estuary news wins BEST PRINT NEWSLETTER!

ESTUARY NEWS, heading into its 20th year of publication, has won the Clarion Award for Best Print Newsletter from the Association for Women in Communications. Highly sought after by both women and men, the Clarions, named for the medieval trumpet known for its clarity, symbolize excellence in clear, concise communica- NEWS estuaryBay-Delta News and Views from the Estuary Partnership | Volume 20, No. 5 | OCTOBER 2011 tions. Clarion winners represent media companies large and small, leading cor- porations, small businesses, and nonprofit State of the Estuary Conference Summary Preview associations and institutions. http://www. womcom.org/awards/Clarion2011.asp To continue receiving estuary news BANKING ON TULES without interruption, please renew your subscription by mailing in the enclosed ill Delta farmers someday be able to renewal card with your payment. Our cash in on carbon credits by growing December issue will cover the September Wtules instead of corn and asparagus? 2011 State of the Estuary conference. That’s the vision of two State of the Estuary Conference speakers, Belinda Morris of the Environmental Defense Fund and Steve Crooks of the environmental consulting firm PWA. Both point to a 10-year pilot project on that raised the promise of carbon capture by native freshwater marsh vegetation. “A lot of the foundational science has been done there,” says Crooks. Originally YOUR INDEPENDENT SOURCE FOR BAY-DELTA NEWS & VIEWS CREEK GEEKS As it meanders through northeastern Sacramento, Arcade Creek may seem like a study of whether the subsidence of Delta just another beleaguered urban waterway, with a familiar litany of problems: toxic spills, trash dumping, exotic vegetation. But it’s become something special to the stu- dents of Mira Loma High School. It’s their islands could be reversed, the joint US Geologi- outdoor classroom, where hands-on scien- tific research has turned them into creek advocates and activists. When Mira Loma became part of the rig- orous International Baccalaureate Program cal Survey/ Department of Water Re- seven years ago, biology teacher Cindy Suchanek and other faculty members were looking for a field project that would pull all Wetland Worries the sciences together while benefiting the and mining reclamation ponds, according to the community. Arcade Creek was handy, and National Wildlife Federation’s Julie Sibbing; she sources project also found that wetlands could To county planners, El Sobrante’s “Subdivision Suchanek knew a stormwater specialist who describes those bodies of water as “wet deserts.” wanted to help with mapping and a U.S. 8533” is 10 acres slated for 40 homes; to neigh- Says Sibbing, “These ponds are not as complex as bors, it is their last piece of open space and an natural wetlands. They don’t have the biological urban wildlife refuge. This site would be no diversity of a wetland; they don’t have the same more remarkable than any other such site functions. In general, they are too deep to have sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide: a planned for infill development except for the vegetation except on the edges—vegetation is the fact that two forks of run through key to water filtration.” Wetlands, says Sibbing, are it, and its steep slopes are spongy with seeps also more dynamic hydrologically than man-made and springs. These wetlands—how to avoid ponds—wetlands’ water depth can change drasti- impacting them and how to preserve them—are cally, promoting an edge effect that encourages median value of 25 metric tons per acre per at the heart of a years-long battle between the blooms of invertebrates important to migratory Friends of Garrity Creek, county planners, and birds and the rest of the food chain. the developer. In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Subdivision 8533 may seem insignificant in the Army Corps was no longer required to have the grander scheme of things, yet it represents jurisdiction over “geographically isolated, non- year. Beyond that, converting annual cropland the types of small wetlands that are being navigable” wetlands. That same year, a report impacted or filled throughout the country, with by the National Academy of Sciences con- EPA scientist who did bioassays. Other fed- little fanfare. Says U.S. EPA Region 9’s Mike cluded that the goal established by former eral and state agencies and conservation Monroe, “These small areas shouldn’t be writ- President George Bush in the 1980s of no net groups got involved. Starting with five ten off. Because there is so little habitat left, loss of wetlands is not being met by wetland to wetland stops the carbon emissions caused study areas, the Arcade Creek Project Photo by smallVerne Nelson.areas should really receive more protec- mitigation programs, nor

