![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-17-at-1.01.10-PM.png\")
A screenshot of a map that shows flood risk scenarios at the Bayshore Elementary School, the eastern boundary of a pond at Seventh Street and State Route 75. The map, Figure 3-3, can be found on page 12 of the 2023 Bayshore Bikeway Final Feasibility Study. (City of Imperial Beach)<\/p>\n
The city was originally promised another $15 million grant in 2021 via a FEMA program that the Trump administration canceled last year, said Dennis Larson, co-founder of Nexus Planning and Research, a city-contracted consultant for the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Federal shifts, $27M price tag\u2014support coverage of Bayshore Bikeway decisions. In response, Larson said the city applied for a different grant under FEMA last year that focused more on reducing or mitigating future disaster losses. That could include funding upgrades to stormwater drains or installing levees to prevent flooding to nearby homes and businesses during severe storms.\u00a0<\/p>\n The previously canceled FEMA program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, was later brought back following legal action. Still, the city can only use one of the two grants, officials said.<\/p>\n The state agency that distributes FEMA funds is \u201ckeeping their options open as much as possible given the uncertainty\u201d of the federal administration, Imperial Beach Director of Environmental and Natural Resources Chris Helmer said during a call with inewsource.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s totally uncertain,\u201d Helmer acknowledged, \u201cbut that\u2019s not necessarily affecting our project right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The project is still moving forward with its design phase, and the city and partnering agencies \u201cgot a couple years to put together\u201d the construction funding, he said.<\/p>\n Larson said the project could cost up to $27 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n Imperial Beach does not own the site, and instead helps manage the project with the multiple government agencies involved.<\/p>\n Officials have proposed three options for the bikeway retrofitting: elevate portions prone to flooding; build a bridge; or remove and reroute the bikeway.<\/p>\n No matter the option, crews will construct a \u201cliving levee\u201d with a minimum crest of 12.5 feet. The project also calls for separate pedestrian and cyclist paths along the bikeway and a tide gate and multi-purpose detention basin at the nearby Bayside Elementary School, according to a feasibility study<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n Give $10<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Living-levee-example-1024x689.png\")
A screenshot of a living levee, also known as an ecotone levee, which is a nature-focused flood risk management levee that provides shallow side slopes through a transition zone of habitat. The illustration, Figure 5-1, can be found on page 19 of the 2023 Bayshore Bikeway Final Feasibility Study. (City of Imperial Beach)<\/p>\n