8 9 4 5 6 3 4 10 11 ...... Mokelumne Mokelumne for VOL. 23, NO. 3 NE WS SEPTEMBER 2014 SCIENCE • RESTORATION • WATERSHED • POLITICS • SPECIES • BAY Delta Habitats ...... Habitats Delta Suspense ...... Creek PCBs & Small Fish ...... Refuges Valley Lavender Invader ...... Invader Lavender Atlas Water New Pelican Movie ...... Movie Pelican ESTUARY Pigments Plankton San Francisco Estuary Partnership Estuary Francisco San Delta Council Finetunes Delta Protocols Habitat Crawls Crawls Alameda Creek Future Fish-Friendly Toward PCB Levels in Small Fish PCB Levels Surprise Scientists New Technique for Identifying Identifying for Technique New by Color Plankton Dry Times for Valley Refuges Valley for Dry Times Pitch Mokelumne’s Flatlines Wild River for 2 SEPTEMBER 2014 3 ESTUARY NEWS

SCIENCE NEW INTERACTIVE MAP Around the Bay DEBUTS FOR FLOODZONE Our Coast, Our Revealing BIRDS CROWD ROCK VISITORS Future (OCOF), & VICE VERSA — Managing a collabora- Alcatraz — once a federal prison, now tive project with Plankton Pigments part of the National Park system—is a many partners delicate balancing act. As an historic site, designed to help Keeping tabs on ’s fucoxanthin (brown), its cultural resources come first. But planners and land wildlife involves counting plants. That while dinoflagellates the return of colonial seabirds since the use managers means tracking the relative numbers have a lock on peridinin prison closure adds another mandate. prepare for rising and types of the microscopic floating (brown-gold), and cya- Alcatraz hosts San Francisco Bay’s larg- sea levels and plants that feed the Bay. Known as nobacteria alone make est breeding colony of western gulls; its changes in storm phytoplankton, their number includes zeaxanthin (orange). only colonies of Brandt’s cormorants, pe- patterns, has just diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacte- lagic cormorants, and pigeon guillemots; added San Fran- ria, and chromophytes, to name a few. To obtain samples and rookeries of black-crowned night cisco Bay data to for pigment analysis, herons and snowy egrets (see “Seeing its online resourc- “Some are like the kale of the sea, technicians capture Seabirds,” Estuary News, October 2010.) es (data.prbo. others are like french fries,” says phytoplankton in a given They’re all protected under the Migratory org/apps/ocof). Jim Cloern, a scientist who monitors volume of Bay water on Bird Treaty. Visitors, for their part, would This includes an Bay food webs for the U.S. Geological filter paper — the same like more access to areas now off-limits interactive map of Survey. Some can also produce toxins, process used for micro- because of nesting birds. They’ve com- potentially flooded while others cannot. For these reasons, scope analysis. Back plained about the aggressive gulls, the areas, a King Tide understanding which phytoplankton are at the lab, the plankton smell of the seabird colonies, and the scenario for the in the Bay can help scientists predict are broken up to release flies they attract, and have sometimes Bay, and a suite Source: OCOF and partners including Point Blue Conservation Science, booms and busts in fish populations, their pigments, and sus- flushed the skittish cormorants off nests. of 40 sea level the US Geological Survey’s Pacific Coastal & Marine Science Center, the forecast toxic algal blooms, and warn pended in solvent. The The gulls also interfere with reconstruc- and storm projec- National Estuarine Research Reserve System, the National Park Service, seafood eaters of potential danger. solution is then forced the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and the Bay Area through a high perfor- tion of the flower beds tended by prison- tions. Workshops Ecosystems Climate Change Consortium. “What phytoplankton species are in mance liquid chromatog- ers and guards’ families. In 2005, the and webinars have the Bay has a big economic impact on raphy, or HPLC column. Park Service, the Parks been scheduled for fisheries, travel, and tourism. For ex- The column separates Conservancy, and other stakeholders local users. Coincidentally, the National ample, you can’t allow people to collect REBRANDED RIDGWAY the pigments so that Pigment analysis (top) and microscope analysis (bottom) pro- developed a Bird Conservation and Management Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- mussels during a toxic bloom,” says The California clapper rail, endangered each emerges at a differ- duce similar results, but pigment analysis is better at identifying Strategy to address those conflicts. In the tion (NOAA), an OCOF partner, recently Misty Peacock, a postdoctoral fellow at poster child of San Francisco Bay’s ent time. As each pigment small or rare component species of phytoplankton. spirit of adaptive management, they’ve listed San Francisco as one of the UC Santa Cruz. ten US cities experiencing increased tidal marshes, is no more. No, it hasn’t emerges, a device that Source: Kudela Lab (inset), Peacock et al., UCSC, USGS, SFEI. gone back to the table for a ten-year gone extinct: it’s just been rebranded. review. Watch for an update once the plan nuisance flooding caused by sea level Since 1988, the U.S. Geologi- analyzes its color detects The American Ornithologists’ Union, resolution phytoplankton snapshot. Al- has been revised. JE rise. JE cal Survey has tracked the types of its presence and records this informa- the ultimate authority on the taxonomy phytoplankton in the Bay by taking tion as a graph. Each pigment forms though the technique has been around CONTACT Kelly Higgason, of North American birds, has decided a distinctively-shaped peak, and the since the 1990s, Peacock and the USGS [email protected] water samples at 36 locations from Rio that clapper rails on the Pacific Coast Vista to Alviso. They send two plankton larger the area under the peak, the are the first to apply it to long-term REDO FOR CCMP — San Francisco are genetically distinct from Atlantic samples from each cruise to a labora- more of the pigment is present. monitoring in San Francisco Bay. Estuary Partnership staff is leading an and Gulf Coast populations and should tory for microscopic analysis. Finding an accessory pigment is However, Peacock says, pigment effort to update the landmark Compre- be classified as a separate species, Ridgway’s rail. Research by James Though a tried and true technique, like locating a fingerprint at a crime analysis shouldn’t replace microscopy hensive Conservation and Management Plan. Maley and Robb Brumfield of Louisi- microscopic analysis is also expensive scene. “Even if we didn’t see that but rather should be used alongside it. First approved in 1993, the Plan has ana State University supports the split and time-consuming. Technicians must organism via microscopy but we Pigments