Speier pushes for federal funding to help preserve San Francisco Bay

She noted the most recent introduction of the bill spurred a study released in August by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which she said emphasized the Bay is at risk for long-term restoration defects if more funding isn’t made available soon.

“With each introduction, we have highlighted the fact that the San Francisco Bay estuary is the largest estuary on the entire West Coast and has over 100 endangered species,” she said. “Yet we receive a really infinitesimal amount of resources to help to protect it.”

Speier said the study also pointed out local actors in the region have been good collaborators with the federal government, noting the willingness of voters to pass in 2016 Measure AA, a $12 annual tax on every parcel aimed to provide a total of $500 million for Bay restoration projects. Expected to generate some $25 million annually, Measure AA demonstrates Bay Area residents recognize what’s at stake if restoration projects are not supported with funding, said Speier.

“It shows that we are good partners and if the federal government matches what we’re putting up, we could make some significant inroads to protecting the watershed area,” she said.

Considering most of the property where tidal marsh restoration is occurring in the Bay is federal land, the gap between what locals and the federal government have committed to Bay restoration projects is striking, noted David Lewis, executive director of the nonprofit Save The Bay. By underscoring the need and demand for restoration projects, Lewis is hoping Speier’s legislation will help get critical restoration projects off the ground, and, in turn, boost efforts to reduce pollution and clean up contaminants in the Bay.

He noted the bill would also create a San Francisco Bay Program Office within the Environmental Protection Agency and allow the agency to appoint an office director to ensure the funds are spent according to a comprehensive conservation and monitoring plan mandated by the agency.

“This would give the San Francisco Bay a much firmer and more substantial basis for annual funding,” he said. “There’s just not very much funding compared to the need and the demand.”

In addition to the Measure AA funds, Bay and marsh restoration will also be supported by the some $20 million dedicated for bay and marsh restoration in Proposition 68, which was approved by voters in June, and another $200 million that would be dedicated to tidal marsh restoration in the Bay if Proposition 3 is approved by voters in November. Lewis said the addition of federal dollars to the funding pool supporting restoration projects would make more resources available right away.

An effort to restore the habitat and provide flood protections at the Ravenswood salt ponds in Menlo Park is one among many projects that could be accelerated with the proposed funding, said Lewis, who added restoration projects planned for Bay wetlands in Hayward and in the North Bay near Skaggs Island could also stand to benefit from the funding.

Lewis and Speier looked to the improvements that could be ushered in by the funding to also protect the area against sea level rise. Because marshes can absorb high tides and storm water, they can be cost-effective flood protection strategy for shoreline infrastructure when compared to sea walls and levees, said Lewis.

“The most significant impact would be that it would provide barriers for sea level rise, which is of grave concern to all of us in the region,” said Speier.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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