several community workshops and other events.

The survey is available until the end of March and also can be reached through the sea level rise pageon the City of Hayward website, along with additional information on development of the Shoreline Master Plan and links to a preliminary study on potential effects of sea level rise on the shoreline as well as interactive maps of areas subject to flooding and inundation under different scenarios.