San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund
Progress Report, Fall 2010
During the last three decades, there have been notable successes in protecting the environmental health of
San Francisco Bay. However, substantial environmental challenges remain. Congress has appropriated $17
million since 2008 to EPA for a competitive grant program that leverages funds to protect and restore San
Francisco Bay and its watersheds, known as the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund
(SFBWQIF). To date, EPA has supported 28 projects with 37 partners, and leveraged almost $12 million
to achieve significant environmental results related to wetlands, water quality, and green development.
EPA will prepare progress reports and update our website to share project highlights, promote widespread
implementation and publicize the availability of funding opportunities.
WETLAND RESTORATION
The San Francisco Bay Area is host to one of the largest tidal wetlands restoration efforts in the country.
The following projects are building on the significant progress of the past two decades to protect what
remains and to restore as much as possible of what has been lost.
Protecting Mudflats: Spartina alterniflora has been smothering Bay mudflats, a key ecosystem that supports
the base of the estuarine food chain with worms, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. SFBWQIF grant
funding was a key piece of the multi-agency, multi-year effort to treat more than 150 acres of invasive
Spartina with herbicides to recover the mudflats. Early results show the return of pickleweed and mudflats
which can support the native assemblage of invertebrates, fish, and birds.
Connecting Urban Communities with their Creeks: Helping
urban communities reconnect with their nearby wetlands and
waterways is key to restoring the health of San Francisco Bay.
With the California State Parks Foundation, youth from the
Bayview Hunters Point community of San Francisco have been
propagating and replanting native vegetation at Yosemite Slough
and Candlestick Point, as well as leading outreach activities in
their community.
Treating Spartina with herbicide in the South Bay. Preventing Invasive Species: Biological invasions threaten the
integrity of San Francisco Bay ecosystems. The Center for
Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions is targeting Littorina, an invasive
sea snail, because its distribution is currently low. This year
scientists found only 17 Littorina, making it a likely candidate for
eradication.
Adapting for Climate Change: USGS scientists are studying
sediment accumulation at the mudflat and tidal marsh of Corte
Madera Creek to help preserve the flood retention benefits those
wetlands provide. Results will be incorporated into an adaptive
management plan for use by local governments in Marin County
and around the Bay to reduce future shoreline flooding, and
conserve and restore wetlands.
Propagating native plants at Candlestick
Point State Recreation Area Nursery.
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RESTORING WATER QUALITY
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) are analyses of pollutant sources which drive action plans to restore
water quality. Implementation of several San Francisco Bay TMDLs and watershed plans is underway for
some of the most challenging water quality problems including sediment, mercury, PCBs, and pathogens.
Removing Legacy Pollutants: San Francisco Bay is
contaminated with many legacy pollutants, including
PCBs and mercury which make their way to the Bay
through storm water runoff and other pathways. Fish and
shellfish contaminated with PCBs and mercury pose
health risks to both humans and wildlife. Bay Area
stormwater agencies are accelerating PCB TMDL
implementation in the watersheds surrounding the Bay.
The Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Asso-
ciation and its partners will address pollutant sources
through: (1) cleanup and abatement of contaminated sites;
(2) removal of polluted sediment including retrofit of some
urban runoff treatment facilities; and (3) risk-reduction
program for Bay Area communities that eat Bay-caught
fish.
Avocet bird egg being examined for mercury in the
Don Ed-wards National Wildlife Refuge.
Cleaning Up Mercury: San Francisco Bay is contaminated by mercury, in
part due to mercury mining in the late 1800's in the Guadalupe River
watershed of Santa Clara County. Two projects implement the Guadalupe
River Watershed Mercury TMDL. High in the watershed in the old mining
area, Santa Clara County Parks is removing mercury. In the lower watershed
of the South Bay Salt Ponds, USGS is monitoring methylmercury bio-
accumulation in water bird eggs.
Restoring the Napa River: The Napa River once supported a healthy salmon
and steelhead fishery. Excess sediment from building roads, grazing,
Soil sampling at farmer mercury agriculture, and urban runoff has filled the Napa River and its tributaries
mine, Santa Clara County. causing a decline in salmon and their habitat. To improve stream habitat
conditions and water quality, the California Land Stewardship Institute (CLSI) is working with farmlands
and vineyards through the Fish Friendly Farming program. This year, CLSI added frost water conservation
to the BMPs required of vineyards to be certified by this program.
Revitalizing Urban Creeks: Many Bay Area streams are
impaired by excess sediment. The Urban Creeks Council is
providing technical assistance to urban and suburban creek-side
landowners in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties to
decrease sediment loadings from streambank erosion.
Improving Richardson Bay Water Quality: The pathogen
TMDL for Richardson Bay identifies human health risks from
recreational contact with Bay waters and shellfish harvesting.
Sources identified include stormwater runoff, sewer overflows,
and failing septic systems associated with houseboats and marinas.
Marin County will reduce pathogens from all of these sources by
infiltrating stormwater though a restored riparian corridor, improving monitoring of its sewers, and developing
an inspection program for sewer laterals related to houseboats and marinas.
A fish-friendly farm -with a healthy riparian
stream corridor.
