Programs Judy Kelly, Director - S.F. Estuary Project Mission and Direction - Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan 510-622-8137 JAKelly@waterboards.ca.gov
September 16, 2011--Today, the San Francisco Estuary Partnership released a report on the state of San Francisco Bay showing overall improvements in water quality but a need for more wetland restoration and freshwater flowing into the Bay from its rivers. As the climate changes and sea level rises, San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the West Coast, will need more wetlands around its perimeter—both to protect local communities from flooding as well as millions of dollars’ worth of restoration projects that have gone in the ground over the past two decades. The State of San Francisco Bay 2011 report finds that sediment discharges into the Bay from dredging have been reduced by 9 million cubic yards over the past few decades; that sediment can now be used to restore valuable wetlands.
As the world watches the oil spill response operations unfold in the Gulf of Mexico, the San Francisco Estuary Partnership and Pacific Environment will host a public forum on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 to discuss how prepared the San FranciscoBay is for future oil spills. The forum, “Oil Spills in San FranciscoBay: Preparing a Better Response,” is designed to raise awareness about the impacts of oil spills and to improve oil spill response in Bay Area waters.
U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will headline this year’s State of the San Francisco Estuary conference, sharing the Obama Administration’s plans for improving the nation’s water quality, tackling climate change, and restoring sound science to environmental policy.
This year’s conference focuses on preparing for impacts from climate change and sea level rise. Learn how scientists think our watersheds, wetlands, and wildlife will respond to these and other challenges, and hear about possible solutions. Keynote speakers include Stephen Schneider, Stanford University, Margaret Davidson, NOAA, and Heather Cooley, Pacific Institute. Time Magazine’s Michael Grunwald will share lessons learned in the Everglades.
The evening of Sept. 29 features the world premiere of "The Lost Marshlands of San Francisco Bay," with never-before-seen footage of tidal marsh restoration around the Bay, a clip from the upcoming KQED documentary “Saving the Bay,” and from the recently released feature film “Rivers of a Lost Coast.” Read for more details...
Concerned about the future of the San Francisco Bay Delta, the critical linchpin of the state’s drinking water system? Wondering what the state’s new water laws mean to the Bay Area? On Thursday, December 10, 2009, the San Francisco Estuary Partnership hosts a forum on the Delta designed to help decipher the latest Delta-related legislation and proposed bond measures. Find out what the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is—and how it will affect citizens, businesses, agriculture, wildlife, and water agencies.
“This new package of Delta legislation is of huge significance to the state and the Bay Area,” says Estuary Partnership director Judy Kelly. “This symposium will provide an opportunity for the media, for elected officials, and the interested public to find out much more about what's in the legislation and the proposed $11 billion bond, to ask questions, and learn how these new laws are likely to affect the resources of the Bay Delta system.” Read more...
In early 2009, the Estuary Partnership received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve the health of the Estuary. (Click here to read more and see a map of the projects.) The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) is providing technical and monitoring support to all partners in the grant, by reviewing project design, and developing monitoring protocols and Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs), managing data, and preparing technical reports. The result will be a process for reviewing project designs (where appropriate); well designed projects that will achieve their intended goals; consistent, expert use of standard and custom monitoring methods; online visualization of and access to monitoring data; and scientifically defensible annual reports on the status and trends of the projects, relative to their intended outputs and outcomes. In addition, the experience gained by helping projects overcome monitoring problems will be reflected in the statewide and regional monitoring programs.