are the government expanded to 11, including vertebrate and tion. If you add up the cumulative losses, it’s NEWS plant surveys, longitudinal mapping, data probably the small areas tucked agencies tracking wet- analysis, restoration, andSTATE outreach. OF “It’s THE stu- ESTUARYaway that have been dam- land mitigation | AUGUST 2011 Volume 20, No. 4 dent-driven and student-led,” explains aged the most.” projects doing | an by the plowing and oxidation of peat soil. Come hear the latest scientific findings adequate job. Suchanek. Each study has two student man- A report released last estuaryBay-Delta News and Views from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership about the health of Many environ- agers who lead a team and work with a October by the Tule farm on Twitchell Island. Photo courtesy of designated teacher. Theat studentsthe 10th alsoBiennial run State of the EstuaryGovernment mentalists are worried the project’s Web site,Conference where data fromon Tuesday the and Wednesday,Accountability Office that these losses will studies is posted. This Septemberyear, they’ve 20-21, also 2011, at the downtownfound that the Army only increase, espe- The Twitchell project was recently begun writing grants. “You empower the Oakland Marriott (City Center BART Station).Corps is not preventingRETURN OF THE NATIVEScially with proposed Matthew Grimm, EDF. kids,” Suchanek says. “It makes them realize isolated, non-navigable regulations just s shorebirds and waterfowl have begun using newly modified salt ponds in the South Bay,- they really can make a difference.”The State of San Francisco Baywetlands 2011 from being released by the Army When water qualityreport samples will showed be released a at the conference,filled. Yet at a press so have fish. The first year of monitoring by the UC Davis Corps andFisheries Research Team led by U.S. EPA huge chlorine spike threewith years a summary ago, Mira presentation givenconference on the this March,AJim Hobbs detected a high diversity of fish species in the encouragingponds, with a strong preponder the use of mothballed because of federal funding cuts. mitigation banks. “The Loma students alertedfirst the county day by to lead a pre- author Andy Guntherthen Interior from Secretaryance of natives. viously undetected spill. The restoration emphasis on mitigation the Center for Ecosystem ManagementGale Norton and Hobbs’ team monitored fish populations in the Eden Landing, Alviso, Ravenswood, and Bair team has removed red sesbania, an invasive banks is really distress- Agriculture Secretary Island areas, including restoration ponds like Ravenswood’s SF2 and flooded “island ponds” like plant that chokes Centraland Valley Restoration. streambeds, Topics range fromMike salt Johanns ing,” says Arthur Alviso’s A19, A20, and A21, from July through December 2010. Shallow sloughs and intertidal and persuaded nurseriespond not restoration to sell it. to pollution solutionsannounced that there Feinstein with Citizens However, DWR is still in the game, partnering with The Nature Conservancy and EDF to locate a They’re also tackling theto watershedcreek’s feral health,cat green streets,has and been a net increasecreeklets in were also surveyed. Sampling diverse habitats Committeerequires using to a variety of trawls and problem with the aid ofsustainable local veterinarians. communities. wetlands in the Unitedtraps, as well as hook-and-line angling at pond outlets.Complete the Refuge. “It The students went to the city council when States since 1998. The An impressive 98% of all fish caught undermines the goal of Other featured speakers include: a creekside area with ancient oaks was increase is primarily dueby totrawling the sloughs were native spe- continued page 2 about to be turned into a parking lot for a the creation of golf course larger, 200-to-400 acre site for feasibility testing in a farm-scale wetland. EDF is also developing • Phil Isenberg, Delta Stewardship cies. Of 30 species, three-spined stickle- nonprofit group, and helped broker a deal Council ponds, borrow pits, stockbacks ponds, accounted for more than half (1,678 JUNE 2006 for a better site away from the creek. of over 3,300) of the captures, followed in • Fran Spivy-Weber, State Water VOLUME abundance15, byNO. northern 3anchovy (549), top- continuedResources page Control 2 Board smelt (392), staghorn sculpin (253), arrow economic models to project breakeven costs for replacing farmland with wetland. For his part, • Jerry Meral, California Natural goby (142), and longfin smelt (61.) “That’s Resources Agency comparable to the open Bay,” Hobbs explains. “Environmental conditions in Leopard shark by Matthew Field, taken at Monterey Bay • Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute the South Bay are a little saltier. Most Aquarium. Crooks is working with Verified Carbon Standards, a registry for carbon projects, on protocols that To see the full program and register, go invasive fish species are more freshwater to http://sfestuary.org/soe2011/ tolerant, and are more common in the North Bay.” The presence of small fish like sticklebacks and anchovies is good news for cormorants and A gala precedes the conference the other fish-eating birds. evening of September 19 at the Aquarium The assemblage varied seasonally, with more sticklebacks, anchovies, sculpins, and gobies would allow developers to trade carbon credits. of the Bay in San Francisco and is included in summer and more smelt, herring, shad, and silversides in winter. “The anchovies came in late with registration. summer and fall and spawned,” says Hobbs. The Pacific herring followed: “We’re now seeing over the South Bay.” He credits “good freshwater outflow and ocean productivity young herring all Early bird deadline for registration: conditions” for the herring’s success. Morris cautions that there may be tradeoffs in terms of other emissions: “Wetlands store August 26, 2011 Hobbs also found that larger predators, notably leopard sharks and bat rays, are foraging at Premier sponsors: the outlets of the “island” ponds like A19. Like human anglers, caught at least half a dozen sharks and rays per hour,” the sharks wait for smaller fish San Francisco Estuary Partnership and exiting the ponds as the tide recedes. “We California State Coastal Conservancy he recalls. carbon but they also emit methane, another greenhouse gas. Methylation of mercury in wetlands One result that caught his attention was the relative abundance of longfin smelt (Spirinchus Contact: Karen McDowell thaleichthys), a species involved in the Pelagic Organism Decline (“POD”) phenomenon: “Longfin (510) 622-2398 smelt abundance has collapsed in the pelagic ecosystem of the North Bay and Delta. They had been intermittently collected in the South Bay during various surveys, but there hadn’t been enough studies using appropriate gear this far up into the sloughs. We caught quite a few up will also be problematic. Our hypothesis is that methane and mercury can be managed.” continued on page 12 INside