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Removing Trash: Trash is a pervasive problem in San Francisco Bay and its watersheds which causes
significant impacts to local aquatic life and the Pacific Ocean. Save the Bay's anti-trash campaign resulted
in policy changes in various jurisdictions including San Jose's single-use plastic bag ban, Fremont's Styrofoam
ordinance, and San Mateo County's polystyrene ordinance and ban on distribution of plastic and paper
carryout bags at retail stores in unincorporated areas.
GREENING DEVELOPMENT
Greater linkage between land use and water quality is essential to improve the health of San Francisco Bay.
There is growing recognition that green development methods, such as low impact development (LID)
which uses natural hydrologic processes to treat polluted runoff, should become common practice. The
following projects are helping communities develop the policies and technical expertise necessary to protect
and restore San Francisco Bay.
San Francisco Green Streets: San Francisco is implementing LID within its heavily urbanized jurisdiction.
The block-long Newcomb Avenue project and the mile-long Cesar Chavez green infrastructure design will
feature vegetated stormwater filtration, permeable
parking spaces, tree plantings, and traffic calming.
These projects will be important showcases to foster
broader application of LID in San Francisco and
other municipalities.
Fremont and Richmond Stormwater Innova-
tions: The cities of Fremont and Richmond are
piloting small and large scale stormwater treatment
projects, respectively, in heavily urbanized areas to
improve water quality in the Bay. Fremont's tree-
well filters and Richmond's pilot diversion of high
flows to a treatment plant will demonstrate
economically viable and locally feasible LID
approaches. Design schematics Jor the Cesar Chavez filot LID project.
Alameda County Green Solutions: Conversion of impervious to pervious land in urbanized settings is a
desirable approach to retain and filter stormwater runoff. Community Conservation Solutions is analyzing
potentially suitable public lands in Alameda County to treat small and large volumes of urban runoff by
"slowing, sinking, and spreading" it.
ID'ing the Wav: Multi-media approaches are needed to share the success of LID projects around the Bay
Area. The San Francisco Estuary Partnership has produced several podcasts on "green streets" and LID
which can be viewed at http://www. sfestuarv.org/podcast/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/watershed/sfbavwqfund.html.
Contact: Luisa Valiela
Program Lead
Phone:(415)972-3400
Email: valiela.luisa@epa.gov
Contact: Erica Yelensky
Outreach Coordinator
Phone:(415)972-3021
Email: velenskv.erica@epa.gov
US EPA Region 9 (WTR-3), 75 Hawthorne San Francisco, CA 94105
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San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund Projects, Fall 2010
SFBWQIF Project Types
Wetland Restoration
Restoring Water Quality
Greening Development
Project
1 Stream Management Program for Landowners
2 Shoreline Habitat Restoration
3 Climate Change Adaptation Plan, Corte Madera Wetlands
4 Bahia Restoration & Revegetation Project
5 Yosemite Slough Wetlands Restoration
6 Yosemite Slough Community Involvement Project
7 Invasive Spartina Removal
8 Littorina Eradication Project
9 Eelgrass Habitat Restoration
10 Stonybrook Creek Bank Stabilization
11 Senador Mine Erosion Control
12/13 Implementing Napa Sediment TMDL: Fish Friendly Farming
14 South Bay Salt Ponds Mercury Monitoring Project
15 Implementing Richardson Bay Sediment / Pathogen TMDLs
16 Implementing Napa Sediment / Pathogen TMDLs
17 Implementing Sonoma Sediment / Pathogen TMDLs
18 Bay Area Stream Channel Restoration Design Curves
19 SFEP Public Outreach
20 Keep It Clean- Trash Reduction in the Bay
21 Implementing Sonoma Sediment and Pathogen TMDLs
22 Implementing SF Bay PCB TMDL
23 GIS tracking of TMDL implementation
24 Mapping Impervious Surfaces in Alameda County
25 Fremont Tree Well Filter Project
26 North Richmond Storm water Diversion Pilot Project
27 Newcomb Avenue LID Model Project
28 Cesar Chavez Street Green Infrastructure Project
SFBWQIF has supported 28 on the ground projects, leveraged nearly
$12 million and involved 37partners.
Many projects take place in several locations. Points represent
approximate project locations.
San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund Partners
Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District • Association of Bay Area Governments • Bay Conservation
and Development Commission • California Coastal Conservancy • California Land Stewardship Institute • California State
Parks Foundation • CCPuede • Center for Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions • City and County of San Francisco • City of
Fremont • City of Oakland • City of Richmond • City of San Carlos • City of San Jose • Community Conservation Solutions
• Contra Costa Flood Control District • Friends of the Urban Forest Marin Audubon Society • Marin County Department
of Public Works • Marin Municipal Water District • Napa County Resource Conservation District • North Bay Watershed
Association • Plant SF • Resources Legacy Fund • San Francisco Estuary Institute • San Francisco Estuary Partnership •
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission • Santa Clara County Parks • Save the Bay • San Francisco Department of
Public Works • Sonoma Ecology Center • Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District • Urban Creeks Council
• Waterways Restoration Institute
EPA will continue to update project successes and funding information on our website:
http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/watershed/sfbaywqfund.html
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