alone can’t identify a phy- resulted in numerous projects and pro- (insert your own Abe Lincoln joke here.) be trained to identify phytoplankton see their diagnostic pigment in our toplankton species. That means the grams that have improved the health The new name honors artist/ornitholo- types by sight, and must painstakingly samples, we know they’re still in the technique cannot pinpoint the source of of the estuary (see Estuary News October gist Robert Ridgway, who described count hundreds of the tiny cells in water,” Peacock says. For this reason, harmful algal blooms, which can suf- 2013). Work now underway will create the local form in 1874. The species samples. pigment analysis is the method of focate fish and poison everything from an update that looks forward to 2050, also includes the (former) light-footed choice for finding relatively rare and pelicans to people. Over the past year, Peacock has takes into consideration new ideas and clapper rail of the Southern Califor- extremely tiny organisms. helped the USGS identify a faster and Yet the technique can guide Bay conditions, and emphasizes issues not nia coast, the Yuma clapper rail of the cheaper plankton-counting method. The total amount of cells in the sampling efforts. “If I saw an increase deeply addressed in past versions, such lower Colorado River’s marshes, and Known as pigment analysis, this sample is determined by analyzing the of cyanobacteria using pigment analy- as climate change and population in- three forms that occur only in Mexico. technique deduces which groups are amount of chlorophyll a present. The sis, I would know it was important to go crease. The new plan will also describe The three found in the United States re- present by identifying their unique pho- proportion of each class of phytoplank- out and sample more in the Bay. The how the Partnership will track progress tain their federal and state endangered tosynthetic pigments. Each pigment ton can be determined by the relative results can help us decide where the on priority actions, and be grounded status. With their disjunct ranges and in measures of estuary health laid out reflects different light wavelengths, amount of its accessory pigment. best places to monitor some of these sedentary natures, they’re unlikely to harmful species might be,” Peacock in the 2011 State of the Bay Report. Staff is making them different colors. share genes. Give them a few millennia Pigment analysis promises to says. This would allow scientists to stay currently setting committee sched- and who knows—they might qualify as While all phytoplankton produce revolutionize our ability to track what’s on top of an evolving bloom, and alert ules, drafting workplans, and starting species in their own right. JE chlorophyll a, each class also pro- in the Bay at any given time. Because health authorities accordingly. KW conversations with many organizations, duces at least one unique accessory the technique is so economical, the Black crowned night heron. agencies, and individuals about this pigment. For example, diatoms are agency can sample up to 15 samples CONTACT Misty Peacock Photo by Verne Nelson. critical work. the only phytoplankton that produce per cruise and obtain a much higher- [email protected] 4 SEPTEMBER 2014 5 ESTUARY NEWS CONSERVATION Now a project known as the New Cal- CREEKS where sediment collects on the ifornia Water Atlas seeks to make mold- bottom. “It’s a big tricky creek ering government water information that has every kind of problem available to everyone. It is transforming we face in watershed manage- Atlas Pegs Water Prices columns of arcane data into elegant and Alameda Work ment statewide somewhere intuitive maps accessible online. along it. The hopeful thing is In 1979, California produced an atlas es director Huey Johnson — had a more that there are only a handful of “We want to use the tools of the for the ages. The California Water Atlas used radical purpose in mind. They aimed to Trickles On public agencies responsible for internet to both engage the public but state-of-the-art technologies to produce give the public a better understanding it,” says Ramirez. also hopefully make government more Driving down 680 from San Ramon spectacular maps of runoff and sea- of the state’s infamously complex water transparent and responsive to the citi- to Pleasanton ­— with its prettily paved Over the last couple of decades, sonality, stream flows, regional water system. zens they serve,” says Laci Videmsky, and groomed burbs — you wouldn’t many of these agencies, as well as delivery systems, and water use around Thirty years on, most Californians who leads development of the atlas for guess that this was once a shallow lake steelhead fans, have sought to tweak the state. A big blue tome roughly the still have only a foggy notion of how the nonprofit Resource Renewal Insti- and willow marsh. Indeed little trace the creek’s plumbing so it’s better able length and height of a couch cushion, the water arrives in their taps. Yet it’s hard tute. Not coincidentally, the Institute is left of the vast freshwater swamp to support fish, absorb floods, and sup- atlas became an instant classic among to blame them. The story of California was founded by Huey Johnson, one of ply water to local communities. ecologists and hydrologists alike. called Tulare Lake, just over the East water involves rights that date back to the original atlas authors. Bay ridges, which once collected all the In tributaries upstream of Niles the Mexican ranchos, aqueducts that The authors of the atlas — a group Unlike the original book, which pro- runoff from Livermore and San Ramon. Canyon, the San Francisco PUC recently reach half the length of the state, rivers that ranged from Governor Jerry Brown, vides a snapshot of two to three years of This marshy ecosystem filtered the began a more fish friendly upgrade to overdrawn by thirsty farms and cities, to founder of the Whole Earth Catalog Stew- water conditions, the maps in water at- rush of water from winter storms so Calaveras Dam and is working with the and much more. art Brand, to California natural resourc- las 2.0 are always as current as the data that by the time it exited into the nar- Alameda County Resource Conserva- rows of Arroyo de la Laguna, mingled tion District, Zone 7, and other federal available from government agencies. In 2006 the San Francisco PUC removed Sunol can outcompete native plants in the with Alameda Creek, and spilled into and county partners to address signifi- The new atlas is heir to all the radi- and Niles (pictured) dams from Alameda high marsh transition zone, reducing Niles Canyon, it wasn’t an unmanage- cant bank erosion in places like Arroyo SPECIES calism of its predecessor, this time with Creek, alleviating public safety