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THE HAYWARD MARSH EXPANSION PROJECT;
WETLANDS FROM WASTEWATER
The History of the Project, Marsh and Shoreline
Can treated sewage effluent be
used to enhance and create
wetlands? This brochure
documents the innovative and effective
use of secondary wastewater on wet-
lands in a northern California coastal
community. The community, Hayward,
is on the eastern shore of San Francisco
Bay. The project, Hayward Shoreline
Marsh Expansion Project, is a part
of a larger marsh restoration and
enhancement plan.
The Hayward Shoreline Marsh
Expansion Project addresses two grow-
ing urban issues: the restoration and
enhancement of declining wetlands areas
in the United States, and the additional
treatment and beneficial uses that can be
achieved from the utilization of waste-
water. The shoreline and marsh in this
case are roughly 172 acres of a 400-acre
restoration and enhancement area. The
source of the wastewater is primarily
residential and light industry.
In 1971 the Hayward Area Shoreline
Planning Agency was formed by five
groups to restore about 1,800 acres of
Hayward shoreline. The five included:
the City of Hayward, Hayward Area
Recreation District, East Bay Regional
Park District (EBRPD), and the
Hayward and San Lorenzo Unified
School Districts. The 1,800-acre area
had been a part of the Bay area salt-and-
brackish-marsh system until the later
part of the 19th century. At that time the
marsh was eliminated by creation of a
dike to hold out tidal action to allow for
commercial salt production. Salt produc-
tion ceased in the 1940s, but the area
was not returned to marshland until
more than 40 years later.
Biodegradable mesh was laid
on banks near inlet and outlet
structures during construction.
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THE TWO PHASES
The restoration and enhancement
of the diverse 400-acre marsh
part of the 1,800 acres of
Hayward shorelinewas planned in
two phases. The first phase was com-
pleted in 1980 when extensive grading
and breaching of the dikes allowed tidal
action to be restored to approximately
200 acres. This created the conditions
necessary for natural restoration of a
tidal cord grass and pickleweed salt
marsh. The second phase, the Hayward
Shoreline Marsh Expansion Project,
involved restoring 172 acres to fresh
and brackish marshes. Using existing
and newly created channels and dikes,
a five-basin marsh system was formed.
This second phase of newly created
fresh and brackish marshes began
operation in April 1988 and relies on
secondary treated wastewater as its
freshwater source.
Funding for the 172-acre marsh
expansion totaled $713,570 and has
come from four sources: the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service for designs and
specifications; City of Hayward for
design, contract documents and permits;
the EBRPD's appropriation from the
1980 California Parklands Act for
marsh enhancement and recreational
facilities; and a grant from the State
Coastal Conservancy for the major
portion of construction.
EBRPD and the East Bay
Dischargers Authority (EBDA) are the
joint holders of the National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit for the marsh. Flow to the marsh,
primarily from Union Sanitary District,
Planned urban
park fay H.A.R.D.
S£?
Legend
levees
L^ channels
iiiiiiiii boardwalks
drainage
structure
wildlife
islands
rTjteansportation
Salt evaporators
SITE PLAN
proposed development
is diverted from EBDAs forcemain,
which runs along the eastern edge of the
Bay and discharges effluent from six
municipal wastewater treatment plants
to the deep waters of San Francisco Bay.
The anticipated success of the Hayward
Marsh may provide EiBD A and its
member agencies with the opportunity
to develop other constructed wetlands
along the Bay.
EBRPD has acquired control of the
site, including the 400 acres designated
for marsh restoration, by purchase of
495 acres and by long-term lease with
other agencies. EBRPD is responsible
for the operation and maintenance of
the marsh. When completed, the
Hayward Marsh will be the largest
restoration and enhancement project
on the West Coast to date.
The 172-acre area is actually divided
into six sections: the five basins men-
tioned earlier and a preserve set aside
for the salt marsh harvest mouse, an
endangered species. The five basins
Schematic of the
Hayward Shoreline Marsh
Expansion Project
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include three freshwater basins and two
brackish water basins.
