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DECEMBER 2002 Estuary 12-02 12/4/02 11:11 PM Page 2 Estuary 12-02 12/4/02 11:11 PM Page 1 SAN FRANCISCO WILL SOON YOUR INDEPENDENT SOURCE FOR BAY-DELTA NEWS & VIEWS TRANSFORM the 500-acre former Hunters Point shipyard into a mixed residential and commercial development that will include 10 acres of open space and restored wet- lands. Governor Davis signed legislation approving the deal this fall while the Navy reached an agreement with the city to pro- vide $50.6 million for cleaning up contami- nants from the shipyard, closed since 1974. THE EUREKA CITY COUNCIL may inter- vene in a lawsuit by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Northcoast Environmental Center against BurRec over its 10-year plan for the Klamath River. The suit claims the plan vio- some agencies, although Malamud-Roam lates the Endangered Species Act and will Lethal and assured attendees that the district will work harm coho salmon. The City of Arcata and with them. the County of Humboldt have already Legal Sting? Tom Huffman with Cal Fish & Game is agreed to support the suit (for more on undaunted by managing marshes for multiple Klamath River issues, see page 5) because The West Nile virus—the mosquito-trans- objectives. His agency consults with mosquito of the economic importance of the fishery. mitted disease that caused sparrows, crows, districts before doing any work in or design- Meanwhile, 10 environmental groups have hawks, and owls to drop dead on the streets ing a wetland. He also manages vegetation sued U.S. Fish & Wildlife over its practice of of New York City in 1999—is heading west. with the pests (mosquitoes, not districts) in leasing refuge lands to irrigated agriculture That it will reach California is a virtual certain- mind. "If I’m going to flood an area full of in the Klamath Basin. The groups want ty; that there are mosquito species here that dense vegetation, I mow first," he says. 20,000 acres restored to wetlands, which can transmit it is a fact. The lowly insect may they say will free up 60,000 acre-feet of soon be reviled locally while its habitat— Wetland managers won’t be the only ones water demand on the river and improve everything from seasonal ponds to freshwater impacted by the new regulations. For exam- water quality by filtering pollutants. wetlands and stormwater catchment basins— ple, the Contra Costa Clean Water Program’s faces considerable scrutiny. municipal stormwater permit, up for CHINOOK SALMON PERSEVERE this year amendment, essentially mandates cre- in the Russian River despite a 60% cut in the That’s why the Contra Costa ation of mosquito habitat by requiring river’s flows by the Sonoma County Water Mosquito and Vector Control District on-site water retention features like Agency to conserve water. Some 5,000 fish convened the "Wetlands Without catchment basins and swales. The vec- have reached spawning grounds above Mosquitoes" workshop this fall for tor control district has proposed that Healdsburg, delighting the water agency, wetland designers and managers. The the amendment be deferred, but the S.F. which was worried that the reduced flows district’s Karl Malamud-Roam told the Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board’s might restrict spawning. Although this year’s group that recent legislation now makes it Christine Boschen says the agency is unwilling run is the largest on record, biologists have illegal to "grow" mosquitoes. "If you do, to do so. The Board is considering making only been monitoring the river’s Chinook for you’re liable," said Malamud-Roam. Local some mosquito-related changes based on five years, after discovering the fish to be a agencies and municipalities holding stormwa- comments filed by the district and others. distinct population. ter permits or constructing and managing wetlands could all get stung. At the workshop’s close, Malamud-Roam recommended what the district had been The workshop made it clear that not all practicing all day: proactive public relations. wetlands are mosquito factories. Salt marshes West Nile virus is not a huge threat to human TEN YEARS host few mosquitoes: the tidal to-and-fro health. The number of people who pick it up OF BAY-DELTA NEWS COVERAGE flushes out eggs and larvae, disrupts egg is likely to remain small, and 80% of those conditioning and permits more predators. who do will develop immunity without even AT YOUR Freshwater wetlands produce more mosqui- feeling ill. Only the elderly and immunocom- FINGERTIPS! toes, but seasonal wetlands, which get wet, promised are at risk for the severe neurologi- hold water for 10 days or so, dry out, then cal damage the disease can cause. Horses are get wet again, offer even better conditions for also susceptible, but neither they nor humans Check out estuarynewsletter.com the insect. One helpful hint for wetland man- appear to be reservoir hosts (capable of carry- — our