concerns and habitat value for endangered tidelands able torrent. But the development of De La Laguna. “It’s become this very SPOT a populist twist. Self-described civic providing steelhead and other fishes’ access species. The good news: control ef- farms and towns on top of this wet spot flashy stream with deep incision during to upstream waters. The flood control chan- hackers do much of the programming forts are underway. dramatically changed the hydrology of storms – the bank sometimes retreats nel downstream (BART photo) still presents out of a sense of public duty and as the northern reach of a vast watershed as much as two feet in one year,” says various obstacles to fish. Photos by Brian Sak. Local nurseries once sold both spe- advocates of open government prin- draining into San Francisco Bay. “When Leslie Koenig, an RCD biologist. With Lavender Lowlife cies but they’re now off the market. ciples. They use shared, open-source it rains, Niles Canyon gets crazy, there’s little chance to reconnect with the the water on tracks depending on flow Mistaken for a similar native spe- programming platforms to develop apps Invasive spartina isn’t the only veg- so much water, so fast,” says Tim floodplain, partners have been strategi- levels (see online story for video). cies, LIRA was accidentally planted and websites for community good. cally placing rock weirs in the Arroyo etative threat to San Francisco Bay’s Ramirez, natural resources manager The district is also partnering with at several south bay restoration sites. de la Laguna. The weirs divert flows tidal wetlands. Meet the exotic sea When Videmsky began working on for the San Francisco Public Utilities public works on a fish ladder so steel- Like many successful weeds, both away from banks, slow water velocity, lavenders: attractive little plants, but the atlas in 2013, he thought it could Commission, which owns large areas in head can get over their middle dam and invasive sea lavenders are prolific. In and create back pools for fish. They’ve potentially big trouble (see “Front- be completed in under two years. Then the watershed. through flood control structures. “We’ve a recent article, Boyer and Archbald also employed some soft bioengineer- line Invaders,” Estuary News, August he got a look at his first set of data, on made progress but we’re not there describe LIRA’s seed production as Of course the loss of the lake hap- ing fixes. “We’re doing the best we can 2012.) Two species of Limonium native water rights. yet,” says the district’s Eric Cartwright. “prodigious”— up to 17,400 from a pened more than a century ago, and to control erosion but if we can’t control to Mediterranean shores have put “It’s complex because it’s not a natural single plant. Their experimental stud- “It was definitely an eye opener,” Vi- since then throughout Alameda Creek’s the hydrology, it’s just a band-aid,” says down roots here. So far, L. duriusculum channel, it’s a flood control channel, ies indicate better growth and higher demsky laughs. “We discovered a lot of 700-square-mile watershed dozens Ramirez. Beyond erosion control, slow- has been detected only at Strawberry with a whole extra layer of permitting.” seed output in less saline conditions, water rights are not even in the state’s of other wet spots have been drained, ing down the floods from upstream will Marsh in and Guadal- suggesting a potential for rapid spread database; they’re located on old pieces dams built, creeks buried, and chan- also require softening the pavements canal Village Wetlands on . Along the 12 miles of the flood con- in brackish and freshwater marshes. of parchment in superior court archives nels reshaped. “The watershed is huge in Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin and trol channel, the County is also trying L. ramossisimum subspecies provinciale It’s useless as wildlife cover: “It’s in every county, and the state has not and complex, and all these changes, San Ramon, where remedies such as to be strategic about improvements. (LIRA for short), on the other hand, is low-growing,” she explains. “It almost gone out and taken note.” The atlas compounded over time, have left us greener streets and infrastructure are The channel, originally designed by the widespread in the Central and South looks like an alpine plant.” Restora- project has suggested ways in which with a long and arduous path to get- slowly gaining ground. Army Corps, has to have a very high Bay. “It’s almost everywhere we look,” tion sites are particularly vulnerable: the state can use technologies allowing ting it to function more naturally again. flood capacity in order to drain such a says Katharyn Boyer of San Francisco “They’re a clean slate, with no com- Downstream there are projects the public to share the data. The state is We’re going to need the full cooperation large watershed. But large channels State University’s Romberg Tiburon petition. We’re concerned for all the to help steelhead over barriers and now beginning to employ some of these of every partner to reach our goals,” with wide, flat, sandy bottoms aren’t Center. She and Gavin Archbald, a restorations that are in progress or around dams, and to slow flows and new methods. says Carol Mahoney, a planner for Zone very good for fish. Also sediment keeps restoration ecologist with H. T. Harvey, coming up.” 7 Water Agency out in Livermore. cool water temperatures. The creek found it in multiple disturbed and re- Another atlas map illustrates how comes out of Niles Canyon into the ser- collecting in the channel, requiring stored sites from the Albany Bulb and At Don Edwards San Francisco Bay wildly the price of water varies across The creek is the biggest tributary vice area of the Alameda County Water expensive dredging. The Alameda San Francisco’s Pier 94 down to Greco National Wildlife Refuge, hand remov- the state. The data is all crowdsourced. to San Francisco Bay that isn’t fed by District. Here the district impounds County Flood Control District found a Island and Coyote Creek Lagoon. LIRA al of LIRA began in 2010. This sum- Users can submit information from their snowmelt. Its northern sub-watershed water using inflatable barriers, and way around the problem by designing mer, US Fish & Wildlife Service biolo- water bill and compare costs. The map is is more urbanized while the southern then uses it to replenish a groundwa- a sustainable low flow channel, and gist Rachel Tertes applied herbicides the first effort to collect statewide infor- portion is more ranch and recreational ter basin where they have local water sizing it based on nature and hydrol- to patches at Coyote Creek before the mation about the cost of water. open space– but it all comes together supply wells. The infusion from the ogy and sediment transport modeling. plants