Basin 1 receives the treated, chlori-
nated secondary effluent. The water
that enters the marsh meets standards
for both biochemical oxygen demand
and suspended solids, as well as for
coliform bacteria. Residual chlorine is
allowed to dissipate in this basin. Basin
1 is about 15 acres and is operated at
a depth of between 5 and 8 feet. From
Basin 1 the water is discharged to a
channel leading to Basins 2A and 2B.
Basins 2A and 2B are identical
35-acre freshwater marshes with
internal channels and islands. The
marshes were designed to have a range
of depths: there are shallow areas of
two feet or less and the perimeter and
internal channels are six feet deep.
Basins 3A and 3B are brackish and
receive a combination of approximately
25 percent bay water and 75 percent
effluent from Basins 2A and 2B. These
two basins are each 30 acres and also
have internal channels and islands.
The 27-acre mouse preserve, on the
southeastern corner of Hayward Marsh,
is an area of pickleweed marsh set aside
specifically as habitat for the salt marsh
harvest mouse. This area receives storm
water runoff, but not treated effluent.
A 27-acre corner of Hayward
Marsh has been set aside as a
preserve for the salt marsh
harvest mouse.
Vegetation begins to colonize
Basin 2A, a newly created
freshwater marsh.
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WASTEWATER:
RESOURCE VERSUS LIABILITY
Wastewater has been treated
and reused successfully as a
water and nutrient resource
in agriculture, silviculture, aquaculture
and golf course and green belt irriga-
tion. By regarding wastewater as a
resource rather than a liability, it is
now being viewed as water pollution
control with positive benefits.
The Hayward Shoreline Marsh
Expansion Project has three main
objectives: creation of a diversified
marsh system using secondary effluent;
maximization of public benefits includ-
ing wildlife habitat, preservation of
open space, and creation of educational,
research and aesthetic opportunities;
and meeting NPDES requirements.
The increased interest in wastewater
wetlands treatment systems can be
attributed to three factors: recognition
of the natural treatment functions of
aquatic plant systems and wetlands,
particularly as nutrient processors and
buffering zones; emerging or renewed
application of aesthetic, wildlife and
other incidental environmental benefits
associated with the preservation and
enhancement of wetlands; and rapidly
escalating costs of construction and
operation associated with conventional
treatment facilities. Constructed
wetlands have become attractive as
a treatment and disposal alternative
for secondary wastewater for several
reasons: they physically entrap pollu-
tants through adsorption in the surface
soils, in organic litter and on suspended
particulates; through their utilization
and transformation of pollutants by
microorganisms; and because of their
low-energy and low-maintenance
requirements to attain consistent
treatment levels.
The marsh system removes
pollutants from the treated
wastewater it receives, so its
final discharge to the bay is
water of higher quality.
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FLORA AND FAUNA
The first plants to emerge at
Hayward Marsh were grasses,
fat hen and pickleweed which
had colonized the levees prior to
project construction. Recolonizatidn
by plants has been slowed somewhat
because of residual soil salinities from
earlier commercial salt production
and because topsoil was disturbed
during construction.
Planting efforts have met with vary-
ing degrees of success. Seeds of alkali
bulrush (Scirpiis robustus) and water-
grass (Echinochloa cnisgalli) were
eaten by ducks. Shoots of other bulrush
species were eaten by waterfowl and
geese or were dislodged by high winds.
Subsequent planting efforts have been
more successful due to protective cages
that exclude predators and help block
the wind. Once the plants become well
established the cages will be removed.
The fauna that use the marsh include
waterfowl, shorebirds, small mammals,
amphibians, reptiles and fish. As many
as 94 species of birds have been
recorded using the site for feeding,
nesting, hunting, foraging or as a
refuge during high tide. Hayward Marsh
is strategically located on the bird
migration route known as the Pacific
flyway. On any given day during the
winter migratory season, thousands of
ducks can be seen resting on the
freshwater marshes.
Birds using Hayward Marsh have
been categorized as follows: dabbling
ducks, shorebirds, diving ducks, fish-
eating birds, gulls and landbirds.
