ESTUARY y a B • s e i c e p s • s c i t i l o p • d e h s r e t a w • n o i t a r o t s e r • e c n e i c s San Francisco Estuary Partnership

Sustaining a living estuary like San Francisco Bay is no cakewalk . You’ve got to jive with unpredictable things like invasive clams, seasonal flows, climate change, and restoration budgets . And you’ve got to power through the twists and turns of politics and land use debates . The prize might not be as obvious as a lupine in the spring sunlight . But it sure beats sitting out the last dance… .

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APRIL 2013 VOL. 22, NO. 2 Herbold Opinion . . . . .2 Clams & Beetles . . . . .3 Drakes in Court . . . . .4 New Bay Observatory . . .6 Rain Barrels ...... 7 International Wetlands . .8 Laid Back Levees . . . . .10 South Bay Flood Study .11 2 APRIL 2013 ESTUARY NEWS IN BRIEF opinion watershed-wide planning effort focused on flood control. Little of that effort is being implemented. Move on.delta Also seven years ago the collapse Overbite Clam Not so Retired USEPA biologist Bruce of fish populations brought a surge of Salinity Sensitive — Biologists Herbold reflects on decades of scientific work that greatly deepened are learning more about the habi- impasse and challenges ahead . our understanding of the ecology of tat constraints of the overbite clam the Delta and how various factors (Corbula amurensis). The local range of The Delta has been altered, interacted. A three-year drought the invasive mollusk was assumed manipulated, exploited, and (2007-2009) showed how low flows to be limited by salinity, with reduced fought over to such an extent that intensify the impact of factors metabolic rates where salinity is low. it is now probably California’s like predation, entrainment, and However, a recent article by Nathan most important and intractable contaminants. High flows in 2011 Miller of San Francisco State Univer- problem. As an immensely valu- allowed intense scientific study under sity’s Romberg Tiburon Center and able transport corridor for commerce, very different conditions. We know a lot Jonathon Stillman of UC Berkeley in water, waterfowl, and major fisheries, more than we did 10 years ago; enough Marine Ecology Progress Series calls that and as a landscape that supports local to take bold action with a reasonable into question. Sampling clams from agriculture, recreation, resident fish expectation of rescuing our fish and Suisun Bay, Miller and Stillman found species, and municipal property, the the people they support. Instead we are that salinity explained very little of the Delta has been the focus of much plan- continuing with legal wrangles. metabolic changes observed in dif- ning over the last 20 years. Past efforts In addition, we live in the most ferent seasons. Their study included have included CalFed, the Delta Vision invaded estuary in the world and we the spring of 2011, when unusually process, the Delta Risk Management have a very clear idea of what the next high fresh water depressed salinity. Strategy, the Delta Plan, and presently major invader will be and what it will Another surprise: overbite clams may the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan. do. Freshwater mussels, which can filter more phytoplankton from the But planning is usually based on clog and block water pipes and bedevil water column — and thus compete history, which may no longer be so aquatic ecosystems, spread rapidly more with native species — in winter relevant. At a series of talks in Janu- across North America to Lake Mead and early spring, when their metabolic ary 2013, Professor Geoff Petts of and thence into San Justo Reservoir rates are lowest, than in summer. England’s University of Birmingham (roughly 25 miles from the Central Val- Nathan Miller: Contact repeatedly made the point that climate ley). We have done nothing to prepare namiller sfsu.edu JE @ change has rendered the climatic for these invaders, and they are not ad- history of Britain useless for planning dressed in any current planning effort. New National water management and ecological res- Estuaries Leader toration. Britain sits on the cusp of the How does one plan for an uncertain, A well-known Southern Gulf Stream and, as tropical and polar dramatically different future? Down- California wetlands conditions vary, conditions in the UK stream, in the San Francisco Bay, advocate is heading to vary enormously. Last year Britain had a great deal of work is underway to Washington to chair the Association the driest winter on record, followed by develop plans to adapt to the impacts of National Estuary Programs (ANEP.) the wettest summer and fall. of climate change and invasive species Shelley Luce, director of the Santa on both ecosystem values and human Monica Bay Restoration Commission, Also in January 2013 an article by infrastructure (integrated planning in- was tapped for a two-year term with Mike Dettinger and Lynn Ingram in cludes such ideas as placing wetlands the national organization. She’ll help Scientific American described how, even to minimize the impacts of storm surge coordinate 28 local programs (three without climate change, California’s on levees). Serious scientific, engineer- in California — San Francisco, Morro, climate is at the whim of trans-Pacific ing, and policy discussions proceed and Santa Monica bays) and foster atmospheric rivers. A 2012 study by over what we can expect, what can be collaboration among them. Luce says USGS estimates the damage of a flood done, what losses are unavoidable, and a key goal will be increasing public substantially smaller than the worst which tools we can afford. understanding and appreciation of flood in California’s history would be local estuaries and the NEPs that pro- devastating; more so than comparable The Delta needs a similar compre- tect them. Her background includes a earthquake analyses. The tremendous hensive, open, imaginative, and realistic UCLA doctorate and experience with flood of 1861, that was the basis for discussion that uses and integrates large-scale wetlands restoration proj- the analysis, had come after a 20 year all the planning done to date. We ects and