set seed; she’s monitoring the in Niles Canyon. Downstream of the creek helps repel seawater intrusion “We’re helping a naturally formed low results. The San Mateo County Flood Already the map shows that wa- flow channel by widening it in some ter users in Los Angeles and parts of canyon, creek waters speed through 12 from the nearby Bay, but the barriers Control District is funding eradica- places and making it deeper and steep- Southern California pay far less than miles of federal flood control chan- and other in-channel structures are tion projects on mitigation sites, and er in others,” says Rohin Saleh, chief more northerly cities, which would nel– designed to protect Fremont and a problem for threatened steelhead at least one Invasive Spartina Project hydraulic engineer for the District. The seemingly have more abundant wa- Newark from high waters caused by migrating through the system. To help staffer is hand-pulling it. JE plans he’s crafting are designed to flush ter. Why the cost disparity? “We price rains and tides. In this lower reach juvenile fish on their way back out to the sediment out faster and reduce water CONTACT water not according to scarcity but the there are drinking water intakes, inflat- Bay, the district designed a fish screen levels during high flood events, as well Katharyn Boyer, [email protected] infrastructure delivering it to you, so you able barriers, steps in the stream called system for its off-stream diversions. grade control structures, and areas The screens can be rolled in and out of continued on back page continued on back page 6 SEPTEMBER 2014 7 ESTUARY NEWS STORM CONTAMINANTS nicipal water treat- WATER ment plants, which leaves municipal stormwater [as Small Fish Test Helps a likely source],” Though construction ended in says Janet O’Hara, Newcomb – 2012 residents continue to meet. The an engineer at the process they went through to win the San Francisco Bay Not Just LID grant, not to mention the physical Target PCB Clean Up Regional Water Low Impact Development (LID), as changes to their block, created a new Quality Control sense of community. Sandi Michellotti, Jay Davis didn’t expect much from While PCBs were banned in 1979, it turns out, can have huge impacts Board who heads on communities. The community a resident on Newcomb, worked hand a pilot test for PCBs in silversides and these toxic chemicals are still a prob- implementation of in hand with her neighbors: “The block topsmelt that live on the edges of the lem today. This is partly because they 1000 around the 1700-block of Newcomb Central the PCBs TMDL. Avenue in San Francisco, for example, is very close now. We go to dinner San Francisco Bay. The monitoring last a long time in the environment, and Bay ppb 500 “The small fish no longer floods during storms. And or out together some evenings, and program he heads only ran the test partly because those in use in the late work gives us more one neighbor even helped me find a on these small fish, which rarely grow ‘70s were grandfathered in and some 250 its redevelopment has had myriad un- ways to monitor foreseen benefits to local residents. second part time job… We have grown more than 3-4 inches long, because it of these are still in use now, mostly in PCBs.” Monitoring to depend on one another.” was simple to piggyback on an exist- electrical capacitors and transform- Oakland Mississippi silverside is key in assess- The project began in 2009. The ing study of mercury in the same fish ers. PCBs stick to soil and hitchhike Harbor ing the success of community began meeting in homes Today, Newcomb Avenue no longer samples. “I thought it wouldn’t really be on sediment that washes into the Bay, Topsmelt upstream cleanup and garages to discuss goals and floods during storms because the a big deal,” says Davis, who is lead sci- forming contaminated hotspots. While efforts. desired outcomes for their block. By water now has someplace to go other entist for the Bay Regional Monitoring much of the PCB-laden sediment organizing themselves and attending than sheeting across concrete into Program (RMP). PCBs, a toxicant linked migrated downstream in the past, some Hunters The RMP’s new Redevelopment Agency meetings, this drains. Instead it filters through to cancer, accumulate in fat as bigger continues to wash down today from Point PCBs report will small group of San Francisco resi- 20,891 square feet of permeable sur- creatures eat littler ones, so Davis as- contaminated sites upstream. also inform the dents received a Community Chal- face, 23 new trees, and a plethora of sumed concentrations would be lower upcoming revision drought tolerant plants. The highly contaminated small fish lenge Grant to make improvements. in small fish than in larger sport fish. of the Municipal came from known PCB hotspots such as While professionals speaking of The pilot study revealed the opposite Regional Stormwa- Architecture for Humanity subse- Oakland Harbor and Richmond’s Stege South Bay LID normally focus on the benefits of was true. “This is why we do measure- ter Permit, which quently offered to design the block Marsh, which is downstream of an elec- storm water treatment, groundwater ments,” he says. helps implement for residents. Their design featured a trical yard. Unlike sport fish, which swim the PCBs TMDL. traffic calming chicane, streetlights, recharge, drought tolerant landscap- Based on results from pilot tests on the open waters of the Bay and so move “We like the re- permeable paving stones, and an ing, and a reduction of sewer flows, samples from six sites, the RMP expand- in and out of PCB hotspots, small fish port’s emphasis on array of native gardens and trees. the improvements to street-life may ed its testing to 35 sites and confirmed on the edges tend to stay in one place. doing more source Based on the designs, the Redevelop- be of equal value. The islands of earlier results. Small fish (Mississippi This means small fish in hotspots are control, such as ment Agency, the City of San Fran- lush green in a sea of grey provide silverside, Menidia audens and topsmelt, continuously exposed. identifying and cisco, and the USEPA (through a San residents with a closer connection to cleaning up con- Francisco Estuary Partnership grant) their urban environment by linking it Atherinops affini) had PCB concentrations The newly-discovered link between PCBs by weight (ppb wet weight) in small fish in 2010. Fish collection and mercury all contributed funds to pay for the to their natural one. JM up to 1,300 parts per billion — 10 times PCBs and small fish — which is pre- study conducted by Ben Greenfield and Rachel Allen, SFEI. Source: SFEI taminated proper- nearly $1.7 million project. more than the most contaminated sport sented in the RMP’s recent report on ties,” says Jona- fish (including striped bass,Morone saxati- than Konnan, an PCBs in the Bay — will help inform or less deep at the lowest tides, don’t lis, which have an advisory against eating management actions and controls. engineer at EOA, Inc., an Oakland-based mix much with the rest of the Bay. company that helps local governments them and can reach up to two feet long). Such actions may derive from initia- Davis likens the situation to a bathtub tives such as watershed planning and in the Bay Area manage stormwater This surprising finding gives us new ring of hotspots around Bay margins. pollution. “For example, you can use the implementation of the Total Maximum insights into the ecology of the Bay. “We history of land use to find likely suspects Daily Load (TMDL) for PCBs regionwide “This is where the action is, not only think this means small fish on the mar- where contaminants come in but also and follow up by collecting sediment and gins are not part of the sport fish food by state water quality regulators. “The where management can most readily soil samples in the field.” web,” Davis says. “Otherwise concentra- current PCBs TMDL is based on a very make a difference,” says Davis. tions in sport fish would be higher.” The simple model of the Bay as a big box of Identifying and decontaminating uniformly mixed water and sediment,” sport fish food web includes cormorants Most of the PCBs currently washing upstream PCB sources has the potential Davis says. “The new report is the basis and seals. These small fish likely belong into hotspots on the Bay margins likely to payoff relatively quickly, as clean new for a new model that also includes lots sediment covers the contaminated old to a second food web, however, that in- come from urban runoff or stormwa- of little boxes on the edge.” sediment on the edges of the Bay. Says cludes least terns (Sternula antillarum) and ter, which drains into creeks and chan- Davis, “It’s conceivable that PCB levels other fish-eating species that forage on PCBs build up on the edge because nels that feed into the Bay. “PCB levels could drop significantly in small fish in the edge of the Bay. these shallow waters, which are a foot are quite low in discharges from mu- less than 10 years.” RM CONTACT Jay Davis; [email protected]; Jon Konnan, [email protected]; or Jan OHara, [email protected] MORE INFO? SFEI PCBs Report www.sfei.org/news_items/ pcb-synthesis-report

Newcomb Street before and after the low impact development project curbing flooding. Photos by San Francisco Planning Department (top) and James Muller (bottom). Darell Slotton and Shaun Ayers drag a bay hot spot for small fish, so they can be tested for mercury, PCBs and other contaminants. Photos courtesy Rachel Allen. 8 SEPTEMBER 2014 9 ESTUARY NEWS

DROUGHT of the federal and state lands into HABITAT the impacts of fish habitat restoration winter-flooded rice fields. This year, proposals on local landowners and the though, fewer acres will be flooded agricultural economy in the area. The after the rice harvest, concentrating funding for science made an enormous Triage for Valley Refuges the birds on remaining habitats. FWS Defter Delta Restoration difference in the county’s ability to coor- Millions of southbound waterfowl, for wildlife.” The whole grasslands plans to monitor the refuges closely An issue paper endorsed by the Beyond a more systematic approach dinate habitat projects while helping their shrinking water resources: that’s the complex, including federal refuges, for signs of avian botulism and Delta Stewardship Council this August to using science, the science board also community feel comfortable with resto- dilemma confronting managers of state wildlife areas, and private cholera, diseases associated with seeks to spark progress throughout the called for stronger local involvement in ration proposals. “Projects almost always California’s National Wildlife Ref- hunting preserves, attracts a million crowded conditions. myriad stages of habitat restoration. habitat restoration. Indeed, one problem fail without serious local input,” says Petrea Marchand, a consultant for Yolo uges and State Wildlife Areas faced ducks and geese in a typical winter. Federal and state agencies are As public and private interests gear up encountered has been a lack of will- with monumental drought. So far, National Wild- to help endangered fish and migrating ing sellers of properties in the priority County. “There’s real power in including coordinating their response, but these types of partners.” San Francisco Bay’s wetlands have life Refuge alone hosts most of the there are some differences in their birds by restoring habitats in six priority zones. The paper offers Yolo Bypass been minimally affected, although global population of Aleutian cackling approach. “Our strategy is to flood zones of the Delta and , as an example of what we need to do The paper highlights how support is long-term impacts are possible. The geese, listed as endangered until up early because we have the water this paper lays out tools and concepts more of in the future. The Bypass is a building for a single plan for the Yolo crunch is coming in the Sacramento 2001; restored habitat on the refuge allocation available now — use it while for getting the most out of these invest- large area that is both farmed and used Bypass that integrates flood protec- and San Joaquin Valleys, the heart of aided their recovery. we have it,” says California Depart- ments and learning from our mistakes. for flood management. Yolo County tion, habitat restoration, water supply, The paper details steps for achieving the Pacific Flyway, where wintering ment of Fish and Wildlife spokesper- recently got state and federal funding to effective restoration, reviews barriers hire UC Davis researchers to evaluate grounds for ducks and geese depend son Jason Holley. State Wildlife Areas continued to back page such as conflicts with existing land on fresh water deliveries from the in the Sacramento Valley like Gray uses and the complexity of permitting Central Valley Project that are subject Lodge and Upper Butte Basin are get- processes, and recommends strate- to across-the-board cutbacks. Biolo- ting water now, about a month and a gists anticipate record high numbers gies for addressing these challenges. half ahead of schedule. Allocations for Just 19 pages with well-organized links this season, and crowded wetlands Gray Lodge will be cut by 25 percent. raise the risk of disease. In the Sacra- and numerous tangible examples, it’s “We will be employing the most ef- mento Valley, the water needs of rice a smooth overview of ways to organize ficient water saving strategies we can growers complicate the picture. Some our thoughts and actions as California that provide the highest benefit to California