Dabbling ducks include mallard,
Water Submerged Duck
Hyacinth Plants Weed
Summary of Combined Bird Census Data
8000 r
6000
4000
2000
Dabbling Ducks
Diving Ducks
Shorebirds
Fish-eating Birds
Gulls
Landbirds
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northern pintail, gadwall, cinnamon teal
and the northern shoveler. Dabblers
feed on or near the surface of the marsh
and eat seeds and shoots of aquatic
plants, aquatic invertebrates, minnows,
snails, grain, grass and insects.
Shorebirds also migrate through
San Francisco Bay and use the brackish
water sections of Hayward Marsh
during the spring and fall. Common
visitors to the marsh include the
American avocet, black-necked stilt,
Caspian tern, Forster's tern, sandpiper,
willet and killdeer.
Diving ducks have included the
scaup, canvasback, bufflehead and ruddy
duck. Diving ducks feed either within
the water column or by diving to the
bottom for mollusks, crustaceans,
aquatic insects and invertebrates,
crayfish and, to a lesser degree,
aquatic plants.
Fish-eating birds have included
heron, egret, grebe, tern and pelican.
Fisheaters either wade or dive for food.
Their diet, in addition to fish, may
include crustaceans, aquatic insects,
frogs, small vertebrates and crayfish.
It was not at all a coincidence that a
large flock of opportunistic pelicans
visited immediately after hundreds of
pounds of Sacramento blackfish were
introduced to the marshes.
Land birds at the marsh have included
raptors, such as an endangered peregrine
falcon that preys upon ruddy ducks
and sandpipers. The marsh is within the
peregrine's established territory. Seed-
eating songbirds and insect eaters such
as swallows are regular inhabitants of
the marsh area.
Geese, ducks and shorebirds
produce hundreds of offspring
at the marsh each year.
There are 3 main species of terns that forage
at the marsh including the Forster's tern
(pictured above). The endangered Least tern
stopped at Hayward Marsh on its migratory
journey and nested successfully in 1990.
Efforts to provide suitable nesting habitat
for the tern include covering one of the
islands with crushed oyster shells.
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GATHERING THE DATA
The EBRPD, EBDA and the
Union Sanitary District (USD)
are the team responsible for
providing the treated effluent to the
marsh, monitoring the water quality
within the system and managing the
wetland. The team's tasks include
everything from analyzing for residual
chlorine to sampling fish and aquatic
invertebrate populations.
One of the most beneficial aspects
of the Hayward Marsh Project is that
the team is encouraging and supporting
research studies of the effect of effluent
heavy metals on the marsh and its
inhabitants. EBDA and USD have
contracted with the University of
California-Berkeley, Hayward State
University and Woodward-Clyde
Consultants to conduct a three-year
research project to study heavy metals
in the marsh.
Research questions and answers
are complicated by the complexities
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inherent in a marsh. There are many
chemical reactions, biological interac-
tions and physical processes that take
place every day in this 172-acre marsh.
The research project first has to identify
all of the major biological organisms
that live in the marsh. This means count-
ing birds and their nests, digging up
worms and other invertebrates that live
in bottom muds, and identifying the
plants that grow in, on, and right up
through the water.
The second step is to determine the
concentration of metals in the water,
the sediment, and the plants and
animals living in the marsh. There are
10 metals for which the marsh is being
tested: arsenic, cadmium, chromium,
copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium,
silver and zinc.
There are three methods being used
to study the marsh. First, the wetland
itself is being sampled. Second, a
mesocosm or small-scale marsh located
adjacent to Hayward Marsh is being
used to create and test future conditions
that will occur in the marsh. And third,
laboratory experiments mimicking
sediments, water and phytoplankton
are being used to isolate and analyze
specific metal-uptake processes that
occur in the field. This extensive
research program is partially funded
by an $80,000 grant from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
with the remainder of the total research
costs of $539,000 supported by EBDA
and USD. The park district supports the
research efforts with in-kind services.
Marsh Influent Water
Qualify 1990
; Range mg/l
Biochemical Oxygen Demand ..........