community-based greenway drought. No one agrees on how climate need goals supported by science that planning. “Shelley Luce continues the change will affect California’s flood and recognize the limited ability we have to tradition of strong, smart, and hard- drought pattern but no one expects the manage resources in the face of major working ANEP chairs we’ve had over unusual stability we enjoyed from 1938 unavoidable impacts. Wishful thinking, the years,” says the San Francisco Es- to 1975. hubris, fear, greed, and expecting- tuary Partnership’s Judy Kelly. “She’s the-future-to-be-like-the-past have Seven years ago UC Davis and the dominated Delta discussions to date. engaging and passionate about Santa Public Policy Institute of California Monica Bay and has a good relation- Fortunately, the intractable nature raised awareness of how climate of the problem lies with us, not with ship with Los Angeles County, which change and earthquakes posed a sig- helped get things done.” JE nature. There are many “sure bets” we nificant threat to the sunken ‘islands’ can pursue now while we develop broad Cover photo: Spring bloom of lupine in the of the delta. This sparked an inten- public support for long-term action. Mt. Tam watershed by Jacoba Charles. sive study of levee vulnerability and a 3 species sci e nc e spot Clams Muddle Delta Restoration Boosting phytoplankton growth is a toplankton is overgrazed by two small Stalking the key part of the Bay Delta Conservation invasive clams. Plan, as the supply of these tiny algae Tiger Beetle Photo: Brian Chambers The half-inch overbite clam, Potamocor- at the base of the Delta’s food web has As you walk along a muddy creek- bula amurensis, is infamous for grazing plunged over the last few decades. bank or the edge of a salt pond, life- voraciously in the saltier zones of the According to conventional wisdom, the and-death struggles may be happening Estuary. In the fresh waters best way to increase phy- almost underfoot. Tiger beetles, small of the Delta, however, the toplankton is to create (up to 15 mm long) voracious preda- culprit is the roughly 2-inch shallow, slow waters to tors, haunt these habitats. The speedy give algae plenty of light, Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, adults capture solitary bees, brine flies, as well as the chance to which was introduced in the ants, and smaller beetles. Larvae are build up over time. But 1940s. burrow-dwelling ambushers, popping recent research upends While it makes intuitive up like lethal Jack-in-the-boxes. In this approach for ecosys- sense that phytoplankton turn, the beetles are eaten by snowy tems that, like the Delta, will increase if there is plovers and burrowing owls. Their shiny have been invaded by more optimal algae habi- metallic coloration has won them a fol- exotic clams. tat, Lucas and Thompson found that lowing among beetle enthusiasts. But “For many, this is a new way of this can backfire in parts of the Delta they’ve been hit hard by development, thinking,” says US Geological Survey that have been invaded by the Asian and today the Bay’s tiger beetle com- engineer Lisa Lucas, who reported clam. This species can actually graze munity is on the edge of extirpation. this work with colleague Janet Thomp- too fast for phytoplankton to keep up, Wes Maffei of the Napa County Mos- son in the December 2012 issue of even in the shallow, still waters that quito Abatement District, who based favor algae. the journal Ecosphere. “Clams flip the the tiger beetle account in the 2000 Bay- ingrained model on its head.” To see if the conventional wisdom land Ecosystem Species and Community Profiles The phytoplankton decline is mir- held when Asian clams were present, on his local surveys, says four species rored by fish declines in the Delta, the team developed two simple math- once inhabited the Central and South suggesting that the two are linked. ematical models. One represented Bay’s margins. Some locations, notably Phytoplankton are eaten by zooplank- the hypothesis that shallow water Bay Farm Island and Lake Merritt, had ton, and in turn these tiny animal-like produces more phytoplankton (dubbed more than one species; US Fish and organisms are eaten by small fish “shallower is greener”), and predicted Wildlife Service biologist Chris Nagano including threatened Delta smelt and algal growth over a range of depths. calls this a strong indicator of habitat young salmon. However, non-native The other model represented the quality. Today only two remain: the clams can muck with this food web by hypothesis that slower water produces senile tiger beetle (Cicindela senilis senilis), sucking too much phytoplankton out of more phytoplankton (dubbed “slower is so-called for its thatch of white hairs, the water. Indeed, in much of the San greener”), and predicted algal growth and the wetsalts tiger beetle (C. hemor- Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem, phy- continued on back page rhagica). Their populations are small and scattered, often on unprotected land. There are also remnant colonies of hairy-necked tiger beetle (C. hirticollis) near American Canyon and on Point Reyes. In coastal conifer for- ests, the California night-stalking tiger beetle (Omus californicus) appears to be holding its own. “Local populations in many different parts of the country are being chal- lenged, even though their species may have a wide distribution,” adds Maffei. The Ohlone tiger beetle (C. ohlone) of Santa Cruz County is listed as endan- gered. A Sacramento Valley subspecies of the hairy-neck is extinct, a victim of the Oroville Dam on the Feather River; the dam cut off the sediment supply for the flood plains where the beetle lived, and sustained flooding disrupted its life Clam invasions throw a spanner in the restoration works. cycle. JE Source: Lucas, Lisa V., and Janet K. Thompson. 2012. Changing restoration rules: Exotic bivalves interact with residence time and depth to control phytoplankton productivity. Ecosphere 3:art117. CONTACT http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES12-00251.1 Wes Maffei, [email protected] 4 APRIL 2013 ESTUARY NEWS land u s e How Wild Should Drakes Estero Be?