Department of Fish and embarks on large-scale restoration in wildlife,” CDFW deputy director Dan Wildlife areas are opening the flood- the Delta with few pennies, failing spe- Yparraguirre stated in a press release. cies, and ambivalent local landowners. gates now, while water is still avail- Greater white-fronted geese. able. Elsewhere, US Fish and Wildlife Photo by Verne Nelson In a category of its own, the Co- “We’ve tried to tease out the Delta Service planners are developing triage sumnes River Preserve is managed Council’s role in making restoration strategies that may limit public ac- In the Sacramento National Wildlife by a partnership between federal and more efficient and effective,” says cess. Beyond hoping El Niño delivers Refuge Complex (Sacramento, Dele- state agencies with Ducks Unlim- the council’s Jessica Davenport, who rain, long-term options are unclear. van, Colusa and Sutter refuges), triage ited and The Nature Conservancy. wrote the issue paper. The evolving The Bay’s federal wetland refuges is also on the table. “Based on a 75 Its 2000 acres of managed wetlands role seems to be to facilitate the use — San Pablo Bay in the north, Don percent allocation for Sacramento, De- draw 100,000 waterfowl in a typical of best available science and adaptive Edwards in the south — are lucky. levan, and Colusa, we expect not to be year. “We’ll attempt to flood up all management, among other things. The “We have the ocean,” says San Pablo able to flood some wetlands this fall,” our acreage,” says wetlands man- Council also wants to help restora- Bay refuge manager Don Brubaker. says assistant manager Chris Barr. ager Mariah Brumbaugh, who works tion project proponents ensure their Eric Mruz at Don Edwards also sees “Those that will be flooded historically for the Bureau of Land Management. proposals are consistent with Delta Plan little immediate effect. “It’s hard to have had the highest quality habitat In this front-loaded strategy, they’ve regulations and implement the Delta judge how the drought is affecting and best use by wintering waterfowl.” already started flooding but are not Science Plan. To this end, the Council tidal marsh species, because our Because of its lack of water delivery taking water from the usual source. has been finetuning performance monitoring is at such a coarse level,” infrastructure, Sutter may remain dry The river is already dry; this year’s measures and hosting early consulta- Brubaker adds. Changes in salinity except for a few units on the outside water comes from sloughs feeding tions between regulators and habitat with reduced freshwater flushes may that can be flooded with purchased the Mokelumne. If the drought con- designers. “We want to avoid the kind be a problem, and lower sediment water from an irrigation district. That tinues into next year, some wetland of sequential redesign that often hap- loads from upstream may delay the refuge is expected to be closed to hunt- habitat may be converted to upland. pens with each permit hoop because buildup of the marsh plain in restora- ers, and wildlife viewing opportunities Everyone agrees this is the worst it’s inefficient,” says Davenport. will be limited. At least the complex tion sites—“but we’re talking about dry spell since the 1970s, with more Though scientists today know better has a reliable, if curtailed, water supply something 70 years out.” demand for non-wildlife water uses. what information regulators need to under existing contracts. It’s different in the Valley. San Luis “We’ve been here before,” Barr notes. issue permits, the nuances of how to and Merced National Wildlife Refuges Keeping three million geese and “Our concern is over the long haul track performance and manage adap- rely on CVP water. “We have 65 per- a million ducks fed through a poten- — how to plan for increased frequen- tively remain fuzzy. “Everyone wants cent of our normal water allocation,” tially dry winter will be a challenge. cies of severe drought as a result of to do adaptive management and use explains Fish and Wildlife outdoor “The effect of the drought will be felt climate change and how to be efficient best available science but we still don’t recreation planner Jack Sparks. “In later in the season when the birds with water management so it will be have a good definition of what these practice, it’s actually more like 50 are getting ready to return to their there for agriculture, fish, wildlife, and are, so science continues to dribble into percent.” Sparks says his agency breeding grounds,” Barr continues. other beneficial uses.” JE practice,” says ecologist John Wiens, a member of the Delta Council’s Inde- has some discretion over where “With less food throughout the winter CONTACT the water goes: “With the reduced months, they may return in a weaker pendent Science Board from Oregon Chris Barr, [email protected]; State University. Reviewing the new is- supply, we’re looking at parts of the state”—and produce fewer goslings Don Brubaker, [email protected]; refuges that tend to hold water well and ducklings. Refuge managers Maria Brumbaugh, [email protected]; sue paper, he thinks it maps out some substantive first steps to addressing Prepared by ESA based on map ESA created on behalf of the Department of Water Resources because of soil conditions and will are also worried about crowding. In Jason Holley, [email protected]; for the Delta Stewardship Council. give us the biggest bang for the buck a normal year, waterfowl spread out Jack Sparks, [email protected] the board’s recommendations. ALARM BELLS, continued from page 5

10 SEPTEMBER 2014 11 ESTUARY NEWS

LEGISLATION Reservoir and what they perceived as WILDLIFE while migrating in a flawed “stakeholder process” that their non-breeding excluded upstream water agencies. range from central When the Pardee issue was resolved Mexico to Vancou- Wild River Lands by amendment, the board endorsed Pelican Dreams ver, Canada. An- the measure conditional on further derson says there’s amendments. Their new wish list, California brown pelicans have not we go to Baja no reason to worry in Suspense File detailed in a June 26 letter to Han- done as well as expected since being California where about the popula- removed from the U.S. Endangered Dan Anderson cock, asked for exclusion of the com- tion of pelicans Species List in 2009, says marine counts breeding mercial Roaring Camp Resort from at this stage. Low Remember that chart showing The bill found broad support in ornithologist Dan Anderson. This year pelicans each the wild and scenic designation and a breeding numbers how a bill becomes a law in your high Calaveras, including the Board of Anderson reported a breeding failure spring. We also commitment that the state would not are consistent dur- school civics textbook—all those Supervisors. Foothill