2 Linchpin Land www.sfestuary.org Salt Ponds to Shorebird Heaven Meanwhile, rising seas add urgency to the project of reversing subsidence. “If we started 4 7/25/11 11:07:00 PM 6 Leaving the Little Fish

Estuary_8_11_4FinalREV.indd 1 wetland projects in the most heavily subsided areas now, it would take 75 years to get them back ESTUARY: 1992, 2006, 2011 up to sea level,” says Morris. “The threat of sea level rise to stored carbon is uncertain.” Although tules grow quickly enough to rebuild several inches of soil every year, Crooks points out they’re inside very sensitive to salinity: “It very much depends on maintaining freshwater conditions within the Delta. We need a plan that extends out a hundred years. It took us that long to get into this hole 2 Tunnel Vision and it will take us that long to get out of it.” CONTACT: [email protected]; [email protected] JE 4 Flipperhold in the Bay www.sfestuary.org 6 The Estuary, Up Close SOE Conference Clip Technofix MORE BAY BLOOMS Tunnel Vision A large shaft in Menlo Park carries workers below ground where they are delivered to The phytoplankton community—the Deep beneath the surface of the South the high-tech tunnel boring machine under assemblage of diatoms and other micro- Bay—as much as 100 feet in some spots—a the Bay on a man-car pulled on rails, ex- scopic photosynthesizers—is a key node giant high-tech “cheese grater” from Japan is plains Mues. The entire system is electrically in San Francisco Bay’s food web. Copep- hard at work sucking up Bay mud and extrud- powered, so as the workers make their way ods and other zooplanktonic species graze ing finished concrete pipe in five-foot lengths across the Bay with the movable factory and on phytoplankton, and clams filter it from as it goes. “It’s really an underground factory,” 600 feet of trailing equipment, they install the water column. They in turn support fish, and ultimately seabirds and marine mammals. But you can have too much of a good thing. Mass phytoplankton blooms can deplete oxygen levels, causing local fish die-offs and impairing water quality. Some species of dinoflagellates, diatoms, and other algal forms release toxins. US Geological Survey biologist Jim Cloern has been tracking phytoplankton for over three decades; his colleague Tara Schraga presented their most recent findings at the State of the Estuary Conference in September. “Beginning in 1999, we’ve had a significant increase in phytoplankton biomass as measured by chlorophyll a levels” says Cloern. “We’ve also seen a slight but statistically significant decrease in oxygen concentra- tion in bottom waters. This is happening everywhere: Suisun and San Pablo Bays, the Central Bay and South Bay. The Bay isn’t currently impaired, but it’s starting to look more like the Chesapeake Bay than the San Francisco Bay of 25 years ago.” Phytoplankton blooms are also being observed in summer and autumn, not just This giant “cheese grater” from Japan is plowing a five-mile water supply tunnel beneath the Bay. in spring as in the past; warm-season Photo courtesy of SFPUC. chlorophyll levels have more than tripled since 1980. says Bob Mues, construction manager for the electric cables that connect to transformers Part of the change may be driven by San Francisco PUC’s $313 million Bay Tunnel on the trailing equipment—and every 20 oceanic climate regimes. The phytoplankton project, part of the $4.6 billion overhaul of feet, install a new ventilation pipe. increase followed a shift from a warm its Hetch Hetchy water delivery system. The “The crew isn’t working under pressure,” phase to a cold phase in the northeast five-mile Bay tunnel will carry water coming says Mues, explaining that the tunnel-boring Pacific Ocean in 1999. Associated with from the Tuolumne River to Bay Area customers, machine is pressurized to create a zone that this shift has been immigration of large replacing two aging pipes that currently cross equalizes the water and earth pressure and numbers of shrimp and juvenile crabs the Bay partly on a trestle. After the tunnel is prevents caving in. “The computer reads and flatfish such as English sole into the completed and thoroughly tested, those pipes what the pressure of the ground is, and Bay. In some areas, these bottom-feeding will be abandoned in place to avoid impacts to automatically pressurizes with hydraulic predators have decimated the filter-feeding sensitive habitat. Scheduled for completion in rams,” says Mues. If the cutter head needs clams that used to keep the phytoplank- July 2013, the tunnel is longer than the BART maintenance, underwater divers come in and ton in check. USGS’ Jan Thompson, tube (3.8 miles), which, according to Mues, is repair its back side. who samples the area yearly, has told really not a tunnel but a sunken tube on the The machine is operated from a submarine Cloern that it’s hard to find live clams and floor of the Bay. cab with a computer that reads 850 pieces The SFPUC tunnel will carry water from of data every 5-10 seconds, says Mues. He continued on side page 3 east to west across the Bay, but it is being explains that the PUC has taken core samples built from west to east. Most of the con- along the route to give them a vertical profile struction work is invisible from the surface. of the Bay mud. That’s important when, as

