Estuary Blueprint

2022 Estuary Blueprint

The final version of the 2022 Estuary Blueprint was approved on March 16, 2022 by the Implementation Committee and was approved on May 9, 2022 by the Executive Council. It is now pending approval by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, increasing the resilience of the Estuary’s habitats, human communities, and natural resources is a central focus in the 2022 Estuary Blueprint Update. Thus, we have conducted a climate vulnerability assessment in order to understand the extent to which climate change could impact the Partnership’s ability to successfully undertake the actions laid out in the Estuary Blueprint.

About the 2022 Update Process

This update of the Estuary Blueprint, formerly known as the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan, is less comprehensive in scope than previous revisions, such as the 2016 Estuary Blueprint. The 2022 update process has focused on revisions at the Action and Task levels.

The overall update process was guided by a Steering Committee consisting of volunteers from the Implementation Committee. Estuary Partnership staff established working groups for updating the actions by starting with the 2016 Estuary Blueprint Task Owners and Collaborating Partners. The team also sought to bring in new stakeholders from audiences that haven’t historically been involved in the Estuary Blueprint process.

Those working groups worked for the past year to draft updated Actions in preparation for public input. Early public input was also invited through listening sessions, social media, and an online survey. Over 80 organizations and agencies have been involved in the Estuary Blueprint update process so far, and many more individuals. All written public input has been compiled and addressed in 2022 Estuary Blueprint Public Input Responses.

For questions on the 2022 Estuary Blueprint Update, please contact Project Coordinator Darcie Luce at darcie.luce@sfestuary.org or (415) 778-6673.

Side-by-Side Comparison

The table below shows an overview of changes between the 2016 and 2022 Estuary Blueprints.

2016 Estuary Blueprint	2022 Estuary Blueprint Update
GOALS
1. Sustain and improve the Estuary's habitats and living resources	No change
2. Bolster the resilience of Estuary ecosystems, shorelines, and communities to climate change	No change
3. Improve water quality and increase the quantity of fresh water available to the Estuary	No change
4. Champion the Estuary	No change
OBJECTIVES
a. Protect, restore, and enhance ecological conditions and processes that support self‐sustaining natural communities	No change
b. Eliminate or reduce threats to natural communities	No change
c. Conduct scientific research and monitoring to measure the status of natural communities, develop and refine management actions, and track progress toward management targets	No change
d. Increase resilience of tidal habitats and tributaries to climate change	No change
e. Increase resilience of communities at risk form climate change impacts while promoting and protecting natural resources	No change
f. Promote integrated, coordinated, multi‐benefit approaches to increasing resilience	No change
g. Increase drought resistance and water efficiency and reduce reliance on imported water	No change
h. Improve freshwater flow patterns, quantity, and timing to better support natural resources	No change
i. Reduce contaminants entering the system and improve water quality	No change
j. Build public support for the protection and restoration of the Estuary	No change
k. Strengthen regional leadership in support of Estuary health	No change
l. Promote efficient and coordinated regional governance	No change
m. Incorporate the best available social science and cultural knowledge when protecting and improving the Estuary	New
n. Engage frontline, underserved, and Indigenous communities as partners in protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Estuary	New
ACTIONS
1. Watershed‐based approach	Discontinued and integrated into Action 12
2. Wetland regional monitoring program	Updated
3. Tidal marsh and tidal flats	Updated and narrowed to tidal marsh only
4. Transition zones	Updated
5. Intertidal and subtidal habitats	Updated and expanded to include tidal flats
6. Managed ponds	Updated
7. Creeks	Updated
8. Seasonal wetlands	Updated
9. Invasive species	Updated
10. Terrestrial predators	Discontinued and integrated into Action 6
11. Carbon sequestration	Updated
12. Watershed connections	Discontinued and integrated into Action 6
13. Sediment	Updated
14. Nature‐based shorelines 15. Natural resources and resilience 16. Natural resources and hazard response 17. Regulatory permitting	Actions 14, 15, 16, and 17 re‐oriented and consolidated into 3 Actions focused on climate resilience and nature‐ based solutions
18. Freshwater flows	Updated
19. Long‐term drought planning	Discontinued and integrated into Actions 20/21
20. Agricultural water use efficiency	Updated and combined with Action 21
21. Landscaping water use efficiency	Updated and combined with Action 20
22. Recycled water	Updated
23. Plan Bay Area – water integration	Integrated into climate resilience Actions
24. Stormwater management	Updated
25. Emerging contaminants	Updated
26. Raw sewage discharges	Discontinued and integrated into Action 30
27. TMDLs	Re‐oriented to contaminants related to fish
28. Nutrients	Updated
29. Ocean acidification	Discontinued
30. Trash	Updated
31. Public access and resource protection	Updated
32. Champion the Estuary Blueprint	Updated and re‐oriented to Champion the Estuary