To: The Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors
From: Warren Lai, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer
Report Title: Funding Agreement with the City of Richmond for the Wildcat Creek Fish Passage Implementation Project.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Acting as the governing body of the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (Flood Control District), APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Chief Engineer, or designee, to execute the Funding Agreement with the City of Richmond (City), effective February 4, 2026, to pay the District $780,000 in City funds for the Wildcat Creek Fish Passage Implementation Project (WCFPI Project).
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Funding Agreement requires the City of Richmond to contribute $780,000 toward the cost to plan, design, construct, and implement the WCFPI Project (Project No. 7505-6F8106). Remaining WCFPI Project costs are funded by the California Department of Water Resources Urban Streams Restoration Program and the US Environmental Protection Agency San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (Project No. 7505-6F8101 through 7505-6F8104).
BACKGROUND:
The Flood Control District plans to implement the WCFPI Project, which includes improving fish passage in Wildcat Creek, widening a sedimentation basin, and modifying a flood control structure to reduce flood risk to nearby neighborhoods. The WCFPI Project is located in the North Richmond area. The City and the Flood Control District have discussed the WCFPI Project improvements, and the City has determined that the WCFPI Project offers benefits and wishes to contribute to its costs.
The Funding Agreement requires the City to provide the District $780,000 in City funds for the WCFPI Project within 90 days after the effective date of the agreement. Any amount not used by the District for the planning, design, construction, and implementation of the project will be returned to the City. The Funding Agreement outlines other roles and responsibilities of the parties, including a mutual indemnity obligation requiring each party to indemnify the other party from liabilities that arise from indemnifying party’s negligence or misconduct.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Board does not approve the agreement, the agreement could not be executed and there would be no City obligation to provide funding for the WCFPI Project.