John Y. Takekawa

The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 50–90 percent of former salt evaporation ponds into tidal marsh in South San Francisco Bay, California. However, large numbers of waterbirds use these ponds annually as nesting and foraging habitat.

With global loss of natural wetlands, managed wetlands increasingly support energy requirements for wintering shorebirds and waterfowl. Despite numerous studies of avian bioenergetics in freshwater systems, less is known of the energetic capacity of estuarine systems.

There are engineering steps that could be taken to help mitigate the dissolved-oxygen (DO) depletion.

In this report we document activities from March 31, 2012 to June 30, 2012, by task, and summarize the project’s current results. This is the sixth quarterly report and the first annual report for the project.

Open-File Report 2009-1180. Sampling trips were coordinated in the second half of 2008 to examine the interstitial water in the sediment and the overlying bottom waters of three shallow (average depth <1 meter) ponds adjacent to the southern reach of San Francisco Bay.

In San Francisco Bay, three former salt pond complexes (Alviso, Eden Landing, and Ravenswood) have been decommissioned, i.e., taken out of commission, and are planned for marsh restoration.

We conducted bathymetric surveys to map substrate elevations using digital elevation models and surveyed colonizing Pacific cordgrass (Spartina foliosa).

This report provides: 1) an update of Project Phase I activities that were completed or began implementation in 2011; 2) information on on-going operations of the Alviso and Ravenswood Ponds; 3) results of the 2011 water quality monitoring conducted at the Alviso Ponds; 4) results of fisheries mo

Our goal was to evaluate communities of benthic invertebrates and shorebirds on the Alviso mudflat prior to breaching Pond A6 to serve as the baseline for future assessments of potential impacts.

We determined that the intertidal mud flat study site adjacent to Ravenswood Pond SF2 was already at carrying capacity for small shorebirds during spring migration.

This project will examine the bird population and benthic invertebrate densities on the Alviso Shoals immediately adjacent to A6 which separates Alviso and Guadalupe Sloughs.

The primary goals for the short-term data needs studies were to provide baseline data for the SBSP Restoration Project and to provide a scientific basis for adaptive management decisions.

This report summarizes bird monitoring results at the Alviso, Eden Landing, and Ravenswood complexes.