2 | ESTUARY NEWS | OCTOBER 2011 SOE Conference Clip Mues puts it, “You’re driving five miles with it does not meet the standards, it is hauled off (Continued from Side page 2) no place to pop up.” to a spoils facility for treatment, says Mues. The excavated soil, which Mues describes Mues has worked on lots of submarine mussels south of the San Mateo Bridge. as “looking like bread dough, but very wet, excavation projects (subways and high In addition, diminished sediment supply almost like quicksand,” comes out of the head speed rail tunnels), but the most fascinating from the Bay’s watershed may foster of the tunnel machine onto a screw belt that and challenging aspects of this project, he phytoplankton growth by reducing water runs the full length of says, have been taking turbidity and increasing light availability the tunnel. Once the “You’re driving five core samples in areas for photosynthesis. material reaches the specifically designated Nutrients from agricultural runoff and bottom of the shaft, it miles with no place to to prevent environmental sewage inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus is rolled into a hopper pop up.” harm, and, by building a may also be a factor. “San Francisco Bay and taken to the surface tunnel instead of working has been historically resilient to problems on a vertical conveyer above ground, negating of water quality relating to nutrients,” belt. From there it goes to a spoil storage the need to build a coffer dam in a wetland Cloern explains, due to a combination of area where it is tested and classified—and or the Bay. strong tides, high turbidity, and filtration then is taken to to use to restore According to the Estuary Partnership’s by mollusks. “There were no blooms of wetlands if the material meets San Francisco Xavier Fernandez, the tunnel avoids im- harmful phytoplankton species or loss Bay Regional Water Board soils standards. If pacts to 27 acres of salt marsh in the Don of oxygen from bottom waters as in Edwards wildlife Chesapeake Bay and the northern Gulf of refuge—an Mexico, despite high nutrient input.” If early suggestion that’s changing, are nutrient inputs respon- by US Fish & sible? “We don’t have a good handle on Wildlife’s Clyde that. No one is measuring nutrient inputs Morris—and to the Bay. There’s a particular interest in will send an es- sewage input because that’s one of the timated 200,000 knobs that can be controlled.” The most cubic yards of recent published estimates of nutrient Bay sediment loading to San Francisco Bay (2006) didn’t spoils to Bair consider urban runoff. Island and the Superimpose changes in sediment and South Bay Salt nutrient loads on decades-long climatic Pond projects. cycles and you have a complex research Fernandez challenge. “A career isn’t long enough to also points out study it,” Cloern says. With sustained fed- that replacing eral funding for research in doubt, he sees the aging, leaky a critical need for locally-supported water pipes currently quality monitoring coupled with computer crossing the models that incorporate currents and nutri- Bay will prevent ents and can project trends over time. He discharges of says the wastewater community is taking chlorinated an interest in the modeling aspect. water into the “It would be nice to be able to predict Bay. how it’s going to change in the future,” CONTACT: says Mike Connor of the East Bay Dis- mbarry@ chargers’ Authority. “Monitoring alone is sfwater.org LOV not going to be sufficient. It will take fairly sophisticated modeling of processes in the environment.” The Regional Monitoring Program could be one channel of support for the modeling process. CONTACT: [email protected]; [email protected]. JE

Helicopters deliver equipment without landing in sensitive habitat.