A stunning, multi-fingered inlet The oyster operation, which has called Drakes Estero lies on the coast been open since the 1930s, is one of of the Point Reyes National Seashore. 17 historic farms and ranches that This sparkling bay on the San Fran- have operated under lease since the cisco estuary’s outer ocean coast is park bought them in 1962. The waters the home of raptors, seals, beds of of the Estero, where the bivalves are eelgrass—and also a 70-year-old grown on wooden racks, were de- oyster farm. clared a potential wilderness area in 1976. With Salazar’s decision to close It’s a bucolic scene, but beneath the business, the inlet joined Abbotts the beauty lurks a deeply-rooted bone Lagoon and Estero di Limantour to of contention. For nearly a decade, become the third aquatic wilder- the future of the Drake’s Bay Oyster ness within the Point Reyes National Company (DBOC) has been at the Seashore. But the farm’s owners have heart of a heated battle between been fighting for a delay, arguing that fans of wilderness and advocates of the historic farm is valuable in its own A worker prepares strands of widely-spaced sustainable agriculture. Last Novem- right and ought to be preserved. shells for oyster clusters to grow on. ber, Secretary of the Department of Photo: Jacoba Charles. the Interior Ken Salazar decided not “I liken it to a boundary dispute,” to renew the farm’s lease; now oyster says John Hart, author of a recent there is a part that is already in the advocates are suing the Department, book on the history of the Point Reyes wilderness system. This is an area which manages the National Park National Seashore. “There is a part that is perched in between and has system, for the farm’s right to remain of Point Reyes that is pretty definitely aspects of both—the question is, open. slated to remain in agriculture, and which way is it going to tip.” The basic debate that went from climate students, and policy makers came the local level to the highest halls of CHANGE together for the day of presentations, government was over a simple ques- networking, and general intellectual tion: does the law require the Estero cross-pollination. to revert to wilderness immediately “To have a broad perspective on upon cessation of the oyster farm’s Crops in Hot Seat this complex problem is essential lease in 2012, or can its operation be Certain fruit and nut crops are if we’re going to figure it out,” says permitted to continue? likely to decline in the future, because Renata Brillinger of the California Environmental organizations in- there won’t be enough cold days for Climate and Agriculture Network, cluding the Sierra Club, the National them to ripen properly, according which organized the event. “We need Wildlife Federation, and the local to climate model predictions. Water multiple perspectives on theory, Environmental Action Committee of shortages are likely to grow more practice, and policy. We set out to West Marin argued that it couldn’t. severe as irrigation needs increase, create those conversations and we These advocates for immediate and earlier ripening could impair the succeeded.” wilderness status fear that continua- quality of wine grape harvests. Brillinger added that the sophis- tion of the farm sets a precedent for On the bright side, researchers tication of the presentations and the private industry to expand in wilder- are investigating how to sequester level of discourse have really evolved ness areas. They also worry that the greenhouse gasses in the soils of in the two years since the last sum- oyster farm boats disturb wildlife and rangelands and grazing pastures. mit — a sentiment that was echoed habitat, and degrade the environment And a number of laws passed in by other attendees. with debris and non-native spe- recent years now encourage the use cies—namely the oysters themselves, of renewable energy on the farm — “This is a new world to venture and an widespread invasive tunicate whether from solar panels or ma- into,” says Nancy Scolari of the Marin whose only habitat in the Estero is the nure-powered methane digesters. Resource Conservation District, who hard surfaces of the oyster shells and came to the conference specifically racks. These were just a few of the topics to learn more about how ranchers discussed at the third annual Califor- can sequester carbon by managing An eclectic group of supporters— nia Climate and Agriculture Summit their rangelands better. “We’ve been including Senator Dianne Feinstein, held at UC Davis in late February. The restoring streams for a long time. chef Alice Waters, the county Board central theme of the event was that Now it’s time to restore our pastures of Supervisors, and the three for- sustainable farming is good for the — because in the end it all is con- mer Congressmen who originally climate; while, conversely, climate nected.” JC helped draft the bill—assert that the change is going to be bad for farm- law doesn’t demand closure of the ing. Over 200 scientists, ranchers, INFO? http://calclimateag.org/ business. They say that the benefits of the farm, which provides jobs, a 5 recreational destination, and over RE 30 percent of the oysters grown in HAB Thalhamer wants to draw atten- California, outweigh those of imme- tion to the abandoned shacks and is diate wilderness status. Some sup- hoping to partner with other agencies porters also fear that if the Estero or secure funding for their removal. is converted to wilderness, then the Shacks Mar The first step is identifying property historic dairy ranches in the same jurisdictional rights by the many man- watershed also could be closed down Riverbanks agement agencies working in the area. in the future. Travel down the main trunk of the “It’s an absolute melee of ownership Complicating the debate has been Petaluma River and you might not out there,” Thalhamer says. No official the question of whether the farm has see them. The ramshackle dwellings inventory exists for dwellings. Tear- caused any significant environmental perch on the muddy banks of the tidal ing down the shacks would require damage. Beginning in 2006, National creeks and sloughs that braid through significantly less resources than the Park Service scientists claimed their the surrounding marsh. Many are old previous river clean-up, Thalhamer data showed impacts. But this was hunting cabins that appear abandoned says, because most of the work can be denied by the farm’s owner, Kevin and rotting, making them a safety done by hand. Lunny, and by local scientist Corey liability and source of contamination. Some conservation organizations Goodman who accused the park Their age and the patchwork of land working along the river have done just of scientific misconduct. Multiple ownership make it difficult to deter- that. After the 2003 purchase of a 180- investigations ensued, including by mine who is responsible for them. acre parcel of land from Waste Man- the National Academy of Science, the agement Inc, Department of the Interior and its Now, after the million the company Office of the Inspector General. No of- that operates ficial scientific misconduct was found, dollar effort undertaken in the Redwood though “administrative misconduct” landfill next was. One report concluded that “in 2011, which pulled out to Highway several instances the agency selec- 101, the Marin tively presented, over-interpreted, or 10 festering derelict ves- Audubon misrepresented” the available data. Society began Another reported that NPS staff had sels and their rusting, toxic restoration deliberately withheld information work, includ- from the public, but that there was no hulls, regula- tory authorities ing dealing evidence the farm owners were being with a cluster treated unfairly. are turning their attention of old cabins along San The February decision by a Cali- to the unkempt Photo courtesy Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. fornia appeals court seemed to echo cabins. Antonio creek. those conclusions, in a decision to Audubon allow the oyster farm to remain open “During the 2011 clean-up it was members removed three shacks after past the date set by secretary Salazar, brought to the attention of the Sonoma attempting to track down owners with until the court hears their case. The County Sheriff’s Department that there old deeds and meeting mostly dead decision was made because “there were numerous old structures along ends. “They are just a bunch of junk are serious legal questions and the the river in a state of disrepair,” says falling into the creek,” says Audubon’s balance of hardships tips sharply in Todd Thalhamer, an engineer with Barbara Salzman. DM [the oyster farm’s] favor.” CalRecycle and the operations chief of the project. From the cabins, “They CONTACT Todd Thalhamer, removed hazardous materials such as [email protected] old propane tanks, batteries, asbestos, and other hazards.” But many of the structures remain.

