ANALYZING THE SUITABILITY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO- PACIFICA EXCLUSION AREA FOR INCORPORATION INTO THE NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY SYSTEM By CAREY BATHA JENNA DRISCOLL EMMA FREEMAN CAMERON GRAY HUGO HOFFMAN SARAH PIERCE Client: Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Contact: Max Delaney Committee in Charge: JAMES FREW 22 March 2013 -page intentionally left blank- Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the guidance, expertise, and support of others. It is with deep gratitude that we acknowledge the contributions of the following people: Advisors We extend our most sincere thanks to our advisors who helped make this project a success. We would especially like to thank our faculty advisor, James Frew, whose insight and support was essential in guiding us through this process. In addition, we would like to thank our external advisory team including Satie Airame, Hunter Lenihan, and John Melack from the Bren School at UCSB, Libe Washburn from UCSB’s Geography Department, and Chris Mobley, Superintendent of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Staff We would like to thank the following GFNMS staff members for their support and investment in our research: Leslie Abramson (Advisory Council Coordinator), Maria Brown (Sanctuary Superintendent), Max Delaney (Resource Protection Specialist), Carol Preston (Outreach and Education Coordinator), Tim Reed (GIS Analyst), Karen Reyna (Resource Protection Coordinator), Jan Roletto (Research Coordinator), Mary Jane Schramm (Media Liaison, Public Outreach Specialist), and Sage Tezak (Seabird Protection Network Program Coordinator). NOAA Staff In addition to the support we received from GFNMS staff, we are also grateful to the assistance provided to us by the following NOAA staff members: Ken Buja (IT Project Manager), James Delgado (Director of Maritime Heritage, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries), Tracey Gill (Physical Scientist), Charles Menza (Aquatic Ecologist), and Robert Schwemmer (Cultural Resources Coordinator for West Coast Region, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries). External Agencies, Organizations, and Universities We would like to thank the following individuals for their support and investment in our research: Patrick Barnard from U.S. Geological Survey; Amy Chastain from AECOM; Cheryl Chen from Ecotrust; C. Sarah Cohen and Riley Smith from San Francisco State University; Madhavi Colton from California Ocean Science Trust; John Dingler from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Doug George from ESA PWA; Dan Haifley from O’Neill Sea Odyssey; Bridget Hoover from Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Jaime Jahncke from Point Reyes Bird Observatory, ACCESS; Salvador Jorgensen from Stanford University; William Keener and Isidore Szczepaniak from Golden Gate Cetacean Research; Michael Kellogg from San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; James Ketchum , A. Peter Klimley and John Largier from U.C. Davis; John E. McCosker, Rich Mooi, and Becky Morin from California Academy of Sciences; Jana Robertson and Paulo Serpa from California Department of Fish and Wildlife; Brian Ross from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Christina J. Slager from Aquarium of the Bay. Bren School Faculty and Staff Finally, we would like to thank Patricia Holden and Naomi Tague for their guidance on specific analyses included in this report, and the Bren School staff for their gracious support. -page intentionally left blank- Table of Contents ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................................................9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................... 14 PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE ......................................................................................... 16 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................. 19 HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES ........................................................................................... 19 NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY DESIGNATION CRITERIA.................................................................................... 19 HISTORY OF MBNMS AND THE SAN FRANCISCO-PACIFICA EXCLUSION AREA ........................................................ 20 EXPANSION PROCESS TIMELINE AND THE ROLE OF THIS REPORT .......................................................................... 24 SANCTUARY MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................................... 25 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 26 RESEARCH QUESTION 1 ................................................................................................................................ 26 RESEARCH QUESTION 2 ................................................................................................................................ 27 DEFINING “SPECIAL NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE” ................................................................................................. 28 EMERGENT SANCTUARY DESIGNATION CRITERIA .............................................................................. 30 DREDGING AND THE PLACEMENT OF DREDGED MATERIAL ................................................................ 31 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 31 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 31 WAS PLACEMENT OF DREDGED MATERIAL A VALID REASON FOR EXCLUSION IN 1992? .......................................... 31 IS PLACEMENT OF DREDGED MATERIAL A CURRENT BARRIER? ............................................................................ 34 CURRENT OPERATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 37 ROLE OF SANCTUARY LANGUAGE IN THE FUTURE OF SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT ..................................................... 40 WASTEWATER DISCHARGE ............................................................................................................... 42 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 42 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 46 COASTAL ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 47 OFFSHORE ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................... 52 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................ 57 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................... 58 VESSEL TRAFFIC ................................................................................................................................ 61 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 61 MAIN SHIPPING CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................................... 61 VESSEL TRAFFIC ROUTES AND NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES ......................................................................... 61 VESSEL TRAFFIC IN MBNMS AND SURROUNDING SANCTUARIES ......................................................................... 62 CARB LOW-SULFUR FUEL RULE ..................................................................................................................... 63 INTERACTIONS WITH THE CALIFORNIA NO DISCHARGE ZONE ............................................................................... 63 Golden Gate 1 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 64 ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE .............................................................................................................. 66 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 66 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 66 SOURCES .................................................................................................................................................... 66 OCEANOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................................................... 67 IMPORTANT SPECIES IN THE AREA .................................................................................................................