OCTOBER 2011 | ESTUARY NEWS | 3 SOE Conference Clip Environment WATERSHED WARRIORS flipperhold in the bay writing in Bay Nature, reports subsequent sightings near the Bay Bridge and Brooks As the title of her State of the Estuary Sea otters once abounded in San Francisco Island, and a possible record from . Conference presentation suggests, Doria Bay. General Mariano Vallejo wrote that in He says they’re easily seen from the deck of Robinson of Richmond-based Urban Tilth 1812 they were so numerous that “they were the Bridge. and Friends of the killed by boatmen with their oars in passing Although records are sketchy, it appears sees small inner-city nonprofits as do- through the kelp.” That, unfortunately for another cetacean, the common bottlenose ing much of the heavy lifting in urban the otters, was the year Russian fur hunters dolphin, once frequented the Bay. A dolphin watershed restoration. Such groups, ventured down from their outpost at Fort Ross. skull snagged by a fisherman in 1958 was she says, are uniquely positioned to win At least 700 otters were killed in the Bay alone estimated to have settled in the mud 50 to neighborhood buy-in. The key is connect- in their first week’s work, speared from walrus- 100 years earlier. The brainy creatures expanded ing with and engaging the community: skin baidarkas by Aleut crews. Within five their range northward after the 1982-83 El “The difference between a successful years the Russians had taken 50,000. Others Niño, eventually reaching San Francisco Bay. restoration site and an unsuccessful site joined the fray: a Señor Amador from Mission Most often seen near the Golden Gate, a is community involvement.” San Jose claimed to have lassoed 30 otters few have ventured as far as Redwood City. on shore at . Yankee hunters California has distinct coastal and offshore hired Hawai’ians to retrieve carcasses from populations of bottlenoses that may be the water. A remnant otter population near the genetically distinct; those seen in the Bay are mouth of , which Vallejo had most likely of the coastal type. Recent years tried to protect, was wiped out in 1840. Re- have seen fatal attacks on harbor porpoises cords trail off after the outbreak of gold fever, by gangs of young male dolphins where their but it’s likely the species was locally extirpated ranges overlap, including the Bay. by the end of that decade. The Bay also has its cohort of pinni- Now the iconic mustelids are only occa- peds—sea lions and true seals. The largest sional visitors to the Bay. “To my knowledge, species, the northern elephant seal and Stell- there have been only a few reports during er’s sea lion, were probably always scarce the last couple of years,” says California in the Bay proper. Sometimes an individual Department of Fish and Game’s biologist male Steller’s will join the smaller California Michael Harris. The current northern extent sea lions at Pier 39. Most of the of the species’ range is near Pigeon Point that hang out there were born in the Channel on the San Mateo coast. But in winter and Islands, but a few may be Farallon natives. Photo courtesy of Doria Robinson. early spring small groups, mostly males, will Their species has suffered from anthro- explore beyond the periphery of their range, pogenic pollution, with high PCB and DDE Robinson, born and raised in exploiting rich foraging areas. Then they loads acquired in Southern California waters. Richmond, started out there with the return to where the females are. “Range They’re venturesome creatures; any pinniped Watershed Project and later did restora- expansion is more driven by how quickly found inland is likely to be a California sea tion work at the Martin Luther King, Jr. females occupy new areas,” Harris explains. lion. One even made it as far as Lodi. Regional Shoreline and Arroyo Viejo in Pioneers are pushing beyond the southern Through all these changes, the harbor Oakland. “That’s where I realized the end of the range, but expansion has stalled in seal has maintained a flipperhold in the Bay. potential power of the active engage- the north. Translocation attempts in Southern These small pinnipeds are highly adaptable. ment of community members in restoring California have proved unsuccessful; if the While most populations are shy of humans streams,” she recalls. “There are plenty otters are going to return to San Francisco and their boats, the harbor seals that haul out of things unskilled people can do. When I Bay, it’s up to them. on the off the Richmond-San was working for the One marine mammal that has made a Rafael bridge seem oblivious to tanker traf- on the site at Contra Costa recent comeback is the harbor porpoise. Por- fic. As the mix of fish species has changed, College, we had hundreds of students poise bones in the Emeryville shellmound in- planting, watering, and weeding. In other dicate that Native Americans hunted them for Mike Baird, flickr.bairdphotos.com projects, community involvement had hundreds of years. The small stubby cetaceans been an afterthought: ‘When we get it in, became scarce in the 20th century, although we’ll bring people down.’ Rheem Creek they still frequented the Tiburon docks in the was the first time I was allowed the 1930s. Then came World War II, when a steel resources to really explore the potential of anti-submarine net was installed between community stewardship.” Sausalito and San Francisco. For decades, no porpoises were observed in the Bay. Then a continued on page 8 San Francisco State University whale biologist spotted a few off Sausalito. William Keener,