Meanwhile, also in February the Today, stakeholders and bystand- Coastal Commission issued orders ers are waiting for the courts to that the farm take immediate steps review the case in May. Many stand to to come into compliance with state be disappointed, however the decision coastal laws. tips. At press time in late March, Con- “Personally, my hunch is that gressional Republicans were propos- Drakes Estero will be in pretty good ing to include an extension of the shape whichever way it goes,” says oyster farm’s lease in a draft energy Hart. “It won’t be the end of the world bill that also includes oil drilling off for the farm community if the oyster the US coast and in the Arctic Nation- farm has to go. Nor would it be the al Wildlife Refuge, and would expedite end of the world for wilderness if it is Workers sort oysters at the Drake’s Bay the Keystone XL pipeline. The bill is allowed to stay.” JC Oyster Farm. Photo by Jacoba Charles. not expected to pass the Senate. 6 APRIL 2013 ESTUARY NEWS e d u cation Way-Cool Observatory There’s a new place to explore landscapes fill our windows. the Bay and it isn’t an aquarium, a All of our Observatory exhib- boat, or a model. It’s an observatory, its are set up in relationship a square room perched high in the to the environment outside.” back corner of a San Francisco pier, where you can look out the window On the Bay side, you can at the Bay or the city, or look into the watch giant ships lumber Bay through a dozen, way-cool, ex- into port and also see them hibits. Here is a place that deciphers on a ship tracker screen age-old relationships between moon at your fingertips — bright green arrows with tails trac- Sediment samples from San Francisco Bay. and tides, sun and fog, shore and sea Photo courtesy Exploratorium. for you, and throws humans into the ing their recent routes. The ship tracker display uses the mix. And the new Bay Observatory in Indeed, the Bay is on the big the new Exploratorium, opening April same technology captains consult on their ship bridges to check screen everywhere in this beautiful 17, does what the Exploratorium room, in windows, on table displays, always did best, and now does better: their position in relation to other vessels. On a table nearby spread and on a state-of-the-art video wall. gives you knobs to turn and scopes Nearby stands a tower of smaller to squint through and maps to touch the ridges and bays of the region’s topography, carved in white wood. screens revealing data from monitor- and shadows to chase. If there is a ing instruments in the water below place where the frontiers of “interac- Turn a knob and suddenly the salinity of the water is projected in yellows and the air above. They’re tracking tive” exhibit are pushed, it is here, everything from greenhouse gases as always. But this new museum and blues across what exhibit devel- opers call a “visualization platform.” to water quality and turbidity around — moved from the historic Palace of the Observatory. “We’re a wired Fine Arts to a designer, ultra-energy “It communicates different aspects of the Bay, like tides or storm events, pier,” says Ron Hipschman, a self- efficient space on Pier 15 — puts a proclaimed “geek” physicist. “We finer point on it. by projecting image skins on the platform,” says geologist Sebastian have more instrumentation here than “The Palace was a dark hole Martin, who worked with the Obser- most meteorologists have, and we’re with no windows, so trying to en- vatory’s team on science content. As offering our location for science.” gage people in the environment we watch yellow water creeps up- And science has taken them up didn’t work well there,” says Susan stream into the Carquinez Strait with on the offer. The Observatory is fast Schwartzenberg, a senior artist at a projected tide. “Our team hopes one becoming a station for a number of the Exploratorium. “Here we have the might look at this and learn about Bay and ocean monitoring networks. Bay on one side and the whole history tides, and then look out the window Indeed, right off the inner pier, a of the urban shoreline on the other, and search for signs of the same red and white buoy owned by the from sunken Gold Rush ships and thing in the Bay,” he says. National Oceanic and Atmospheric bay fill to downtown development, so Administration will soon measure ocean acidification, and another pier device bounces high frequency radio waves off the water surface as part of a study of currents by San Francisco State’s Romberg Tiburon Center. Kids and adults visiting the Observatory can see how scientists collect the field information they need to protect Bay health and commerce. “We’re not a research entity, but we can provide a location, power, and maintenance for instruments collecting raw data,” says Hipschman. The Observatory is even testing hydrocarbon levels in the water as spilled oil and fuel runs off city surfaces into the Bay. “Visi- tors can see on screen what happens after the first rain, and the second rain, and the third rain,” he says. The Observatory also presents what creator Bryce Johnson, calls a “library of mud” — two clear tubes of 2011-2012 tidal cycles portrayed in movable plexiglass layers. Photo courtesy Exploratorium. sediments from the bay bottom laid on their side for public perusal. One 7 storm “core” comes from the South Bay, up into rafters. There is also of course and one from the North, and each the giant pier itself – the Observatory water reveals layers and layers of Bay his- is just the eastern tip of an iceberg tory, from the white chips of broken sparkling with Exploratorium exhibits oyster shells and the gold grains invented through unique collabora- of sandy deposits to mining debris tions among local scientists, histori- and the “fines” of our soupy, sticky, ans, artists and, of course, geeks. Slow it, Save it, gray-green Bay mud. “Our mud This writer was struck by how much Sink it library shows just how fast, and how thought has gone into these spaces, slow, the landscape can evolve, and In the city landscape, rainwater how much passion into the idea of pools quickly and then travels in tor- how humans have been part of that making physics, engineering, environ- change over time,” says Johnson. rents and sheets down roofs, side- ment, light, even life itself, touchable, walks, parking lots, and roadways, These are just a few of the way- understandable. This is a place where all-the-while gathering volume and cool exhibits in the new Observa- all that is so