Suspended Solids
Oil & Grease
Cyanide ;
Residual Chlorine
pH (Units)
Arsenic
Cadmium
Chromium ,
Lead
Mercury (1)
Nickel
Zinc '.".
Selenium '
5.2-22.0
103-220
3-10
.<.01-.04
60-93
70-74
<.01-.002
<0.1-.039
<.00003- 0074
... < 0002- 036
< 000025
..<.005-.13
< 001- 14
< 00005-.0022
(1) None of the 1 1 samples contained concentrations above the detection limit.
Wetland Design Criteria
Average Daily Flow *1> 9.68 mgd
Maximum Daily FlowJ2) 25.92 mgd
Minimum Daily Flow <3> 0
Bay Inflow <4) 2.5 mgd
Total Wetland Area.... 172 acres
Detention Time ....; , 14 days
Basin 1 ..,;...". 15 acres
Marsh 2A ,; 35 acres
Marsh 2B I............. 35 acres
Marsh 3A i , 30 acres
J^arshjSB^..._ ._.;_.. ._. . L_._..._,, 30 acres
Mouse Preserve 27 acres
(1) This is Union Sanitary District treated effluent.
(2) Maximum flows may be used as a management tool, such as to flush
waterfowl disease bacteria out of the system.
(3) The ability to shut off the flow facilitates maintenance.
(4) Bay water mixes with the treated effluent in Marshes 3A and 3B.
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Trace amounts of heavy metals are a
normal occurrence in our environment.
The key questions research will answer
include: 1) Are the metals being concen-
trated in the wetland? and 2) Are the
metals having an adverse effect on the
marsh's biota? To predict potential
effects to the wildlife, the concentra-
tions of metals in the organisms will
be measured and then compared with
published values for metals that have
been found harmful to wildlife.
Water Quality Analyses
Parameter Daily Weekly 2x/week Monthly Biweekly
Basin 1 Basins 2A Basins Basin Effluents 1 12 Stations^
2B, 3A, 3B & 1, 2A 2B 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B & in Marsh
Receiving Water Receiving Water
Dissolved Oxygen A A '........;...'........ :: ^
Temperature A A A
pH A A............... .......A
MPN Coliform Bacteria .. A ,,,.,.
Ten Metals : : *
Total Ammonia A .'..".. A .'.' A
Un-ionized Ammonia A ................ A A
Nitrites .................A....................... ..A
Nitrate ;....;......:A " t "
Salinity .'...'..'."_'..;:.;; A
Chlorophyll a A
RAHs A
Suspended Solids A
AvianCensus ...........I....A
Rsh Bioassay A<1>
Ten Metals Analysis: Analysis for 10 metals is being performed twice on multiple samples of sediments, fish, emergent and
floating vegetation, phytoplankton, addled eggs, aquatic invertebrates and benthic invertebrates in both Hayward Marsh and
the mesocgsm.
fa Basin i Effluent only '"
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THE PROMISE OF WASTEWATER WETLANDS
Growing numbers of communities
around the country have created
wetland projects to create
wildlife habitat and to further treat
secondary effluent as a low-cost, energy-
efficient disposal alternative. This
method is especially suitable for smaller
communities with available land.
A wastewater wetland created as a
treatment facility will be designed
differently than one built primarily
to enhance wildlife habitat. The
differences may be in design depths,
basin configurations, flow rates and
vegetation types. But a wetland built
as a treatment facility may also yield
other benefits. It may be useful for
some wildlife and may provide recrea-
tional trails. Likewise, a wastewater
wetland created for wildlife habitat
may also improve the quality of water
that flows through it to the sea.
The Hayward Marsh Expansion
Project is a case-in-point of innovative
engineering and science applied to the
conversion of secondary wastewater
effluent into a resource; a project that
holds great promise for a growing
environmental problem.
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This brochure was created with funding from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Requisition No. A22190.
Robert Bastian, U.S. EPA
Project Officer
Francesca Demgen, Woodward-Clyde Consultants
Project Manager
Mark Taylor, EBRPD
Photographer
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