4 | ESTUARY NEWS | OCTOBER 2011 birdwatch Rails in the City

For the California clapper rail, any expansion of its limited range is good news. The reclusive marsh bird has just been confirmed as breeding in San Francisco’s Heron’s Head Park near Hunters Point. A single adult was spotted there last summer, but nesting was not detected. On August 8 this year, Dominik Mosur saw and photographed two clapper rail chicks crossing a patch of pickleweed near a slough at the park. Their size and plumage indicated they were about six weeks old, suggesting they had hatched at Heron’s Head rather than dispersing from Iron deposits turn some seal coats red. Photo courtesy of Mark Rauzon. another marsh. the seals are eating more invasives like the “Nursing pups are feeding at a higher trophic yellowfin and chameleon gobies. Corinne level than they will be when they’re mature Gibble of the Moss Landing Marine Labora- enough to catch fish on their own.” tories, who discussed the diet of Bay seals Greig says her results show increased at the State of the Estuary Conference, col- exposure to PCBs in San Francisco Bay lected scat from haulouts (she used a Boston and increased exposure to DDTs along the Whaler to reach North Bay rocks, a kayak Monterey coast. Other contaminants in the for South Bay sloughs) and sorted out the pups’ blubber included chlordane, a banned otoliths (earbones) that allow identification of pesticide, and lindane, still used to treat most fish species. The menu varies between lice and scabies, but these showed no clear subregions of the Bay: Gibble says North geographic pattern. Except for one pup with Clapper rail. Photo courtesy Verne Nelson. Bay seals eat more northern anchovies and high PCB and DDT levels and gross neuro- plainfin midshipman, while yellowfin gobies logical defects, those Greig sampled did not This may have been an unprecedented are predominant in the South Bay. There’s have health problems that could be linked record. “Nobody alive today remembers concern that the non-native gobies have less directly to contaminants. But a substudy ever seeing nesting clapper rails in San nutritional value than native fish. The diet following seals through their first year did Francisco,” local birder Alan Hopkins of North Bay seals is more varied during the support an association between contaminant told the San Francisco Chronicle. “They pupping season when females make shorter loads and reduced survival. “It’s hard to link nested along the Bay shore about 15 miles foraging trips. contaminants with effects that have multiple away, but there was no habitat in San The price of the seals’ persistence in the causes,” she says. She’s currently working Francisco.” Joseph Grinnell and Marga- Bay may be high contaminant loads. In par- with SFEI’s Susan Klosterhaus and Meg ret Wythe’s Directory to the Bird-life of ticular, PBDE concentrations in local harbor Sedlak on studies of emerging contaminants the San Francisco Bay Region (1923), a seals are among the highest reported for the in seals. baseline for local avifaunal studies, has species; measured levels have doubled every On the other hand, the red pelage of citations for San Mateo, , Santa 1.8 years since the 1990s. One study found some San Francisco Bay seals, caused by Clara, Marin, and Contra Costa counties a correlation between PBDEs and low red iron deposits on their hair follicles, ap- and one stray on the Farallon Islands, but blood cell counts in seals. PCB residues have pears unrelated to their health. It may be a no accounts of breeding in San Francisco. decreased but remain cause for concern. matter of where they forage. “To date, we Photographer Glen Nevill documented Denise Greig of the Marine Mammal haven’t found any contaminant correla- a juvenile rail on September 4 and two Center, another conference presenter, has tions with the redcoat syndrome,” says adults, one with a green leg band and a been analyzing chemical levels in the blubber Greig. “Their whiskers are often shorter radio transmitter, the following day. The of stranded harbor seal pups, including those and more brittle, but they’re in the same banded bird may have been part of a US found dead on shore. Since the pups would body condition as normal-colored seals. Geological Survey study in the South Bay. have absorbed contaminants in their mother’s We’ve seen plenty of redcoats nursing The endangered local subspecies of milk, their levels reflect maternal loads. beautiful fat pups.” the clapper rail lays its eggs from early “Females are mostly fasting while nursing, CONTACT: [email protected]; so the contaminants are coming straight out [email protected]; [email protected] continued on page 8 of the blubber into the milk,” she explains. JE