obvious and exaggerated wicking pollution from encounters with tory that are giving visitors a new about contemporary American culture countless sources of contamination. window into the local environment, melts away, and we remember the The water is going somewhere. Often and shoreline history. You can see subtleties of nature, and how we can- it’s urban creeks on the way to the Bay. the sun’s movement through an not help but be drawn into an intimacy The hardened hydrology of the city “oculus” and identify buildings on with the landscapes we live in. As means creeks are getting hammered. the Embarcadero waterfront through Schwartzenberg puts it: “Our Observa- That’s why the City of Oakland is an “alidade.” You can sit on a bench tory sits in a dramatic landscape with advocating that citizens help to create outside and watch solar shadows, or a rich human and natural history. We a decentralized stormwater manage- go on to the Life Sciences room for a want to bring all the global changes ment system by retaining rainwater in close look at brine shrimp in a tank of in our environment home, and engage barrels, and then releasing it slowly salt water. There’s the upended, 13- people in what’s happening here and now.” ARO to mimic the function of the natural foot tall, root mass of a 330-year old water cycle. “The goal, really, is per- Douglas fir and geysers that spume colation,” says Kat Sawyer, who works for the Watershed Project, the lead contractor for the City of Oakland’s Rain Barrel Program. “Slowing the water down allows it to get into the soil and not overwhelm the creeks.” The Oakland Rain Barrel Program is in its final months of a three-year grant awarded to Oakland by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the California State Water Board. City residents who signed up and filled out a participant agreement were given up to 620 gallons of rain barrel storage, depending on their needs. A little over 1,000 households obtained rain barrels through the grant, or the equivalent of 350,000 gal- lons of water storage citywide, Sawyer says. Equipping homes with rain barrels fits into larger stormwater mitigation efforts called low intensity develop- ment (LID). “For the last 100 years the goal of engineers was to make straight channels to pave and pipe water,” says Scott Stoller, an engineer who works for the firm ESA PWA. “Recently we’ve been realizing that maybe that wasn’t the best thing to do.” Instead, the new mantra for storm- water managers is slow it, save it, sink it. Stoller and his colleagues, who partnered with the Watershed Project on the rain barrel program, are using Bay Observatory at the east end of the new Pier 15 Exploratorium. Photo by Amy Snyder. continued on back page 8 APRIL 2013 ESTUARY NEWS w e tlands International Wet Spot On World Wetlands Day, this Feb- parcels totals 400,000 acres, one of the about use of wetlands. Huning sums up: ruary, San Francisco Bay became a largest Ramsar sites in North America. “This international designation validates Ramsar site. The Ramsar Convention Landowners who manage their proper- not only the natural and aesthetic values is an international agreement for the ties for conservation purposes may be of the Bay, but also the investments we preservation and wise use of wetlands, able to add their lands in the future. have made and will need to make in named for the Iranian city where a key order to collaboratively restore it.” JE conference was held in 1971. Credit Ramsar has no legal force, but may Beth Huning, the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture draw more restoration funding to Bay CONTACT bhuning sfbayjv.org and its partners with making it happen. projects — conferring extra points in @ “This designation should be a point of some federal grant programs, for exam- pride for anyone living in the larger San ple. It may also inform future decisions Francisco Bay Area,” says Joint Venture co- ordinator Beth Huning. “Despite intense urban pressures, San Francis- co Bay endures as one of our country’s great natural treasures.” More than 2,000 sites in 164 nations have been recognized since the convention took effect in 1975. “Wetlands” are defined to include seasonal pools, caves, and springs, as well as large water bodies. San Francisco Bay becomes the 35th site in the Unit- ed States (along with Chesapeake Bay and the Florida Everglades) and the sixth in California (following Tomales Bay, Bolinas Lagoon, the Laguna de Santa Rosa, the Grassland Ecological Area in the San Joaquin Valley, and the Tijuana River Estuary). Making the Bay an official Wetland of International Impor- tance was a complex four-year process. The Bay met all nine criteria for designation, but each had to be extensively documented. The Joint Venture also needed to bring a mixture of federal, state and local agencies and nonprofits on board. Unlike earlier, more global attempts, the focus this time was on protected lands with San Francisco Bay/Estuary Ramsar site. Graphic courtesy Audubon California and SF Bay Joint Venture. Data from California Protected Areas Database, 2012 (CPAD, habitat value. The result- www.calands.org) San Francisco Bay EcoAtlas, 2002 (San Francisco Estuary Institute) Map Produced April 2012 by GreenInfo Network. ing patchwork quilt of 9

wildlif e BANK ROLL storm drain. “Who can say ‘no’ to an earnest nine-year-old?” said Diana Local Stamp Dunn, one of their fearless leaders. A girl with a squirming ball Saving Wildlife of squirrel babies described her on Art on a Shoestring wildlife rescue center but the owl upstaged the blind hairless rodents. Federal Duck Stamps have come a The owl scanned the 25 people He’d come with two women from the long way since cartoonist J.N. “Ding” in the room, fixed on a tan man in a Sulfur Creek Nature Center asking Darling sketched a pair of mallards for bill cap, and hissed (biologists call it for new gloves – the heavy, leather, the first duck stamp issued by the US “vocalizing” but it sure sounded like up-to the-elbows, lace-up kind used Fish and Wildlife Service in 1934. Since a hiss to me). Maybe it was because to handle birds with lethal talons that year, hunters must purchase and the man was the closest stranger; and beaks. The center rescues wild- carry the postage-sized stamp as proof maybe he sensed the man’s special life like Tesla, who was found with of a federal license required to hunt interest in wildlife. Or maybe the a string tied around a long-broken migratory waterfowl. flash of my earrings