Conservancy in Mexico’s Gulf of California where 90 learn how DDT nearly wiped out this seek federal wild and scenic status ing El Niño events, though this year boxes and arrows? Odds are it didn’t director Cecily Smith attributes this percent of pelicans breed. He says a ancient species until it was banned and for the river. Then in a July 29 email, was different. “Birds from sooty shear- include the Suspense File of the to local memories of the damming warm water cell brought August-like the bird listed as endangered in 1970. EBMUD spokesperson Abby Figueroa waters in New Zealand to pelicans in Assembly Appropriations Commit- of the Stanislaus River, which failed conditions in April and the pelicans wrote: “The amendments we would the Gulf of California showed El Niño- tee, a legislative limbo where bills to produce the recreational revenue headed north to search of food about Irving’s film about pelicans is more still like to see are those that would meditative than scientific, more ode like affects ahead of when El Niño was can expire without ever coming to projected by dam proponents: “The six weeks early. conceptually address the concerns of than ornithological profile. It’s dream- predicted to set in,” he says. a vote. That was the fate of Senate dam killed the most popular white- the UMRWA…”) Hancock was pre- Anderson is one of the scientists in like quality can be traced to a “magical Bill 1199, a measure introduced by water rafting river in the West. After- In addition to the film, Irving is pared to offer amendments if the bill Pelican Dreams and mysterious” close encounter that State Senator Loni Hancock (D- ward, the area never recovered the Judy Irving’s , a documen- producing clips and additional shorts had cleared the Committee. tary that premieres at San Francisco’s Irving had with a pelican in 1998 while Berkeley) in April to add portions of same level of economic activity.” The for use in museums, nature centers Balboa Theatre on October 24, 2014. filming in a thick fog above Rodeo the Mokelumne River to the Califor- Sierra Club, the Planning and Con- The circumstances under which and education with a grant from the Irving had already begun to shoot Lagoon, she says. nia Wild and Scenic Rivers System. servation League, the Sierra Nevada 1199 was placed in the Suspense File Coastal Conservancy. AG pelicans before making her award- Supported by Friends of the River, Alliance, Native American tribes, are unclear. According to the Appro- Pelicans seen in the Bay Area are films pelicanmedia.org winning film,The Wild Parrots of Telegraph CONTACT @ the Foothill Conservancy, and the priations Committee’s web site, any either roosting or stopping for a snack Calaveras County Board of Supervi- bill with an annual cost of more than Hill, but didn’t have a storyline until a sors, SB 1199 cleared the Senate in $150,000 is sent to the Suspense juvenile pelican landed on the roadway May. In the Assembly, Appropriations File. Although no fiscal impact had of the and didn’t Trained to play the violin from a young budge until it was removed by security. WATER Chair Mike Gatto referred the bill been found for previous Wild and age, Spaulding provided for his family Pelican Dreams follows the rescue, to the Suspense File because of its Scenic River bills and the counter- FRONT the only way he knew how: Working as rehabilitation, and release of that peli- alleged fiscal impact. On August 14, part Senate committee found none a concert violinist. for 1199, Assembly Appropriations can, which Irving calls Gigi. the committee debated and voted on He might have been a professional staff cited “unknown cost pressures” some—but not all—of the 43 bills in Gigi is cared for at the International musician, but it was through nautical (see online version of this story for suspense. SB 1199 was not among Bird Rescue in Fairfield, California. As Wooden Ways artistry that Myron left his impression. more detail). In a post-mortem press them. And that was the end of the she swims in the pelican pool, we learn He built his first boat in a high school release, the enviros state that neither Weather Well road for this legislative session. more about pelicans and how they end woodworking class, and, in the 1950s, the Department of Water Resources up there. Many of the adults (those On May 31st of 2014, the sailing yacht purchased the land where the Spauld- Through a series of dams oper- nor the Department of Corrections with white and yellow heads) and Freda trawled the shallows of the Rich- ing Center now resides. ated by the East Bay Municipal Utility and Rehabilitation had provided a fis- juveniles (brown heads) are there as a ardson Bay and then returned to dock. District (EBMUD), the Mokelumne cal analysis to the committee. Smith result of injuries caused by fishhooks While such a minor voyage may not Spaulding excelled at building boats supplies water to Senator Hancock’s says the costs estimates came from and fishing line. Some of the juveniles, sound like cause for fanfare, hundreds suited for the unique conditions of the constituents and other Alameda sport fishing groups, and Calaveras Jack Gualco, a lobbyist for numerous like Gigi, are malnourished due to a gathered to watch. The event’s signifi- San Francisco Bay. Some of his original and Contra Costa County residents. County businesses also signed on in water agencies including Amador lack of food. It’s hard to fish if you’re cance did not lie in modern grandeur, boat designs, such as the Spaulding There are also seven dams and a support of the bill. But water agen- County. Evans charges that the bill’s a pelican. but rather in living history. 33, can still be seen out on the water. major diversion point upstream of the cies in Amador, Calaveras, and San opponents “used a procedural strat- After his death, Spaulding’s widow section proposed for wild and scenic Joaquin counties, participants in egy based on bogus fiscal impacts.” Irving knew from the start that she Freda was built in Tiburon in the late designation. Protected status for the the Upper Mokelumne River Water wanted to capture their athletic feeding 19th century by a barkeep with a pas- Gladys turned the boatworks over in remaining free-flowing stretches has Authority (UMRWA), lined up against When asked why 1199 was not dive, the height of which is determined sion for sailing. Her return to the water trust to become a nonprofit dedicated been on the table since a US Forest it, as did the Amador County supervi- brought up for consideration and by the depth of the baitfish the pelican makes her the oldest active vessel of to preserving not only wooden boats, Service and Bureau of Land Manage- sors. The Amador Water Agency in what Gualco’s role was, Assembly- is after. In the film a juvenile pelican her kind on