Close to 90 percent of the marshland that historically ringed San Francisco Bay has been lost to development. The effects of that loss include diminished wildlife habitat, increased flood risk, degraded water quality, and far fewer opportunities for nature-based recreation. 

In 2016, more than two-thirds of voters across nine counties supported ballot Measure AA, a $12 per year parcel tax over 20 years to provide $500 million in restoration funding to reverse some of those effects.

Now, Measure AA funds administered through the State of California's San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority are funding a range of wetland restoration, flood management and wildlife-oriented public recreation projects are blooming around the Bay, including on the area’s two largest National Wildlife Refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Enhancements to public trails, like this one along a restored salt pond on the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, will be funded by Measure AA. Photo courtesy of Judy Irving

Almost $8 million granted by the Restoration Authority will enable the historic South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, the largest tidal wetland restoration on the west coast, to complete its Phase 2, leveraging state and federal funds to build on the dramatic progress made since the effort broke ground in 2008.

A majority of that $8 million was granted to Ducks Unlimited for restoration of former commercial salt ponds at two locations on the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge: in Menlo Park, where restoration work on 632 acres will create a mosaic of tidal wetlands, upland transition zone, and managed ponds, providing much-needed habitat for endangered marsh species and migratory birds; and in Alviso, where enhancement of 344 acres of evolving tidal habitat will improve access to bay waters and sediment for two restored ponds, expanding tidal vegetation habitat.

Funds were also allocated to the California Wildlife Foundation for monitoring and study of scientific uncertainties in the large-scale project, to inform future management decisions. Climate change impacts will be reviewed, in addition to options for region-wide sharing of restoration data among land management agencies.

“Funds from Measure AA will allow the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project to expand wildlife habitat and public access to open lands, and anchor new water-absorbing marsh while we still have the chance, before rising water levels close that window,” said Anne Morkill, manager of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

In addition to the salt pond project, Measure AA funds are also contributing to another landmark effort, the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project.

Two grants to the Santa Clara Valley Water District totaling $61 million will contribute to the design and construction of an engineered flood protection levee in Alviso, historically prone to flooding. At particular risk is the San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility, which serves millions of residents in the region. The funds will also enable restoration of 2,900 acres of former salt evaporation ponds on the Don Edwards refuge, and enhance public access to regional trails, wildlife viewing and environmental education. The grants will help the water district meet its cost sharing requirements with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lead federal agency on the project.

Restoration Authority funds from Measure AA are likewise having a big impact in the North Bay.

Read more of the full original article here.