the next seat leg. It would never heal properly, over caught his marbled golden eye, they said, so Tesla’s destined to go and gave him a start. Needless to to more meetings and classrooms say, a room in the Alameda County to help save other owls, rather than sheriff’s office filled with more back to the wild. In addition to new people than trees is not the natural gloves, their grant proposal covered habitat of the great horned owl. a new supply of mealworms to feed The owl didn’t make his debut at rescued bats. the February meeting of the Alam- The man in the bill cap wanted a eda County Fish & Game Commis- projector. One of the commissioners sion until about 5:15. He’d remained suggested this sounded like a rather silent in a box under the table while old fashioned piece of equipment in the group heard various pitches for this day and age, but turned out he small grants gleaned from fining wanted to show DVDs. Turned out A contest to paint the artwork for those caught breaking state and the man held $15, all-day, classes the stamp began in 1949, and the local laws protecting fish and game. for budding hunters young and old, artistry has advanced with the years. The Alameda Creek Alliance wanted teaching them not only how to track The winning portrait of a common some weed wrenches to pry up big and shoot animals but also how to goldeneye for the 2013 80th Anniver- invasive shrubs; a wildlife consul- respect and treat wildlife. I guess sary Federal Duck Stamp is so real you tant wanted to get genetic samples that owl knew a thing or two about can almost taste the brackish water on from 30 whipsnakes, for example. human nature. Or not. At least he the duck’s back. The winning acrylic Other groups were after a little knew how to vocalize. ARO painting is the work of San Francisco extra cash for their volunteer res- To receive notice of the next grant round, artist Robert Steiner, a longtime fan of toration or kid’s science education contact: Annette Thompson annette@in- “realistic illusion.” projects. The Watershed Project fotechresearch.net. Grants are primarily “I’m trying to do for ducks what described taking third graders into supported by fine revenues and restitu- Vermeer did for Dutch women,” says Chinese restaurants in Oakland so tion monies which result from violations they could tell the owners in their of the Fish and Game Code and Title 14 Steiner in reference to the Dutch of the California Code of Regulations painter. native language not to empty their cooking oils, cleaning solvents, and in Alameda County, and other civil and criminal violations of environmental laws. Steiner has built a career of painting other potential pollutants down the waterfowl for duck stamps, and this is his second federal stamp. Steiner has also painted 82 winning state stamps for 17 different states, including 15 for tect wetlands. Ninety-eight percent of Steiner is a hunter. In the begin- California. To hunt waterfowl in Cali- every dollar that goes towards buying ning, he shot and stuffed ducks to fornia, a hunter also needs a California a Federal Duck Stamp goes directly to serve as models, but he doesn’t shoot Duck Stamp, which funds wetland con- purchasing or leasing wetland habitat many ducks these days, except with his servation here. On Steiner’s stamps, in the National Wildlife Refuge System. camera. northern pintails, mallards and lesser Eighty years of sales have contributed scaups flare their primaries for a $750 million to the refuge system. “I hate to admit it,” he says. “I’m landing, or American wigeons, canvas- more a fan of seafood.” AG backs and wood ducks float in rippled Federal duck stamp sales hovered around two million for decades until See more duck art? water against a realistic backdrop of www.steinerprints.com. wetlands, mountains, or stormy skies. annual sales started to slide in the mid-1980s.”With the number of hunt- Buy a Stamp? You don’t have to be a hunter to ers going down and real estate prices www.fws.gov/duckstamps/stamps.htm purchase duck stamps. In fact, the going up, more conservationists need purchase of duck stamps is one of to buy them,” says Steiner. the best ways to help save and pro- 10 APRIL 2013 ESTUARY NEWS d e sign to The Bay Institute’s Marc Holmes, the S.F. Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board also seems favorably Up or Out? The Laid Back Levee inclined. He’d like to expand the scope to include other parts of the South Ideas for monumental scale inter- species adapted to fresh or brackish Bay. But what may make the demo ventions have started cropping up on water grow faster and put down more work in Hayward is a combination of the desks and drawing boards of Bay roots than salt marsh species. By forward-looking leadership and an Area planners faced with the prospect bulking up faster, and tolerating thin effective local governance structure. of sea level rise. “We’re hearing about sediment deposits, the transitional Holmes hopes other cities will buy in, tidal barriers at the Golden Gate, and marsh can keep pace with sea level building a legislative campaign. bigger and bigger levees, but then rise longer. As for cost, Holmes says he was what happens to our marshes and surprised by the difference between the mudflats?” says engineer Bob Bat- “The concept is pretty simple: it’s horizontal levee and a more traditional talio of the consulting firm ESA PWA. a big, extra-wide, wet levee, runny 13-foot-high mound of dirt: “We did not The answer, according to a new model (seeping) and supporting wetland anticipate the scale of the savings.” The developed by Battalio and colleague vegetation on the slope instead of study suggests that a traditional levee Jeremy Lowe — with the help of artificially dry upland vegetation.” says without a marsh would cost more than coastal ecologist Peter Baye, the Ora Peter Baye. Loma Sanitary District’s Jason War- What’s missing for the ner, and East Bay Dischargers’ Mike Bay scenario is enough Connor — is to integrate flood control sediment and a source of with habitat restoration in a way that fresh water to the tran- could bring back a lost ecosystem and sitional marsh, which streamline wastewater treatment, at a was once fed by natural significant cost saving over traditional runoff. And that’s where approaches. A recent report by The the wastewater from Bay Institute calls this concept the Ora Loma, and material “horizontal levee.” dredged out of flood con- The term was borrowed from the trol channels, comes in. Netherlands, but