the west coast, and was but also the relevant skillsets neces- ment study in 1985. The federal Wild particular remained implacably op- man Gatto responded by email: “… copies an adult’s practiced dive with its only possible because of an exhaustive sary to build and maintain them. Run mostly by volunteers, the Center leads and Scenic Rivers System is more posed, despite the assurance of pro- the bill had substantial costs to the aerial half twist, nosedive, and last- restoration effort that began after she youth boat building programs and protective than the parallel California ponents that nothing in the bill would state and its taxpayers, and signifi- minute wing tuck. After slicing into sank in 2004. works to instill Myron Spaulding’s pas- system. When the climate in Con- interfere with the existing or future cant local opposition…. Your sources the water they both open their mas- Wooden boats like Freda are becoming sion in future generations. gress dimmed prospects for federal rights of foothill water agencies. are inaccurate.” sive two-gallon sized pouches, but the mature pelican gets a fish while the a rarity on the San Francisco Bay. For- status, river advocates looked to the According to Smith: “The Sena- Today, demand for hand-crafted EBMUD’s position shifted over juvenile does not. tunately, places such as the Spaulding California legislature. Hancock took tor’s amendments addressed all wooden sailboats is on the decline. time, as they seemingly tried to ac- Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito, which action because no Senate or Assem- opponents’ concerns except the water However, the Spaulding Center commodate their upstream partners In the film, we follow Irving to the spearheaded the restoration, are hard bly members from the Sierra foothills agencies’ desire to have their projects remains a bastion of local tradition, en- without alienating the enviros. The Channel Islands, the only place in the at work preserving the area’s longtime were willing to sponsor a bill. 1199 exempted from review by the Secre- suring that boats like Freda remain the district’s Board of Directors had pre- United States that California brown association with wooden boat design. would have protected 37 miles of the tary of the Department of Water Re- pride of the San Francisco Bay. MHA viously supported limited protection pelicans breed today. On the steep and North Fork and mainstem Moke- sources. The Wild and Scenic Rivers cacti dotted slopes of Santa Barbara The center’s namesake, Myron for the Mokelumne, then voted to op- CONTACT lumne, including the three-mile Elec- Act requires this review to ensure that Island, Irving shows us mating birds Spaulding, was an icon in the sailing pose Hancock’s bill because of lan- [email protected] tra Reach, a Class II+ paddling run. proposed projects will not adversely with pouches that blush and eyes that world. As a foster child, he was com- guage that would have constrained change color from brown to blue. Next pelled to put bread on the table while the agency’s ability to expand Pardee continued to back page also pursuing his love of the water. 5c) best for onscreen (and JPGs, PPT, o ce printers, etc) fonts as outlines

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5c) **true pantone colors! CONTRIBUTING WRITERS (for oset printing) 293 U & 2905 U fonts as outlines Michael Hunter Adamson Robin Meadows SAN FRANCISCO Joe Eaton James Muller Aleta George Kathleen M. Wong Order Seasons of Bay Life mini-poster for your cube, DESIGN Darren Campeau library or classroom at https://store.abag.ca.gov/environ- COVER PHOTO Mokelumne River ment.asp by Steve Evans ESTUARY PARTNERSHIP ATLAS, continued from page 4 CREEKS, continued from page 5 SUSPENSE, continued from page 10 end up with situations where people in as help fish. “We’re close to finding the impact the free-flowing character and Seattle pay more for water than people in sweet spot,” he says. extraordinary values that make a river Las Vegas,” Videmsky says. eligible for the Act’s special protec- At the bottom of the flood control chan- tions.” Such an exemption, she adds, The atlas team soon hopes to launch a nel, meanwhile, the State Coastal Conser- would have made the Mokelumne “a groundwater map that would show where vancy is eager to breach levees between Wild and Scenic River in Name Only.” aquifers are located and how much water the channel and its salt ponds. With more each contains. Once again, the informa- connectivity to the creek and the Bay, the “Protection for the Mokelumne River tion is incomplete. “The state collects it, restored ponds may serve as estuarine deserved a straight up and down vote drillers have to submit it for regulatory transitional habitat and nursery grounds in the Assembly on its merits,” says measures, but we are the last state in for outmigrating steelhead smolts. Add Evans. “The bill’s demise, at least for the West to continue to make that data some innovative new levees with broad now, is a classic example of politics private,” Videmsky says. Making this backsides and the combination could triumphing over good public policy in also protect nearby suburbs from storm the California Legislature.” data public could greatly improve how surges, high tides and sea level rise. California manages this hidden resource. “I am very disappointed,” Hancock “Researchers now only have a two- “Making sense of all that is going on commented after 1199’s death by sus- dimensional perspective. They need this along Alameda Creek is like trying to explain pension. “However, I remain committed missing underground component to fully quantum physics to a kindergartener. It’s to the goals of designating portions of the understand the hydrodynamics,” he adds. a tough subject to tackle,” says Mahoney. river as Wild and Scenic and insuring that ARO the East Bay continues to have a source The new atlas is popular with journal- of safe and clean water.” It is unclear at ists. And other states have contacted the this point whether Hancock will reintro- institute about launching water pricing DELTA HABITATS, duce a Mokelumne bill next year. JE maps of their own—a practice the pro- continued from page 9 grammers encourage. CONTACT recreation and local sustainability. “If Cecily Smith, [email protected]; “Hopefully we can use the atlas as an it’s successful, it could be a model for Steve Evans, [email protected] other parts of the Delta,” says Daven- educational tool,” Videmsky says, and “as port. ARO a conversation starter about why these problems exist in the first place.”KW THERE’S MORE TO THESE THREE STORIES! To see the extended online ATLAS http://ca.statewater.org/ versions of the stories on Alameda Creek, Delta Habitat paper, and Mokelumne River click here or go to http://www.sfestuary.org/estuary-news/