OCTOBER 2011 | ESTUARY NEWS | 5 burningissue Now in Print Corps Report Puts Policy in The estuary up close cover not just the Bay proper, but Suisun Bay, Question and personal the Delta, and the whole valley/mountain watershed. Rightly so: hydraulic gold mining A new Army Corps of Engineers in the Sierra had—still has—enormous research report, based on field studies consequences downstream, and upstream at eight sites (including Sacramento) dams and diversions affect everything from and computer modeling, will apparently sediment and nutrients to the health of the not affect the agency’s policy regarding salmon fishery. woody vegetation on flood-control levees. A focus on contemporary Bay science The document, entitled “Initial Research sparks the book. Vignettes follow scientists into the Effects of Woody Vegetation on trawling the Bay floor, working a water-sample Levees: Summary of Results and Conclu- transect, squelching through Bay mud to sions” was prepared at the Corps’ Engi- sample mercury levels in fish, tracking radio- neer Research and Development Center tagged California clapper rails in a tidal marsh. at Vicksburg, Mississippi by 20 engineers California water politics have a labyrinthine and released on September 8. Even with complexity; Rubissow Okamoto and Wong new research findings that call existing provide a clear thread through the maze. standards into question, the Corps’ recent Coverage of grassroots restoration efforts, press release endorses the status quo. particularly around urban creeks, is solid. Other Contrary to the Corps’ conventional environmental heroes, like the three women wisdom, the authors concluded that who founded , get their due. trees could strengthen levees in some Although it’s not intended as a field circumstances: “According to the numeri- guide, the book spotlights both common and cal models, when the tree was located at endangered plant and animal species. Like all the levee toe (either side), a reinforcing the UC Press guides, this one is lavishly illus- effect was observed and the factor of trated with maps, charts, and photographs, safety was increased.” That factor was , the dean of local environ- many by Max Eissler. described as slightly reduced when trees mental journalists and longtime chronicler Rubissow Okamoto says the most were at the crest or mid-slope on the of San Francisco Bay, is a hard act to follow. rewarding part of the project was “going out levee’s land side. The analysis did not Ariel Rubissow Okamoto and Kathleen M. with the scientists and the Fish and Game account for wind throw. Another finding Wong have done an admirable job in Natural was that a tree’s root mass causes only History of San Francisco Bay, newest of the “...you can’t understand the local disturbance in the flow field: “… University of California Press’s California if the flow field and pressure conditions Natural History Guides. Rubissow Okamoto Bay without thinking about are within the margin of safety without is a former editor of this newsletter; Wong the rivers and ocean as woody vegetation, it will be equally safe was the last editor of the California Academy if live woody vegetation is present.” Tests of Sciences’ late lamented California Wild. a living, changing, single of seepage effects at two field sites indi- They bring their literary chops and extensive cated that “the probability of initiation of networks of science contacts to a lively syn- system full of water.” internal erosion is negligible from woody thesis of the Bay’s natural and human history. vegetation at the toe of the levee…” “I got to know my sources for the book people and seeing how they rose to the While not openly questioning Corps pretty much through ESTUARY NEWS,” challenge of working in the Bay environ- policy requiring the removal of most trees says Rubissow Okamoto. “Their trust in ment.” The book as a whole is “about and shrubs from levees, the report ac- me and my trust in them came from years condensing an enormous amount of amazing knowledges the limitations of a standard- of knowing that we were both being held activism, science, and government and ized approach to vegetation management: to the Estuary Partnership’s standard for showing how it all relates to one ecosys- “Because of the extreme variability in publication: accuracy, balance, substance, tem—in 300 pages. It also tries to put the geology, tree species, climate, and soils, and unswerving commitment to the health mantra of the Estuary Partnership clearly on the impact of trees on levees must be of the ecosystem.” the page: that you can’t understand the Bay analyzed on a case-by-case basis.” Issues As the authors note, this book is different without thinking about the rivers and ocean not addressed include the phenomenon from others in the series. While covering the as a living, changing, single system full of of piping, in which water supposedly geology, hydrology, and biology of San Fran- water. I like to call this book the kitchen sink infiltrates the levee through root cavities. cisco Bay, they also recount what we’ve done of the Estuary, a stranger-than-non-fiction to this spectacular body of water, what we’re combination of rocket science, fish stories, continued on page 7 doing now to restore it, and how climate local history, restoration recipes, and good change will complicate those efforts. They solid government work.” RS

6 | ESTUARY NEWS | october 2011 Now in Print and On-Line burningissue STATE OF THE BAY 2011 • Some bird populations are benefit- (Continued from Side page 6) ting from restored habitat, in particular Hot off the presses, the State of San tidal marsh birds, such as song sparrow, “This report indicates that vegetation on Francisco Bay 2011 highlights the importance common yellowthroat and black rail, and levees can be beneficial and supports our to the Bay’s health of wetland restoration and dabbling ducks like pintails, shovelers, contention that the Corps’ ‘one size fits all’ fresh water flowing in from upstream rivers. and mallards. Some marsh bird popula- vegetation removal approach it mandates As the climate changes and sea level rises, tions may be decreasing due to elevated in its draft guidelines is contrary to the the Bay will need more wetlands around its predator activity, from non-native as well protection of water quality,” says the San perimeter—both to protect local communities as native predators. Francisco Bay Regional Water Board’s from flooding as well as the millions of dol- • The amount of sediment deposited in the Bruce Wolfe. “We hope the Corps will lars’ worth of restoration projects that have Bay from dredging of ship channels and heed its report’s findings and modify its gone in the ground over the past two decades. ports has greatly decreased, from 10 mil- draft guidelines to allow more flexibility in “These wetland restoration efforts will lion cubic yards in 1986 to one million cubic vegetation management.” likely be viewed in the future as the most yards in 2009. These sediments have been Mitch Avalon of the Contra Costa visionary flood control projects in the history used to help restore the Bay’s wetlands: In County Flood Control and Water Conserva- of the Bay Area,” says the Center for Ecosys- 2009, 2.7 million cubic yards went to the tion District has a similar reaction: “I think tem Restoration and Management’s Andrew Hamilton Wetland Restoration Project and Corps policy starts out with the premise Gunther, the report’s lead author. 156,085 cubic yards to Bair Island. that trees are guilty until proven innocent. Another critical finding in the report is that There’s nothing here that says trees are • San Francisco Bay is benefitting from the the Bay is suffering from inadequate fresh guilty—no smoking gun. What they’re work of volunteers: In 2010, 25,000 Bay water flowing in from its rivers. The report looking at is tall levees with the land side Area citizens rolled up their sleeves to concludes that dams and diversions have dra- way below, but that’s not all levees. In clean trash from and restore creeks and matically reduced the amount of fresh water the Bay Area we have little short stubby marshes in the nine Bay Area counties on that reaches the Bay, cutting inflows by more levees, where trees on top don’t have Coastal Cleanup Day. than 50% in most recent years. “The inflow the same impact of adding weight that of fresh water into the Bay is essential for the • Residential water use around the Bay could cause stress to the levee structure.” Estuary’s health,” says Christina Swanson, has decreased, from over 100 gallons per Avalon adds that the report establishes another report author. “For the past several person per day, to less than 80 gallons “no connection between tree roots and decades, the Bay has been in a state of chronic per person per day. The use of recycled levee failure.” drought. Protecting the Bay’s ecosystem and water has increased in the Bay Area, The Corps press release says that recovering its fisheries will require changes in from 29.1 thousand acre feet in 2001, to “ERDC researchers have determined that water management in the Bay’s tributary rivers 46.1 thousand acre feet in 2010. Water because of the many variables…the full and the Delta to increase freshwater flows, conservation by Bay Area residents and impacts of trees on levees may never be particularly during the spring.” increased use of recycled water could fully quantifiable.” The report’s actual leave more water in San Francisco Bay language states “must be analyzed on a Other key findings in the report: tributary rivers—but only if additional case-by-case basis.” The release contin- • Fish abundance and diversity are declin- upstream diversions are not made. ues: “USACE remains confident that a ing in all regions of the Bay except near well-constructed levee with well-main- Download the full report at www.sfestuary.org. the Golden Gate. Fish-eating birds like tained grass cover represents the optimal LOV Brandt’s cormorants, egrets, and herons goal for reducing the uncertainty of the are not finding enough food to performance of levee systems…Although feed their young. More wet- the results of this initial research do not lands will support a stronger The warrant a change to the USACE national food web for those birds bay francisco san of state andthe State vegetation management standard, USACE for fish and other wildlife. of will use the results to inform its decision “It is important for the• region’s Shrimp and crab populations San Francisco Bay making for trees on levees in the USACE economy to have a clean, arehealthy increasing in the Bay, pos- 2011 levee safety program, such as with prioritiz- and vibrant San Franciscosibly Bay.” due to improved ocean ing deficiencies.” Statement supported by 92% of Bay Area voters inconditions a 2010 poll outside the Golden Army Corps spokesperson Wayne - Gate. However, with less fresh2011 Stroupe declined to comment on any policy water coming into the Bay, or guidance implications of the report. the brackish water habitat of CONTACT: [email protected]; the native San Francisco Bay [email protected] JE shrimp is shrinking, and this species is, at best, just holding its own.