that’s the only resem- “The really new thing blance to Dutch flood control practice. here is the idea of us- “They use large levees with asphalt and ing treated wastewater turf grass,” Battalio explains. “We em- to facilitate a brackish phasize natural shoreline formations transition marsh farther and ecological function.” upslope,” says Battalio. What’s being proposed is a gently Treated wastewater may sloping rise from the salt marsh along contain nutrients, which the Bay up into a wet marshy meadow act like fertilizer. “Slope marshes with high nutri- Levee cost per mile (in millions) over 50 years. With 200-300 miles in front of the levee (see diagram). of flood control levees around the Bay, many in need of strength- ents are like wet prai- Depending on lots of variables, the wet ening, costs could have a major influence on the region’s choices ries — very productive, area on the landward transitional edge in the face of sea level rise. Source: The Bay Institute, 2013 can be a “freshwater meadow,” “back depositing stable below- ground biomass in soil marsh,” “brackish marsh,” or for pur- $12 million per mile over 50 years. With ists, “estuarine terrestrial ecotone.” that sequesters carbon and nutrients,” says Baye. a 200-foot-wide salt marsh on the Bay, The tidal marsh slows wave action and/or a brackish marsh on the upland and prevents levee overtopping in a The proof of the concept may come side of the levee, the price almost flood or storm surge, while the upper at the Hayward shoreline. As Lowe halves (see graph). marshy area gains elevation. Plant explains it, a city council member persuaded the Hayward Area Shore- To Lowe and Battalio, using natural topography and native vegetation to line Planning Area to commission a study of the shoreline’s future from knock down waves is not a radical de- ESA PWA. That led to the design parture. Others have floated the idea of a demonstration project in the recent past. “Using the natural and The Bay Institute environment as much as possible is report. Lowe says the kernel of our practice,” says Bat- Ora Loma talio. “We need to recognize the value Sani- of mudflats and marshes, and con- tary is sider where we draw the line. Other- interested wise we might wind up spending more money and being less effective.” JE because of the water quality Contact The horizontal levee benefits and poten- Bob Battalio, [email protected]; concept. Graphic originally tial reduction in op- Marc Holmes, [email protected]; by City of San Jose. erations costs. According Jeremy Lowe, [email protected] 11

FLOODS Before restoration, the levees encir- cling each salt pond provided several lines of protection for the urban areas Wet Feet for Silicon Valley inland of the ponds. But the restoration project is poking lots of holes in the Bay The headquarters of some of Silicon Now, engineers and biologists are side of the levees to let the tides in and Valley’s best-known companies hug working together to protect urban areas re-establish natural marsh function. the edge of San Francisco Bay, but only with both soft, marshes and hard levees. With that border breached, the land- upper-floor offices have water views. Part one of the protection is the South side levees that separate the city from That’s because the buildings sit on sub- Bay Salt Ponds Restoration project, now the marsh need to be strengthened. sided earth that lies several feet below celebrating a decade of work completed. sea level. That project is designed to restore The re-engineered levees will protect wetland habitat, but it’s also providing a not just corporate headquarters, but Google, Yahoo, and Cisco Systems hundreds of homes in the Alviso district are just a few of the Silicon Valley com- buffer against storms and sea level rise for urban areas. of San Jose, as well as the all-important panies that lie only a levee or two away San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution from the Bay, and some of their offices “It’s the idea of using our natural Control Plant, which treats sewage for risk being inundated when sea level infrastructure to enhance our built 1.4 million people. rises by the expected two or so feet in infrastructure,” says Amy Hutzel of the the next half century. Facebook’s head- Coastal Conservancy, which is in charge Early versions of the study call for quarters is separated from Bay water by of the project. superwide levees 400 feet across that on only a skinny bike path on a low levee — the Bay side slope so gently that they will even companies with buildings several Part two of the protection is a paral- create many acres of new transitional miles from shore, such as Cisco, are in lel project now undergoing a feasibil- habitat between the marsh and upland zones that will get flooded by high tides ity analysis known as the South Bay areas (see opposite). Acquiring soil to within fifty years if levees aren’t raised. Shoreline Study. The Corps of Engineers create these huge, broad levees — about If protection isn’t increased, by 2067 is working with the Coastal Conservancy 2 to 3 million cubic yards, enough to cov- there’s a one percent chance each year and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, er 400 to 500 football fields thigh-deep — that bay water will overtop levees and which is responsible for flood control is a major challenge. The Conservancy is flow into some of the office parks south and stream stewardship, to put together now banking clean, free dirt from urban of Highway 237, which lies about 4 miles a plan for the first of several sections of construction projects to use for future away from the open waters of the Bay. If improved levees by the end of this year. new marsh plain and levees. Construc- the crude dirt levees actually gave way, Construction is expected to cost between tion will likely start in 2017, following programmers and social media manag- $80 and $130 million, with the Corps Congressional authorization of the plan ers could have wet feet far sooner. picking up 65 percent of the bill and state recommended by the Corps. SKM and local agencies the rest. “Many of the levees around the South CONTACT Bay were not built to provide flood pro- “We want to see additional wetland Amy Hutzel, [email protected]; Caleb tection. They were built for salt produc- restoration move forward and we can’t do Conn, [email protected]; tion ponds,” says Caleb Conn of the U.S. that without flood protection,” says Hutzel. Rechelle Blank [email protected] Army Corps of Engineers.

