Opening Up the Bay: Salt Pond Restoration, Management & Access

Restoration alternatives for the largest such project on the Pacific Coast are being announced in December, after two years of planning by stakeholder groups and advisory panels. The South Bay Salt Ponds Project will describe broad goals and objectives for restoration, flood control management, and public access to the site that surrounds the southern end of San Francisco Bay.

One of the major questions being addressed is how much of the site should be restored tidal marsh and how much should be managed as ponds. According to Amy Hutzel, Project Manager for the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), "The key for the alternatives is that we are relying on adaptive management, so the alternatives are really a step toward increasing tidal habitats. As we implement each stage of the project we're going to have to see how it impacts the wildlife." Tidal marsh provides important habitat for fish and birds and acts as a much-needed filter for the Bay. Managed ponds provide important habitat for thousands of birds that migrate along the Pacific Flyway each year.

The project is part of an effort to restore 15,100 acres of former salt ponds in the South Bay and 1,400 acres of salt crystallizer ponds on the east side of the Napa River that were purchased by state and federal agencies in March 2003. According to the SCC, the restoration is one of the largest of its kind in the world and second in the US to the Florida Everglades restoration effort. Unlike most such projects, this is located in the heart of a major urban area.

Acquisition

The process began when Minneapolis-based agribusiness Cargill, Inc. decided to consolidate its operations and sell the salt-making rights and land in San Francisco's South Bay and Napa regions. Negotiations facilitated by Senator Dianne Feinstein led to a Framework Agreement for public acquisition in 2003 for $100 million.

The acquisition was a longtime goal of legislators, resource agencies and non-governmental organizations working to protect San Francisco Bay, says the SCC. Supporters of the Framework Agreement include San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, Save The Bay, National Audubon Society, Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, and many other agencies, organizations and individuals involved with the project. Under the agreement, Cargill is responsible for removing any hazardous waste that may exist and leaving the ponds in a condition that would allow them to be discharged to the Bay under a permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The Project Management Team is comprised of the SCC, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) and Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (ACFCWCD). A Memorandum of Understanding among the five agencies outlines roles and responsibilities. FWS and DFG own and manage the land and, with Cargill's technical assistance, conduct the interim stewardship for the salt ponds. SCVWD and ACFCWCD provide expertise on flood management related to the restoration. Hutzel says, "Currently, salt pond levees provide de facto flood protection for neighboring communities. As ponds are restored to tidal habitats, landside levees will need to be improved to provide protection from tidal flooding." The US Army Corps of Engineers has been engaged to assist with an integrated restoration and flood management plan for the South Bay shoreline.

Initial stewardship includes costs to optimize the available resources while long-term planning is underway. These include the cost to design, install, operate and maintain new water control structures to prevent the future accumulation of salts; levee maintenance; pumping costs; environmental permitting; restoration monitoring and collaboration.

According to the SCC, the funding for acquisition of the 16,500 acres of salt ponds and associated habitats in the South Bay and along the Napa River is committed, with $72 million from the State Wildlife Conservation Board, $8 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and $20 million from the Hewlett, Packard, and Moore Foundations and the Goldman Fund. Total estimated cost for acquisition plus five years of initial stewardship and restoration planning is $135 million.

The Coastal Conservancy's SF Bay Program leads the effort to organize a scientifically-sound restoration plan, to estimate costs of restoration, identify sources of funding, outline implementation schedules, prepare environmental documents and obtain initial federal, state and local permits for restoration.

The Project is subject to both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), laws that require projects to be reviewed for their potential environmental impacts.

Wetland Vitality

Lands bordering the Bay are essential to the health of the region's fish and wildlife populations. The largest and most biologically important such area on the Pacific Coast, the Bay-Delta Estuary serves as a stopping point for over one million birds that migrate along the Pacific Flyway, and provides food, shelter and breeding grounds for over 750 species. Two-thirds of California's salmon pass through the Bay-Delta each year.

Urban development, agricultural conversion, salt production, pollutant runoff and diverted freshwater flow have contributed to the loss of about 90 percent of Bay Area wetlands. Some 187,000 acres of the Bay's original tidal marsh were filled, dried out, or converted to salt ponds. By the turn of the 21^st century, more than 29,000 acres of artificial salt pond evaporation ponds were actively maintained in the San Francisco Bay.

The consequence has been dramatic losses of fish and wildlife, decreased water quality, and increased turbidity in the Bay. Changes in the physical processes have increased dredging needs and flooding hazards. Over a dozen species have completely disappeared from the Bay-Delta estuary, including the sea otter and the California condor. There are 18 species in the Bay-Delta estuary designated by the federal or state government as endangered, threatened, or rare.

The wetland fragments that remain today continue to filter toxics and pollutants that enter the bay, but their effectiveness has been greatly diminished. It is estimated that each year 88 million pounds of pesticides and toxic chemicals drain into the Bay from roads, lawns, construction sites and abandoned mines.

According to the California Resources Agency, economic benefits of the wetlands include:

• Flood Control: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that existing wetlands, compared to engineered flood control systems, produce $4,650 per acre in flood control and dredging cost savings.
• Water Quality: Wetlands purify water so well that they are often used for tertiary treatment by municipal sewage plants. The reductions in capital investment and operations and maintenance costs can amount to over $10,000 per acre annually.
• Commercial Fishing: The San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary contains 90% of the remaining coastal wetlands in California. Wetlands provide habitat for 71% of fish caught in California waters, and are therefore a major contributor to the estimated $890 million in retail value of fish sold each year.
• Recreation and Tourism: The economic value of wetlands-based recreation and tourism is close to $200 million annually in California. A 1992 study by the Campaign to Save California Wetlands estimated that California's wetlands provided as much as $22.9 billion in identifiable value to the state annually, (not including the incalculable value to wildlife).

Restoration

The mission of the Napa Plant Site restoration also applies to the South Bay Salt Ponds restoration: to prepare a scientifically sound and publicly supportable restoration and public access plan that can begin to be implemented within five years. The overarching goal is restoring and enhancing wetlands and transitional habitats while providing wildlife-oriented public access and recreation.

The South Bay's waters are the saltiest of the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary and have been home to industrial salt production for over a century. While salt ponds change the Bay's hydrology, degrade water quality and impact tidal-marsh dependent species, they play a vital role by providing waterfowl and shorebird habitat. The salt ponds serve as a large, passive buffer between the heavily developed human communities of the South Bay and sensitive wildlife communities.

The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is the largest contiguous restoration opportunity on the West Coast. The project provides an opportunity to increase the Bay's tidal wetlands by 40 percent, preserve open space, and improve the physical, chemical and biological health of the SF Bay. Planning will be completed and a first phase project implemented in 2008.

Steve Ritchie, California Coastal Conservancy, sritchie@scc.ca.gov, 510-286-1015

For schedules and maps, the Initial Stewardship Plan, the Initial Stewardship Status Report and the annual self monitoring activities prepared by the FWS and DFG go to the California State Coastal Conservancy's Salt Pond Restoration Project website at http://www.southbayrestoration.org