october 2011 | ESTUARY NEWS | 7 return service requested presorted

FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. Postage estuary NEWS Bay-Delta News and Views from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership P A I D Volume 20, No. 5 | OCTOBER 2011 Editorial Office Oakland, CA PO Box 791 Permit No. 832 Oakland, CA 94604 [email protected] Estuary News Web Site www.sfestuary.org/pages/newsletter.php To subscribe or ask questions (510) 622-2304 Staff Managing Editor Lisa Owens Viani Associate Editor Joe Eaton Contributing Writer Ron Sullivan Design Bobbi Sloan

ESTUARY NEWS is your news source on Bay-Delta water issues, estuarine restoration efforts, and the many programs, actions, voices, and viewpoints that contribute to implementation of the S.F. Estuary Partnership’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). Views expressed may not always reflect those of Estuary Partnership staff, advisors, or CCMP committee members. ESTUARY NEWS is published bimonthly and is funded by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership.

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watershed warriors Rails in the City (continued from side page 4) (continued from side page 5)

Although Urban Tilth focuses on food production and nutrition, Robinson links stream health April through mid-July. Clutch size ranges from and personal health: “In the extended model of permaculture you connect with wildlands and five to 14, with an average of seven, but few the watershed. Urban Tilth is now at that stage.” Young participants are trained to identify and chicks survive to adulthood due to heavy preda- manage native plants as well as crops. Other programs, including apprenticeships with a hydrolo- tion. The precocial youngsters leave their nests gist, are planned over the next few years. “They come out of it with transferable skills for other shortly after hatching, fledge in 10 weeks, and employment opportunities,” she says. “I still run into kids who ask me when there is going to be are capable of breeding the following year. another project.” The presence of the rails attests to the She frames projects to fit the community: “Earth Day pulled in a lot of one-timers. Then we health of Heron Head’s marsh. Thank to the realized that Martin Luther King Jr. Day was more resonant on a long-term basis. The whole mes- California Coastal Conservancy, the San Fran- sage there is stewardship and service.” Robinson also stresses the importance of collaborating cisco PUC and the with groups like the Asian-Pacific Environmental Network and local churches. Inner-city residents, Project, this neglected Bay fill site became a she says, may initially perceive environmentalists as outsiders: “But then they see who we are. public park in 1999. Since then, it’s acquired We don’t just represent the community; we are the community.” a reputation among birders—well justified by CONTACT: [email protected] JE the rail sightings. JE

Watch for full coverage of the State of the Estuary 2011 Conference in the December issue

8 | ESTUARY NEWS | october 2011