totally searchable new web site! agers is that mosquitoes like vegetation but ing the virus at high enough levels to pass it Just key in your research question of the not wind, waves, or currents. Creating open- on), as birds are. ings in vegetation that face prevailing winds day — salt ponds, red-legged frogs, diazinon, Malamud-Roam pledged to hold follow-up CALFED's environmental water account, what- discourages reproduction; so does reducing vegetation. meetings with sewer, stormwater, waterfowl, ever your hot button topic — and you can and marsh managers. One uninvited party access every story we've ever written. Malamud-Roam admits that some solu- may be present too: the mosquito. Fifty issues dating back to 1993 at your fin- tions—installing plumbing, moving water into and off of a site quickly, and reducing vegeta- Contacts: Karl Malamud-Roam (925)685- gertips! Plus a chance to send us your story 9301x107; Christine Boschen (510)622-2346 ideas, calendar announcements, letters to the tion—will compete with other wetland objec- AH editor, and more! tives. The district, whose mission is to protect public health, may find itself at odds with ESTUARYNEWSLETTER.COM VOLUME 11, NO. 6 DECEMBER 2002 Estuary 12-02 12/4/02 11:11 PM Page 2 2 DEC 2002 work. We hope the EIR will help us because INVASIONS Spartina exploded on us last year, and it's too SPECIESSPOT far gone to do by hand." A new herbicide, SPARRING WITH SPARTINA imazapyr (Arsenal), being tested in WREN WORRIES Washington state, may prove less toxic Mowing, pruning, blanketing, digging, The salt marsh song and offer better control than glyphosate, hand-pulling, and applying herbicides are just according to Taylor. sparrow, a Bay Area some of the means being used to rid the native listed as a Estuary of invasive Spartina, the monster While the EIR is being finalized, the East California Species of cordgrass threatening intertidal mudflat habi- Bay Regional Park District is working with Special Concern, may be tat. Where once there were only four invasive CALTRANS in the Emeryville and Albany mud- having trouble coping Spartina species competing with the native flats to mow and pull seedheads, and with the rapid changes S. foliosa, now there are many transgressive Hayward Regional Shoreline has purchased an occurring in its tidal salt hybrids—which produce more seed and amphibious vehicle it hopes will facilitate marsh home due to the invasion of pollen than either parent—marching up and future mechanical control and spraying. Atlantic cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), down the tidal gradient. These hybrid swarms "We've held off using our new machine until according to recent research by U.C. grow fast and large, produce more pollen the EIR comes out and we hear from the Berkeley behavioral ecologist Dr. Cully than the native species, and can self fertilize, agencies involved," says Taylor, who would Nordby. Nordby, who began her study transforming mudflats into like to get to work on Spartina in 2001 under a National Science monocultures of dense grass, in the 364-acre Oro Loma Foundation award to the San Francisco according to U.C. Davis ecolo- Marsh. The 250-acre Cogswell Estuary Institute, is assessing how gist Don Strong. Unchecked, "We have some of Marsh is also fully infested, he S. alterniflora is affecting both song they could destroy foraging says. sparrow and marsh wren populations in areas crucial to shorebirds and the earlier infes- The City of Palo Alto Baylands Bay salt marshes. The study is examining other species, he says. Nature Preserve overcame per- nesting habits, foraging behavior, and The California Coastal tations in our mit problems and is using competition between the two birds in glyphosate, having found mow- order to understand the impacts of the Conservancy is leading the bat- tle against the invasion with a parks—they're ing too labor-intensive. Future invasive cordgrass on native animal methods may include tarping, populations. $2 million CALFED-funded pro- gram that earmarks $500,000 growing as we which resident naturalist Prior to the exotic cordgrass invasion, for eradication. The Invasive Deborah Bartens says is not ideal the song sparrow nested and lived as the Spartina Project (ISP) speak—and we because it covers and kills every- main resident of the open-canopied Programmatic EIS/R due out by thing, and because the sediment marshes natural to the Bay. Now, with its year-end will help coordinate can't get out there deposited in just one season by familiar habitat changing into tall, dense manual and mechanical exca- the tides can make the tarps too cordgrass meadows, the song sparrow vation and evaluate eradication to do any control difficult to remove. Taylor says may be sharing its home more frequently methods, such as dredging, tarps placed nearly a decade with a new neighbor, the marsh wren.
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