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Business and urban areas located within South Bay zone projected to be at risk from flooding or sea level rise. Map produced by GreenInfo Network for the South Bay Shoreline Study. Data from Knowles; Seigel and Bachund, FEMA, and other sources. 5c) best for onscreen (and JPGs, PPT, o ce printers, etc) fonts as outlines

SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco Estuary Partnership return service requested 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400 presorted Oakland, CA 94612 FIRST-CLASS www.sfestuary.org MAIL U.S. Postage San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River P A I D ESTUARY Delta comprise one of 28 PARTNERSHIP Oakland, CA “estuaries of national significance” Permit No. 832 recognized in the federal Clean Water Act. The San Francisco Estuary Partnership, a National Estuary Program, is partially funded by annual appropriations from Congress. The Partnership’s mandate 5c) black/white isfo tonts protect, as outlines restore, and enhance water quality and habitat in the Estuary. To accomplish this, the Partnership brings together resource agencies, non-profits, citizens, SAN FRANCISCO and scientists committed to the long-term health and preservation of this invaluable public resource. Our staff manages or oversees more than 50 projects ranging from supporting research into key water quality concerns to managing initiatives that prevent pollution, restore wetlands, or protect against the changes anticipated from climate change in our region. We have published Estuary News since 1993. ESTUARY PARTNERSHIP ESTUARY News April 2013, Vol. 22, No. 2 www.sfestuary.org/estuary-news/

Managing Editor Ariel Rubissow Okamoto 5c) **true pantone colors! (for oset printing) 293 U & 2905 U Contribfonts as outlinesuting Writers SAN FRANCISCO Jacoba Charles Daniel McGlynn Joe Eaton Robin Meadows Aleta George Susan K. Moffat

Design Darren Campeau

Special thanks for funding support from ESA PWA, the Alameda Fish & Game Commission, and the SF ESTUARY Bay Conservation and Development Commission. PARTNERSHIP Data from more than 200 sites they are more retentive, and creating WANT TO… across the Delta suggests that shallow, water-slowing structures like berms slow waters were not always greener Sign up for Estuary News for Free? and swales to aid with short-term water when clams were present. “We don’t Change your Address? storage. Stoller recommends calculating know how to predict or control where Switch to PDF version? a home’s impervious surfaces, like the clams will be, so this is a big uncertain- Make a donation? area of a roof and driveway and dedicat- ty when restoring or creating habitat in ing between four and ten percent of that You can do all these things at: the Delta,” Lucas says. “You just don’t number to bio-retention activities. know what you’re going to get.” www.sfestuary.org/estuary-news/ Another major partner in the Oakland One way around this dilemma may be Rain Barrel Program is the DIG Coopera- to restore floodplains in the Delta. These tive, an eco-design and build firm active CLAMS - Continued from page 3 habitats are shallow and slow, making in getting the rain barrels installed. DIG them ideal for phytoplankton, but also over a range of water transport times, works with homeowners to come up with dry out periodically, making them inhos- which reflect how long water stays in a stormwater storage system to fit their pitable to clams. “Restoring floodplains one place. “We isolated what’s key to individual needs. DIG members are also in the Delta is not a new idea,” Lucas each hypothesis and got rid of every- providing support for rain barrel installa- points out. But, as her new work shows, thing else that could complicate it,” tions at the institutional-scale. They re- it could be a good one. RM Lucas explains. cently installed barrels and rain gardens at the Chabot Space and Science Center CONTACT Lisa Lucas The models predicted that, contrary and Skyline High School. llucas usgs.gov to the traditional view, neither shallow- @ er nor slower was necessarily greener With the rain barrel subsidies ending at the close of the federal grant funding, when Asian clams were present. The Rain barrels - Continued from page 7 team field-tested their models by com- the active partners are hoping that there software modeling tools to try to deter- is enough traction to sustain a citywide paring algae, light, and clam grazing mine the effectiveness of rainwater catch- at sites that spanned the Delta. “We interest in backyard stormwater man- ment on a watershed. “We are trying the agement. “All of this is easily replicated,” zoomed around in small boats taking take the peak off the hydrograph, which water samples to measure chlorophyll Sawyer says, “This whole thing is like a really helps creeks respond to run-off,” big pilot project. Who knows where it will and water clarity,” Lucas says. Clam Stoller says. grazing was estimated based on sedi- go from here.” DM ment samples. “Metal jaw-like contrap- Rain barrels are just one strategy to More Info? tions called benthic grabs bring up a slow stormwater. Other methods advo- www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/ known amount of sediment, along with cated by LID practitioners are building PWA/o/FE/s/ID/OAK025822 any clams,” she explains. rain gardens, amending soils so that