JOINT VENTURE PROJECT INFORMATION SHEET

PLEASE CONTACT SANDRA SCOGGIN AT [email protected] OR 415-699-3586 FOR ASSISTANCE.

Project Name: (Project name should be geographic and descriptive.) Spinnaker Marsh Restoration.

Location and Site Setting: Description and attached maps. The 17-acre Spinnaker Marsh is in San Rafael, Marin County, . It is located along the bay shore on the south side of the confluence of (the “Canal”) with , an embayment of (Figure 1). Spinnaker Marsh is part of the four-lagoon, 41-acre Spinnaker Lagoon Complex, consisting of a large West Lagoon (22 acres) that is perennially flooded and serves as a flood detention basin and wildlife pond, two small central ponds (each about 1.5 acres) that are seasonally inundated by rainfall, and the “East” or “Spinnaker” Marsh (16 acres) (Figure 2). The Lagoon Complex is located in east San Rafael, between Spinnaker Point Drive to the north and Baypoint Drive to the south. A segment of the sits atop the enclosing levee along the east, north, and south sides of Spinnaker Marsh. The Canalways diked salt marsh is to the immediate southwest of the lagoons. Historically, the area was open bay and mudflats prior to levee construction in the 1950s. After diking, emergent salt marsh had formed across the higher half the site, and shallow open water occupied the lower elevations. The site receives direct rainfall and City- managed bay inflows and drainage through a 150-foot long, 8-inch culvert fitted with a screw-flap combination gate.

Latitude: 37.9628, Longitude: -122.4910; See figures 1 and 2.

Project Description: General description. This project will restore tidal marsh and upland transition habitat at the 17-acre Spinnaker Marsh (Figure 3). Project purposes are to (1) restore habitats for Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, shorebirds and waterfowl, (2) resolve harmful algal blooms, and (3) construct a segment of future Central San Rafael shoreline flood protection improvements. The new setback levee will have lower gradient tidal slopes to function as flood and erosion protection and transition zone habitats.

This project will provide much-needed wetlands-related wildlife habitat along a segment of the Marin County shoreline with relatively little wetlands. It will also provide a segment of a future shoreline flood and erosion protection strategy for the entirety of the 10-mile Central San Rafael shoreline. Further, it brings a nature-based sea level rise shoreline flood and erosion protection project to the doorsteps of Marin County’s largest disadvantaged community and incorporates the effort into educational opportunities to support community and in particular youth engagement.

Total Project Area Acreage: 17 acres.

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Project start date: (MM/YYYY): 01/2015

Activities included in this project: Construction activities will include a new setback levee and a bridge across the tidal breach to maintain the Bay Trail (Figure 3). This project will also look into the possible reuse of suitable dredged sediments, if available. Constructing a sea-level rise adaptable setback levee with gentle bay-side slopes and breaching the existing outer levee (1) removes harmful toxins by improving water quality through establishing tidal wetlands; (2) improves wildlife habitat by restoring tidal marsh and creating a wetland-upland habitat transition with sea level rise accommodation plus associated stewardship, maintenance and monitoring; (3) creates nature-based shoreline and flood protection for a portion of San Rafael by creating a suitable-height and gentle sloped habitat levee that can be raised with future sea level rise; and (4) improves public access and education with bridge across the tidal breach that allows direct over-water observation and sampling access and new multi-lingual interpretative signage about sea level rise and shoreline erosion and flood protection.

Is this project part of a Living Shorelines project? y/n: Y

Lead Agency/Contact Person: (name, affiliation, mailing address, email address, phone/fax number) Lead: • City of San Rafael o Kevin McGowan, 111 Morphew Street, San Rafael, CA 94901; [email protected]; 415-485-3389

• Siegel Environmental and SF Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve o Stuart Siegel, 637 Lindaro St, Suite 201, San Rafael, CA 94901, [email protected], (415) 299-8746. o Stuart is the project organizer on behalf of City of San Rafael.

List all partners involved in the project and their roles: (funder, cooperator, lead, etc. – one partner can have multiple roles) Lead: City of San Rafael, with Siegel Environmental. Also active with Central San Rafael shoreline flood protection and sea level rise adaptation. Close coordination ongoing with Spinnaker and Baypoint Homeowners Associations, Marin Audubon, Marin Conservation League.

Project Status: (please see the Prioritization Criteria and describe the level of “readiness” of the project) Requesting adoption as SFBJV project. The project is currently in Phase 1 - the preliminary design and planning phase.

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Funding status – received/needed: Received: $40,000 for development of Conceptual Design Alternatives (completed February 2016) Need: $3,000,000.

San Francisco Bay Joint Venture Project Adoption and Prioritization Criteria: Detail how your project meets Essential and Desirable criteria for adoption as a SFBJV project.

Consistency with SFBJV Essential Project Adoption Criteria: • Project implements recommendations in the original Habitat Goals Report (1999) and the Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Update (2015) • Project implements three of the four SFBJV Implementation Strategy objectives: (1) secure, restore and improve wetlands, riparian habitat, and associated uplands by applying incentives and non-regulatory techniques, (2) improve habitat management on public and private lands through cooperative agreements and incentives, and (3) support the monitoring and evaluation of habitat restoration projects and research to improve future restoration projects. • The project advances the goals of the SFBJV by restoring habitats for key species. • The purpose of the project has a strong biological foundation. • The project is being implemented by a partnership of organizations and agencies, including the City of San Rafael, Marin County, local residents and community groups and with input from the SF Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and and Ocean Science Center.

Consistency with SFBJV Desirable Project Adoption Criteria: • The project benefits more than one key species – salt marsh harvest mouse, Ridgway’s Rail, migratory shorebirds and waterfowl, estuarine and anadromous fish. • The project restores more than one habitat type – tidal aquatic, tidal marsh, wetland-upland transition, and associated uplands. • The project is near to the limited extant natural areas along the Central San Rafael shoreline – Tiscornia Marsh and Canalways as well as nearby mudflats and subtidal habitats. • The project is planning for the effects of climate change – providing nature-based shoreline erosion and flood protection benefits that accounts for sea level rise and can be raised later.

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