Outstanding Environmental Project Awards
Now Accepting Nominations
Every two years, Friends of the San Francisco Estuary celebrates the most outstanding environmental projects of the region at the biennial State of the Estuary Conference. The award will be presented at the seventeenth biennial State of the Estuary Conference, October 28-29, 2025, at the Scottish Rite Center near Lake Merritt in Oakland.
Criteria for eligibility
Projects nominated should significantly benefit the Estuary; entries should showcase completed projects or show measurable results, have not been externally mandated (for example, to resolve an enforcement action), and further the goals and objectives of the 2022 Estuary Blueprint.
Previously nominated projects include restoration of creeks, wetlands, and dunes; experimental natural infrastructure; collaborative volunteer efforts; and recycled water projects. In addition to the environmental project category, this year’s awards will include a category for environmental art or for incorporating art into an environmental project.
How to submit a nomination
Nominations should include project name and location(s), project representative and contact information, partners, project description and status, and its connection to the Estuary Blueprint goals and objects. Please make sure to also include your own name and contact information. The Friends of the Estuary Selection Committee will make its decision in August, and nominees will be notified of the results in September.
Please e-mail nominations to Friends of the San Francisco Estuary, c/o Sarina Seaton at sseaton@bayareametro.gov.
Nominations must be received by 11:59 pm, Friday, August 23, 2025.
Mail or e-mail nominations to:
Sarina Seaton
San Francisco Estuary Partnership
375 Beale St, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 778-5218
About Friends of the Estuary
Friends of the San Francisco Estuary (Friends) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership’s Management Committee in 1991. Friends is an affiliated but separate non-profit organization from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership.
Outstanding Environmental Project Awards
Presented by
About
Every two years, Friends of the San Francisco Estuary celebrates the most outstanding environmental projects of the region at the biennial State of the Estuary Conference. Awards go to those projects that significantly benefit the Estuary; are completed or show measurable results, have not been externally mandated (for example, to resolve an enforcement action), and further the goals and objectives of the 2022 Estuary Blueprint (Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan). Projects previously recognized include restoration of creeks, wetlands, and dunes; experimental natural infrastructure; collaborative volunteer efforts; and recycled water projects.
2024 Outstanding Environmental Project Awardees
Effects of Emergency Drought Barrier on Water Quality and Water Age in Franks Tract (U.S. Geological Survey, California Water Science Center, Biogeochemistry Group)
Estuary Youth Council Pilot Program (San Francisco Estuary Partnership)
Heron’s Head Park Shoreline Resilience Project (Port of San Francisco)
Inaugural Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Rangewide Survey (Inaugural Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Rangewide Survey Team)
Phase 2 Restoration at Ravenswood (South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project)
San Francisquito Creek Flood Reduction, Ecosystem Restoration, and Recreation Project (San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority)
Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed (STRAW) Program (Point Blue Conservation Science)
For more information on past awardees, please visit the